Rail Ninja transforms how the world books train travel. We facilitate millions of journeys annually for travelers from over 150 countries, exploring more than 50 destinations by rail. Our mission is to elevate your travel experience by securing the best seats on the finest trains, ensuring a seamless and memorable journey.
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Is Rail Ninja legit?
Rail Ninja (rail.ninja) has a 3.1 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 939 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Vehicles & Transportation and its reputation is mixed. 21% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has replied to 59% of negative reviews; 593 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-10-24.
What reviewers say
AI generated
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently mention that the website is extremely easy to navigate and allows them to find clear travel options effortlessly. Travelers find the online booking process to be smooth, efficient, and straightforward, enabling them to complete their ticket reservations in just a few minutes.
However, some customers also noted that they were charged unexpectedly high fees and steep markups compared to booking directly through the official train operators. Some reviewers were dissatisfied with a perceived lack of transparency regarding service charges and hidden costs discovered after completing their purchases.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.
Price charged more than double the actual cost of the train tickets.
The web site is easy to use.
Purchased 2 train tickets from Porto to Lisbon
Price charged (around 86 euros) is more than double the cost of the train tickets which is 40 euros. Service fees are more than the price of the tickets
This is the reply that I got from Ninja to justify their price:
"They cover the costs associated with processing and managing ticket bookings, as well as providing our customers with a dedicated support team"
Since when buying 2 train tickets from Porto to Lisbon at 40 euros (20 euros each) cost 86 euros. A fee of 46 euros to purchase 2 train tickets from the Portuguese national train company!! This is outrageous! This is a scam!
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-07-08
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for your review. We would like to take this opportunity to explain the value that our service fees bring to your ticket purchase. Our service fees are designed to ensure a seamless and efficient experience for our customers. They cover the costs associated with processing and managing ticket bookings, as well as providing our customers with a dedicated support team.
At the end of April I forward booked and paid for 2 morning tickets from Madrid to Vigo on July 6th as not yet on sale with Renfe. Tickets would be sent to me on June 17th. Rail Ninja emailed on 16th June saying that there were no morning tickets available but they could offer train tickets arriving in Vigo in the evening. Rail Ninja blamed the carrier, offered me a refund.
The evening trains were no use for us as we were catching an afternoon bus further south. I went onto Renfe site and bought the exact same tickets, clearly available,although it cost me about 30 euros more. So why weren't these tickets available to Rail Ninja? Pointless site for forward planning. 2 stars as they refunded quickly.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-07-02
Dear Patricia,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We understand the frustration caused by the cancellation of your originally booked train. Rest assured, Rail Ninja has processed a full refund for your ticket reservation. It's important to note that Rail Ninja is an intermediary service and not the actual rail carrier responsible for train operations. We apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused you.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
Don't use this service.
Their charge is 40-50% more than RENF.com (Spanish trains). The Rail Ninja site leads you to believe you get to pick your seat on the train, but it's just kind of a 'preference' thing -- neither acknowledged or guaranteed. My complaints to Customer Service were just met with bot-like email replies.
Just go to RENF.com instead -- pick your seat, pay less.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-07-01
Dear Patrick,
Thank you for your review. At Rail.Ninja, we always aim to provide our travelers with the most comfortable seating arrangements possible on the train. We make every effort to ensure that passengers are seated near the window, next to each other, and facing forward whenever possible. It's important to note that the availability of the best seats is often limited as they are typically booked well in advance by travelers. We noticed that your reservation was made just 2 days before the departure date, which can be challenging during the busy summer season, especially on popular Spanish routes that attract many tourists. If you had reached out to our team before your departure, we would have been more than happy to assist you in selecting the best available seating options for your journey.
The ticket prices are twice the face value. What a rip off.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-07-01
We're sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction with the ticket prices. Our pricing includes various service fees for booking and support. We value your feedback.
I bought 2 tickets for the train to Bergen from Oslo for my girlfriend and me but it looks like we’ve not been seated together!?
Mary Hamilla
Mike Niederberger
7/19 travel; leave Oslo 426p (?)
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-28
Dear Mike,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. After reviewing your reservation, we noticed that your bookings were made separately without specifying the need for seats to be assigned together. As a result, the system allocated seats separately. To ensure that you are seated together in the future, we recommend booking your train tickets in advance and leaving seat preferences.
In case of any questions contact our support team via e-mail or online chat.
The website was easy to navigate but fees horrendous…
The website was easy to navigate and understand but the service fees are not displayed and are horrendous. On a round trip pair of tickets they were $60 one way and $50 back. Seek another route.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-28
Dear Peter,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We understand the importance of transparency when it comes to pricing. Rest assured, the final price, including any service fees, was clearly displayed to you at the last step of the booking process before you authorized the payment.
