I'm traveling with a group of 4 to Munich during Oktoberfest. We plan on going to the fest on a Thursday. I reserved a 10 person table (even though there are only 4 of us) at Festhalle Schottenhamel.
What do I do with the extra 6 seats that we won't be using? Should we have not have reserved a table? I haven't confirmed it yet, and just got an email asking to confirm
Thoughts? Recommendations?
Thanks!
Michelle
I don't know the answer to this Michelle, but huge pat on the back for asking instead of just barging ahead. You are a fine, considerate traveler, good on ya.
We went on a weekday in the early afternoon and stayed until about 6 p.m. We had no problem at all being seated in several tents without reservations at any of them. To my way of thinking, the afternoon is better than the evening since there is just as much music, food, and bier as in the evening and just as many things to do and people with whom to mix and mingle as in the evening -- but without the overwhelming numbers of people.
So TC... If we didn't reserve a table, we wouldn't risk not being able to get into a tent with a group of 4?
If you go early enough in the day you will not need a reservation. I went with a group of 6 and we just took an open table but we got there before lunch on a weekday. The reservations start around 5:00 pm at which point they will kick you out for the people that reserved. On a Thursday I think you would be fine without a table as long as you are okay with enjoying the festivities earlier in the day, weekends are more crowded. Once the reservations start you can try and make friends with others in the tent but there would be no guarantees. They don't let you just wander around the tent and drink/eat, you must be at a table.
If you want to keep the reservation I would think it would not be difficult to find others that would be interested in joining you, but I am not sure about getting your money back on the reserved seat.
If you go in the early part of a weekday afternoon reservations, in my experience, are just not necessary. We got there about 1:30 p.m. and went to at least three tents before leaving just before 6 p.m. During that time I don't think any of the tents were completely full. But that's just our experience. Perhaps others can offer what they encountered going in the afternoon?
Another thing to consider if your reservation is with the tent and not a reseller is that you will get ten persons worth of vouchers ( usually one beer and one voucher for €10 of food or drink ) that the four of you can use. Most people have more than one Maß at Oktoberfest. You can even use the vouchers on another day in the same tent.
Trying to sell the extras places is probably going to be more hassle than it's worth.
DJ
Hi Michelle- if your reservation for 10 is at 1 PM in the afternoon on Thursday, cancel it. You will not have any trouble getting in most of the tents with only 4 persons and staying until 4 to 6 PM without a reservation. I suspect the price for your reservation for 10 is at least 250 € and you will get a Bier and half a chicken per person in addition to the seat reservation. The normal price for a Bier and half a chicken will be around 22 -24 € without a seat reservation. So paying the extra 150 € or so might not be worth it.
If you want to go around 4 to 6 and stay until closing it will be hard to get seats in some tents if the weather is good. The reserved tables have placards stating when the reservation starts. And not all tables in all tents are reserved every evening. But unless you get there by 2 PM or so most of these tables that are unreserved for the evening will be taken by folks who arrive at 2-3 PM and stay for most of the evening. And sometimes 1 or 2 people will claim a whole table at noon and keep it for their friends who arrive later. Sometimes the waitresses can get you an unreserved seat in the evening (Suggest a 10-20 € tip depending on the seat location).
You do realize that every tent (at least in my experience ) has an outdoor Bier Garten. And these seats are not reserved. And a lot of them have overhead heaters so you don't freeze if it is cold. Of course the smokers all sit outside since smoking is not allowed in the tents. But if the weather is very good (No rain , 65-70 degrees) try to get there by 4 PM on Thursday at the latest even to set outside. And don't forget the carnival rides...
Have a great trip!!!
What day are you going? I might buy 4 of them from you!
