Hungarian railway company MÁV launches new 15% ‘smart discount’ – but scraps earlier, more generous fare cut
Hungary’s state rail and bus operator, MÁV–Volán, is introducing a new digital discount from Friday, offering 15% off all domestic intercity train and bus tickets purchased through the recently launched MÁVPlusz mobile app. The move, announced by MÁV CEO Zsolt Hegyi in a video message on Wednesday, aims to make travel more affordable during the busy Advent period – but it also replaces a previous discount scheme that allowed savings of up to 40%.
Universal 15% discount via the new MÁVPlusz app
According to Hegyi, the MÁVPlusz application is “the smartest route-planning tool” available in Hungary, capable of integrating every mode of public transport into a single journey plan. From 12 December, anyone who buys a domestic intercity train ticket, bus ticket or seat reservation through the app will automatically receive a 15% “smart discount”, regardless of when the purchase is made. This means tickets bought even moments before departure will still qualify.
The discount applies to both MÁV trains and Volánbusz services. MÁV stressed that the offer is exclusively available in the new app: users of older platforms will not receive the reduced fare.
The company said the initiative is designed to support those who do not travel regularly enough to justify purchasing monthly or regional passes, making occasional travel more affordable during the festive season.
Passes excluded: and a major discount quietly disappears
While the new discount is broadly available, it does not apply to county and national passes, nor to the Vármegye24 and Magyarország24 travel products, Telex reports. These will remain available at their current reduced prices, which also continue to include a 90% concession for students under the tariff reform.
However, the announcement has prompted debate after travellers noticed that a popular advance-purchase discount had been removed just days earlier. For several years, passengers who bought tickets well in advance (for example on the Budapest–Miskolc line) could save up to 40% with the so-called “smart ticket” scheme. This meant that a journey costing HUF 4042 (EUR 10.6) at full price could be booked for around HUF 2600 (EUR 6.8).
That option has now been scrapped without prior notice. From mid-December, advance tickets on MÁV’s website and both mobile apps have returned to full fare levels, meaning those same Budapest–Miskolc tickets for the Christmas period now cost the full HUF 4042.
MÁV: the new system is “fairer”
MÁV argues that the previous discount was only available to a limited group of passengers and depended on timing and available quotas. In its statement, the company said the new 15% reduction creates a “fairer” and more predictable system, as it applies to everyone at any time, whether they are travelling by train or bus.
The timing of the rollout, MÁV added, was chosen to ensure passengers could already benefit from the new scheme during the Advent and holiday traffic peak.
Although the replacement of a potential 40% discount with a universal 15% cut may feel like a price increase to many, the operator emphasises that the fares themselves have not changed: only the previous advance-purchase discount option has been discontinued.
