Train reservation questions...

Lori, in planning our recent trip and researching this subject, I found out that a rail pass does not guarantee you a seat. Fast trains, such as ICE, Eurostar, and night trains often require reservations which equates to additional $$. In planning our trip, I checked out train schedules using Rick Steves' website under Rail Pass Store and then clicking on Plan Your Trip. You can then connect to the Deutsches Bahn website and enter your travel info. On the train schedule, if there is a red icon with a R, then this train has a compulsory reservation. Per RailEurope, if you do not have a seat reservation for this train, the conductor will fine you. You can make these reservations at the train station in Europe or you can call Raileurope before you leave the States. It's less $$ at the train station in Europe.

We usually made our "seat or compartment reservation" when arriving in a city for our departure. They are inexpensive.

As the previous poster stated seat reservation are compulsory on some high-speed trains.

Reservations aren't even possible on local and most regional trains. For other trains they are recommended but not mandatory. If those trains are full and you don't have a reservation, you'll have to stand. They are required on high-speed trains. On night trains the reservation is included in the sleeping accommodation supplement you must pay, the price of which varies according to the type of accommodation you choose.

There is a Railpasses tab at the top of the page you're reading now. Click on it for detailed information about how passes work.

Wow! Thank you so much for all your replies! You have been so much help.

I travel without seat reservations most of the time (unless required). When you get on the train, above reserved seats there will be a card showing from what point to what point the reservation is for. Often seats are booked for only a small part of the journey, so you are free to sit there until the owner shows up, or after they leave. Occassionally I may have to stand, but I can only think of 1 or 2 significant times.

If you are very worried, or are taking a lot of trains, and/or overnight trains, call Herman at EurAide, he is wonderful! You just give him your schedule and he knows which trains need reservations and which do not. He charges a flat $50 fee for his services, which includes shipping and handling. He even put a rush on my ticket reservations so I would get them in time! EurAide number is: 1-941-480-1555

Lori,

I found the U.S. telephone number for Rail Europe on the Where-to-Buy Rail Tickets web site:

* http://www.eurailgroup.com/Rail%20Passes/Where%20to% 20buy%20Eurail%20Passes.aspx

* Telephone in U.S.: 1-800-4-EURAIL

I just submitted my reservations request from the Rail Europe web site at http://www.raileurope.com/us/

lori,

As the others have said, reservations aren't required on all trains, but usually MANDATORY on high speed trains (TGV, IC, ICE, etc.). These are NOT included in the cost of a Railpass, but ARE normally included if you buy P-P tickets.

In my experience, it's not necessary to buy train reservations before going to Europe; it's completely unnecessary and often more expensive (why bother even having to pay a $50 flat fee?). As mentioned in another post, I usually buy the reservations for my outgoing journey when I arrive in a particular town. Since I'm at the station anyway, it's easy to do.

In my experience, it's HIGHLY advisable to have reservations where required. The Conductor will fine you on the spot if you don't have the correct documents (this happened to me in Italy - I had reservations but they were incorrect in some way?)!

I also had one occasion where I had reserved a seat, but found someone else there with the same number! They had double-booked the seat!

Just a quick correction to most of the above. Reservations are not required on virtually all ICE trains in Germany. The exceptions are the very few Sprinter trains (early morning between Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, and maybe Berlin).

Paul