Glacier Express

Try starting with this website:

https://tickets.rhb.ch/en/pages/glacier-express

I tried the “glacierexpress.ch” and it came up with no seats, any day. But when I used the Rhaetischebahn website, it showed the number of seats available in 1st class (ranging between 0 and 17) for each day in late August up to the 28th. And nothing after that, so I am thinking they start 3 months to the day in advance, not 93 days. but who knows.

So practice with that (it actually switches you to the same glacierexpress.ch website, but in German). You may need to have a SwissPass account—-do you? If not, you can do that here:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/swisspass/account.html

This is an online account that makes it easier to purchase tickets, passes, etc. on SBB. It does not require residency.

It is not the same as the residents’ account that comes with a card they can load with money.

Lola. The problem is we want to take the 11:18 am train from Brig to St. Moritz. That's where there is a lack of seats. In 2019, we took the train for a shorter distance from Zermatt. We reserved the seats the day before. Things have changed!

I do not see that problem. Using the link I gave you, I see there are multiple seats available in 1st Class on the 11:18 from Brig to St. Moritz every day from Aug. 25-28— the last four days of the reservation window. Not always 2 seats together, so that is why I suggest getting ready now to book right away as soon as the reservation window opens for your actual day of travel.

That means figuring out what time of day or night they release the reservations for the next day. It could be at midnight, or 1 am, or 7 am, in CET. You should figure out which it is, and convert that to your time zone so you can book the seats right when they are released.

If it is indeed one second after midnight, we in North America have an advantage, as we do not have to stay up til midnight. That would be 3 pm the previous day in my time zone, and I would be ready, all logged in to my SwissPass account and ready to pounce.

I hope Diane sees your second post, Lola. Just for fun I tried using your workaround and found seats at the end of August just as you did. And now 8/29 is available, but with only 5 First class seats left on the 11:18 train from Brig.. There are doubles, though.

So the seats must have been released hours ago. How do you go about figuring out the time? Do they post it somewhere on the website? Or maybe Man in Seat 61 knows?

When I try Lola's first link, it doesn't work for me. When it takes me to the Glacier Express site, I can't put in the departure and arrival towns. I used the Glacier Express site last night at midnight, and the 5 seats for August 29 were showing. They were not showing at 4 pm. I was hoping to get the 2 seats that are together on the one side of the car, but I'm sure none will be available when we go.

I would not despair. Early September is less busy than August.

Diane, what kind of device and browser are you using? I am on an iPad using Safari.

When I start with the RhB website (the link I provided) and touch “book”. It takes me to the glacier express.ch site, in German. If I touch (click on) the field labeled “von” (from), a menu of starting places appears. I choose “Brig Bahnhofplatz”—- no chance to write in anything. Then touch “Nach” (to) and choose St. Moritz from the list of stations that appears.

Then I touch the calendar under “Hinreise” and advance it to the latest date available, pick that, and it fills that date in the field there. Lastly, I change the default setting for 2.Klasse to 1.Klasse. Then hit “Weiter” and the next page asks how many travelers, and shows the 3 departure times from Brig, with the number of seats left. (The 5 seats Sasha saw earlier are still available). Select the departure time, hit “Weiter”, and the next page shows the train car (#35 in this case) with two seats pre-selected. If you wish to change one or both, first touch or click on the one you wish to change, then the seat you want to move it to.

Next page is where you put in details and payment.

It seems the problem you are having may be with the computer or device you are using. Can you try a different one? Do not give up; you should be able to work this out just as I have.

Lola, I have been using desktop with google chrome browser. When the link takes me to the glacier express site, google changes it to English. Then when I click on departure, it doesn't do anything. I can get the same results as you by just going directly to glacier express site. I did try your link on my ipad, and it stays in German and I can click on the departure and get the station.
I am thinking that they may be adding the new date at midnight. I am going to check just before 5 pm, and just after 5 pm and see what I get.
Thanks everyone for your advice.

OK, you are on the right track, and you have figured out what time they load the new date into the system. (And you have answered Sasha’s question on how to do that—-pick a time that seams likely (such as midnight local time in Europe), and check before and after that time to see if it changes. I have found a few sites that use GMT only, which means they do not change back and forth with daylong savings time; British Airways is one of those.