I booked a first class ticket and did not receive the seats I requested
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-07-01
Dear Simon,
Thank you for your review. We apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. In order to assist you effectively, could you please provide us with more details regarding your reservation? This will help us locate your booking and address your inquiry promptly.
Booked bullet train from Shanghai to Shenzen using Rail Ninja. Whilst the process seemed easy enough and it seemed legit, it turned out they put a huge mark up on the ticket prices and what should have cost us $220 NZD cost is $490 NZD - my fault for not checking it out enough.
We got sent our ticket confirmation with what looked like clear instructions to validate the ticket at the Automated Ticket Machines . This turns out not to be an option and you need to speak to a person - all a bit stressful when your in a country where most people don’t speak English.
The information that was supplied by Rail Ninja was very light on detail, in fact there was no detail, including restrictions in what you could carry in a train - don’t take anything larger than 150mls, deodorant, hair apart etc etc all got confiscated.
I would not use them again ever - even if they hadn’t ripped us off with the ticket price, they provide no value to the service. But I used them as I was wary of “dodgy “ Chinese websites - my bad!
Avoid at all costs there are other ways to buy your train tickets
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-28
Dear Robyn,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your feedback. We appreciate your input and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. At Rail Ninja, we are constantly working to improve our platform to ensure a smooth and user-friendly booking process for all our customers. Your feedback is valuable to us as we strive to provide the best service possible.
Booking was relatively straightforward but the ticket said it would include a seat reservation. We didn’t have the option to select our seats and have not been assigned them several days later….
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-24
Dear Meg,
Thank you for your review. At Rail.Ninja, we always aim to ensure that our travelers have a comfortable and enjoyable journey by assigning seats that meet their preferences whenever possible. We understand the importance of having seats near the window, next to each other, and facing forward during your train ride.
Please be aware that certain rail carriers do not offer the option to choose specific seats as they are automatically assigned by the system. If you provided any preferences or special requests during booking, rest assured that we took them into consideration when reserving your seats.
I booked a 10:12am train, and upon receiving my tickets half an hour later learned that I’d been put on a 9:33 train. If I couldn’t get the tickets I needed on the 10:12 train, I’d rather just not be able to buy them - I don’t want to take the earlier train but I can’t change without a fee. It’s just annoying.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-28
Dear Megan,
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We hope your trip went smoothly and that the tickets you accepted served you well. If you have any additional feedback or questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Hi there,
I've not yet ridden your trains so can leave no review. Sorry for the earlier review as I thought it was from the Metro in Chicago. I'd recently rode trains there and the review was intended for them.
Thank you
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-24
Dear Jerry,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. After reviewing our records, it appears that we were unable to locate any past trips associated with your account at Rail Ninja. In order to assist you effectively, we kindly ask that you provide us with your order details so our support team can address any inquiries or concerns you may have.
Our first lower cost reservations were cancelled. And the website would not allow me to make an adjustment. After your site refunded our funds, I was able to make more costly reservations through your site.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-24
Dear Ron,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We apologize for any disappointment you experienced regarding the ticket prices. It's important to note that ticket prices can fluctuate based on demand and availability, which is why booking in advance is often recommended to secure the best rates. We appreciate your understanding and hope that your future journeys are comfortable and enjoyable.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
We bought tickets in January for a trip in June, from Oslo-Bergen-Oslo. We paid for a 2-bed-cabin fully in advance. In march we were informed there were no more cabins available and we either could cancel or take regular seats. On the website the cabins were still offered though! Since we had already booked all other things, there was no other option than take the regular seats. We were refund the difference. Still, it felt like misleading advertising. And we tried to make an upgrade when we were in Bergen (costed a lot more) from the regular seats to a cabin, so they were actually avaialble at the end. Once we were in Norway, we were told many times that Rail Ninja seems to be a scam. I was glad that we at least got regular seats. Please buy only your tickets in the websites from the transport service providers.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-24
Dear Traveller,
Thank you for your review. In order to assist you further, could you please provide us with the missing details related to your booking? This will help us locate your reservation in our system and address any queries or questions you may have.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
We asked for seats together, but they were far apart. We asked for front-facing seats, but we got two rear-facing seats. We were disappointed not to be able to choose seats. The seats we got were really poor, given that we went first class and booked weeks ago. Rail Ninja responds that the seats are together because the numbers are consecutive, but on this train, these seat numbers don't provide seats together. So, the system doesn't understand the seat configuration on each train. Consecutive seat numbers do not mean seats together. You are not getting a human assigning seats in an intelligent way.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-18
Dear William,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced with the seat reservations. We understand that having your seats together is important for a pleasant journey. Upon checking our system, we can confirm that your seats #25-26 and 83-84 are indeed reserved together.
