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Train Rotterdam to Berlin - booking question

Posted by Pat (San Diego, California) on 02/22/26 03:46 PM

You all have been essential in planning my spring trip to the NL and Belgium. I'm traveling with a friend for part of the trip. She leaving Rotterdam and taking a train to Berlin, and this is where the question lies:

Her ticket is April 25, Amsterdam Central to Berlin HBF, and cost €99 + service fee. She has used RailClick (don't know what this is.) The confirmation says "Includes open Ticket."
She does not have a seat assignment, and that concerns her, along with a specific train. This is making her uncomfortable. Should she be?

I think one of the problems may be using a third party broker? I'm sure one of the experts will have some wisdom here. I'm guessing she should cancel and book directly on DB. What are the recommendations?

Please help. Thanks so much!

Posted by ChinaLake67

NorthCarolina

02/22/26 04:11 PM

1249 posts

Never use third party sites. Go to Seat61.com and learn how to book this ticket and do it that way. It is such a helpful site with all questions about trains. You can even email the owner of the site, Mark, and he will tell you what to do. We refer to the site every time we travel to Europe. For trains in Germany, we always book direct DB site and have the app on our phone.

Posted by Mark

Schwerin

02/22/26 05:03 PM

4520 posts

Never heard of RailClick. Which ticket fare did she buy?

Seat reservation is not mandatory for long-distance trains in Germany but if filled up with reserving guests a traveler needs to stand / sit in the isle or in the board restaurant. On DB website she can do seat reservations without booking a ticket.

Posted by Pat OP

San Diego, California

02/22/26 05:13 PM

6876 posts

Mark, second class, as far as I can tell. Thanks, that's great info about booking a seat.

Posted by jkh

Northwest Arkansas

02/22/26 05:27 PM

1044 posts

If she can, cancel her ticket and purchase at either https://netherlandsrails.com/en or https://int.bahn.de/en/ She will be able to book a specific train and time and get a seat reservation.

Since this is a 5+ hour trip. She may want to consider First Class. Only around a $20-25 fare difference.

Posted by Mark

Schwerin

02/22/26 08:49 PM

4520 posts

Pat, the class was not the question. The fare like shown in the link was the question, e. g. Flex or Saver.

Posted by Dutch_traveler

The Netherlands

02/22/26 08:54 PM

2114 posts

@jkh; I’m sure it’s an honest mistake but the first link you shared is just another 3rd party ticket reseller. The official website for international train travel of the Dutch national railways company is https://www.nsinternational.com/en

Posted by Pat OP

San Diego, California

02/23/26 06:17 AM

6876 posts

Thanks everyone, we will see what happens. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help!,

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