Seat Guarantee

Posted by david_guzman171 on 07/02/25 06:37 AM

Hello.

We will be traveling to Switzerland next week(July10th) as a family of four with two kids under 5 years. I am looking at reserving seat guarantees to popular attractions such as Brienz Rothorn train. Do i need to purchase seat guarantees for my two children ? I am aware kids under 6 years travel for free essentially everywhere in Switzerland so I wasn't sure about guaranteed seats. For context, one of our kids is very young so they can sit on our lap and the other will need their own seat.

Posted by Mr Ë 🇺🇸 🇺🇦

Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest

07/02/25 07:57 AM

23012 posts

I would presume that if everyone in the carriage has reserved a seat, and the carriage is full, then your son will be standing unless he has a seat reservation as well. People say trains never sell out, but I have been on two standing room only trains in the past week, so you never know .... until you know.

I don’t know about Swiss trains. Here where I live, I ride the trains for free because of my greatly advanced age and its implied wisdom; but I can still purchase a seat reservation ... and do.

Posted by wanderweg

Nashville, TN

07/02/25 08:37 AM

1046 posts

For Brienzer Rothorn, go through the ticket purchasing process and you'll see that all children, even 0-5 need a seat guarantee if you want to make sure everyone gets on. Their ticket is free but they're counted towards the total number allowed on these little trains because they are small bench seats where everyone is smushed in together with no personal space.

Posted by WengenK

Wengen

07/02/25 08:52 AM

3199 posts

It is not really a "seat guarantee" as on the Brienzer Rothorn Bahn everyone sits. There is no standing on those trains. Everyone has a seat.

So that means that they let as many people on board as can sit, and if the train is full you may have to wait till the next train. But you can buy ticket including a guarantee that you will be on a particular departure. That is what this "seat guarantee" means. It's not really a reservation is with the big railways.

You will see when buying tickets on the site that one option is labeled "Child 0-5y or with Juniorcard". This is what you choose for a child that does not need a ticket, but you still want a seat for. (The Juniorcard is a card you can buy that gives free travel to children 6-15y.)