For future bookings, we recommend considering making reservations 90-120 days in advance to have a wider selection of available seats. This will give you a better chance of securing the seats that best suit your preferences.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
I do not recommend booking with Rail Ninja if you can book directly with the train service. Rail Ninja does not use any discretion in seating assignment. You can pay a huge premium to advance book a first-class seat with Rail Ninja and sill not have any flexibility with seat location—and end up with a seat next to the bathroom or exit door. Rail Ninja is not helpful in correcting this. You have to go to the train line directly. Regret my decision to use them. Won’t make the same mistake twice!
And my complaint is not with regard to a booking in Italy, it concerns a booking upcoming from London to Glasgow. So the reply from RailNinja is irrelevant. The seat in Italy was Club and was just fine. The seat assigned for my upcoming trip is not the best available!
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-13
Dear Kathryn,
Thank you for your review. We wanted to address the concerns you raised regarding the seating arrangements on your train journey from Naples to Rome. The cabin seat you were assigned is the best available choice due to the limited number of cabins on the train. I apologize if this allocation did not meet your expectations. In general Rail Ninja always strives to provide the best seats to ensure a comfortable journey for our travellers.
While not all rail carriers allow seat selection from a seating map, we understand your disappointment with the assigned seats from London to Glasgow. As there were no seat preferences in your booking, the system assigned the seats randomly, we are sorry to hear they do not match your expectations.
Too expensive tickets, almost twice as expensive as on IrishRail.ie
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-12
Dear Michael,
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment you may have experienced. Our dedicated teams strive to provide exceptional service to all our travelers. In addition to booking train tickets worldwide, we offer extra services such as luggage delivery and private transfers to enhance your travel experience. Our user-friendly website is available in over 15 languages to make booking convenient for our customers. While this may result in higher prices, we aim to deliver added value and convenience to our customers.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
COMPUTER LITERACY IS NOT COMMON. I EXPECTED TO FIND A BUTTON SAYING PRESS TO PRINT YOUR TICKETS. I DID NOT FIND ONE. IT WAS VERY COMPLICATED TO RICH THE PRINTING STAGE.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-13
Dear Christos,
Thank you for your review regarding the issue you faced with printing your tickets. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Your e-tickets were indeed sent to you via email, and they are also accessible in your personal online account for your convenience. If you need further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our support team.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
everything ok but the tickets sent where in Austrian not English so I cannot check if correct with the booking
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-13
Dear David,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We understand the importance of having clear and understandable ticket information for your journey. Our team has already sent you translations of the tickets via email to ensure you have all the necessary details in a language you are comfortable with. Should you need further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
Works, but very expensive compared to booking from the railway company.
We ended up paying 1500 Kč (66 USD) for two 1st class tickets from Prague to Plzn.
We then received the tickets, and the price for these tickets are 570 Kč (25 USD). Checked it when we found the national railway company's site, and yes: We paid almost 3 times the price through Rail Ninja.
This is due to a service fee + what I reckon is a very bad exchange rate in Rail Ninja's favor (we paid in USD).
So 930 Kč for nothing.
These were flex tickets, but as our trip was less than 24 hours away it wasn't possible to cancel.
We booked the return tickets through the railway company (české dráhy), and it was not only much cheaper, but also s more user friendly experience.
To sum it up: We got the tickets through Rail Ninja, but we do not recommend it.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-06
Dear Kai,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. Our team is dedicated to providing a user-friendly experience for travelers around the world.
We strive to make the booking process seamless and offer a wide range of travel options through our partnerships with different train companies. At Rail Ninja, we aim to enhance your entire journey, from our user-friendly website to additional services, and top it off with excellent customer service. Our team is always here to assist with any inquiries, handle claims with suppliers, and ensure your travel experience is as smooth as possible.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
The price was significantly higher than on site of Portuguese train service.
It was not clear to me that I must pay almost double when getting my train ticket on this platform.
The ticket costs 44 EUR instead of 23,55 EUR.
EDIT (06.06.2024)
Let me rephrase: it was not clear to me that RailNinja charges 21 EUR more in additional fees than the actual ticket costs.
There was no transparency that the actual train ticket costs 23,55 EUR and then 21 EUR are added for additional fees. I only found that out after I received the e-ticket and there it states the train ticket costs 23,55 EUR. I then went on the Portuguese train website and saw that the same train costs only 23,55 EUR as issued on the e-ticket.
I understand that there might be some
extra fees since you also need to earn money, but almost double of the original price seems a bit too much; especially when charging 26 EUR for ticket cancellation. So that I don’t have the chance to cancel the tickets here and get them directly on the Portuguese train service website.
Reply from Rail Ninja2024-06-04
Dear Beatrice,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We want to assure you that the amount you were charged aligns with the total you agreed to during the booking process. The final price displayed to you included all applicable fees, ensuring transparency in the booking transaction.
It's important to note that additional charges can fluctuate based on various factors, including ticketing fees, currency exchange rates, partner fees, and taxes. These extra costs are influenced by a combination of elements and may vary from one booking to another.
Kind regards,
Rail Ninja
