Glacier express best approach for getting reservations for Excellence Class or 1st Class

This page on Seat61 might help.
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/glacier-express.htm#how-to-buy-tickets

I took a look on the GE website, and apparently for Excellence Class they release seats more than 93 days in advance. Here is what it says on the website:

Reservations for Glacier Express in 1st and 2nd class can be made at the earliest 93 days in advance. The Excellence Class on Glacier Express can be booked online for the entire timetable period.

https://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/menu/services/faq/#:~:text=Reservations%20for%20Glacier%20Express%20in,for%20the%20entire%20timetable%20period.

Most likely the tour companies book the seats as soon as they are released, and then later release the ones they have not sold to their clients. This reflects the highly tourist-promoted aspect of the Glacier Express and “Excellence Class” in particular. Tour companies can grab all the expensive seats, and then use this to promote their tour. They can make a lot of money on this.

But do you really want Excellence Class, or the whole Glacier Express in general? I have been on a platform at Betten, where the GE does not stop, watching the GE pass slowly by while we waited for our regional train. Honestly, everyone I saw through the windows on the train looked bored. Some were asleep. I could see this from the platform because the train is on either rack rails at this point, and going very slowly.

There are lots of great experiences to be found in Switzerland; do you really want this one? The regional trains travel the same tracks with the same views, but without the pricy extras.

Edit: Regarding the comment that “tour groups, probably like the ones posters on here use, are the reason it is so difficult”, I will note that the Rick Steves tours do not include the Glacier Express Excellence Class. Or maybe not the Glacier Express at all; I have no idea as we have never taken a Rick Steves tour. Actually, many or most of the people who post here, including myself, are independent travelers and do not take guided tours of Switzerland at all.

The tour companies that do book the Glacier Express Excellence Class are most likely the ones that promote luxury travel with fancier hotels and concierge services.

We are also from Melbourne, and are booked in Excellence Class in October. I booked those reservations last November, 2023. Excellence Class reservations open much earlier than first and second.

It seems that tour groups, probably like the ones posters on here use, are the reason it is so difficult . I believe that they are often released closer to the travel date though so it is worth keeping trying.

Even when I booked all those months ago, there were already a lot of seats in Excellence Class taken.

Thanks for your responses to my question. Ideally I’d we happy with 1st class on the side of the train that has 2 seats facing each other. I don’t want to be sharing seats with strangers on the group of 4 seats across the aisle. The problem I see is that if I wait until 93 days then 1st class will also be likely sold out. If I book a package then they may just put us somewhere randomly in the carriage.

Tour companies dont book seats 93 days in advance. They book them months in advance.

The 93 day release date is only for individual tickets. Tour companies work with the train's sales department and guarantee a certain number of passengers for the season. They also agree on a release date when tickets on hold for the tour groups are released to the public. Unfortunately, there is no way to find out when this is.