I have noticed that sometimes my husband has trouble with Chrome (which he uses on both his laptop and his iPad). I blame Google! And when I suggest he try Safari for whatever he is having trouble with, that usually solves the problem.

Well, it looks like my guess of midnight is not correct. I checked at 5pm, 5:30, 6:00, and 6:30. When I checked at 7:04 pm, the new day was posted. However, the seats where it's just 2 people facing each other are all taken. I can't help but think that they are booked ahead of time (tours?)before the date opens for the rest of us. I'm going to check on times again tomorrow to see if the next day becomes available at a consistent time. Maybe 7 pm central time.

Interesting. I just checked (6 pm PDT, so it is 3 am in Switzerland. Car 35 has 13 seats open, including quads (2 pairs seated facing one another) at 13, 14, 15, 16, and 43, 44, 45, 46; also a trio 33, 34, 36, and 2 aisle seats across from one another (53, 54). Is tat more than what you saw earlier?

That almost reminds me of what I found whenI was trying to figure out the slots for timed entry at the Fondaco di Teschi (rooftop terrace) in Venice. Time of release varied between 1 am and 3 am Italy time, but they did release all 50 slots for each time period simultaneously.

It is possible that tour groups get priory for some seats, but I am thinking that accounts for the completely booked carriages 32 and 33. They might hold those for group bookings, and later release any unsold seats to the public. Just a possibility. There is definitely a separate system for group booking, but they can’t possibly take ALL of them.

Yesterday when I was trying to figure it out I logged in to my SwissPass account to see if that made any difference. It did not, but I did get a nice email from RhB later, asking if I needed any help! And inviting me to contact them if I had any questions. I will dig up that email and see if there is a email address for a response. If so, I will return and provide it. I am sure it is OK for you to write a question about the booking proces in English, although the message was all in German.

But right now I must get busy making dinner.

Lola, Those seats were available earlier too. The ones that weren't available are; 14,12,21,22,31,32, 41,42, and 51,52. Of course, those are the ones I am interested in! I saw a contact email online that I could try. Someone on Tripadvisor was frustrated with her attempts to purchase seats and the lack of availability. She emailed them 3 times with no response. Maybe I will have better luck.

I emailed Glacier Express with my questions. Hopefully, they will respond soon.

So you are hoping for the single seats facing one another. Those are probably the most popular for couples and singles, so maybe the first to get chosen.

But you might also want to think about the views. I will post two links with discussions about that. You may want to look for more yourself, especially with respect to the direction of travel. Note that the seat map says that it does not indicate the direction of travel. That is in part because the train changes direction at Chur—-it comes in, stops, and then reverses direction to continue the journey.

If you look segment by segment, most opinions say, for eastbound travel, the best views are on the right side for Zermatt to Brig, left side from Brig to Andermatt to Chur, then right side again for Chur to St. Moritz (mainly, I think, to provide the best view of the Landwasser Viaduct as the train goes around the curve—-this can only be seek if you are on the right side). Man in Seat 61 says the same.

I believe Rick Steves guidebooks or travel tips say somewhere that the most scenic part of the journey is Brig to Disentis, so many people seek the best side for that segment as priority. So that would be the left side, which because of the reversal at Chur, conveniently become the right side as you head to St. Moritz over the Landwasser viaduct.

The trick is to figure out the direction of travel on the seat map. The one person who expressed an opinion in the forums I linked says the top of the map is the left side, as far as he has experienced. but that is not definitive, and you should look around for more information if this matters to you. If that is correct, the ending up with window seats facing one another across a 4-persona table would not be so bad.

https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/glacier-express-which-side-is-left-on-seat-map/

https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/seats-glacier-express/#:~:text=Which%20side%20of%20the%20train%20to%20sit%3F,obviously%20be%20the%20opposite%20side.

Thanks for the info, Lola. Maybe the quad seats would work out better. Glacier Express did not get back to me.

May I ask if aisle seat is OK if window seats are all taken on Glacier Express (2nd class)? I'm traveling solo. Do you recommend to change the travel date to obtain a window seat?