How to make a mandatory rail reservation once I've already purchased a eurail pass?

Well, you've already sunk your money into the rail pass, so no need to redirect you on why they're a waste of money...

First, what countries are you talking about and are you planning to ride any of the special international services like Thalys or Eurostar? Are you planning to ride any other domestic high speed trains?

Generally, commuter and regional trains do not require (or even offer) reservations. Same with all purely domestic rail in Belgium and the Netherlands. I believe only a few trains in Germany require reservations (but rules may differ for pass holders). If you want to purchase a reservation for an Intercity Express, you can buy them at the station from the ticket machines. No need to buy them far in advanced unless you have a large group that you want to keep together.

I don't know enough about the rules on other countries' rail carriers to comment further.

as Tom said, it is very important that you share with us the countries involved - they all have different rules. It would be best if you would share your itinerary, or at least the towns and cities involved.

When is the trip?

'How do I use my eurail pass and make the future reservations?' - I continue to find extraordinary the number of people who purchase whatever rail pass without reading the terms and conditions of use.

I made this mistake in 2009 because we were going to be on the continent nearly 6 weeks, going to or through Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain and France (again) before we took the Eurostar to England, and because I thought it would be more convenient. Silly me and never again.

When needed, we made our reservations for the next trip at the train station when we arrived. That seemed to work out well, probably because we were traveling in September-October.

I will say that it was convenient when we didn't need to make reservations. I never compared in detail, but I believe we did pay a huge premium for that convenience.

Thanks for all the good information.

I'm thinking I will need a reservation between Amsterdam and Copenhagen. After lots of pondering and consulting, the global eurail pass came out as the pass of choice. Yep, it cost lots of loot. I will be traveling for 94 days and have a number of big legs on the trip. I will be in Spain for almost a month and booked an overnighter between Granada and Barcelona (required reservations). Then five days in France on on to Netherlands, Denmark, Berlin, interior Germany, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Bolzano Italy, Lindau, South west Germany Colmar France, possibly a long leg back to Verdun (not sure), and winding up in Munich. That's the general outline. Many of the stops will have three to five days to rest and explore. Vienna will be my big seven day break.

Sounds like my traveling in January, February, March, and April shouldn't be a problem getting reservations on the trains that require reservations. Also sounds like one day advanced reservation might work. Do you all agree?

Thanks,

Frank

Uh oh...94 days...you might have a bigger problem than making reservations. Google Schengen Agreement.

This is the dirty little secret about rail passes. Reservations are often difficult to acquire from this side of the Atlantic and/or more expensive here then over there. Many reservations are only obtainable here from RailEurope at an inflated price.

In a lot of cases, with high speed trains, the required "passholder reservation" includes a surcharge for what they consider a cut above what the rail pass includes.

Italian high speed trains, ie Frecciarosa, include a surcharge with the mandatory passholder reservation.

TGV does the same, but they limit the number of passholder reservations on any train, so you might find yourself having to buy a full fare ticket to get on a particular train even though you have a rail pass.

In Germany, except for the rare ICE Sprinters, reservations are just that, reserved seats, and reservations can be used with any valid ticket or rail pass. Reservations on German trains cost 4,50€ and can be purchased online as well as at the station. ICE Sprinters have mandatory seat reservations (4,50€) plus a 7€ surcharge or 11,50€ more than the price of a regular ICE on the same route without reservations (which would be fee-less with a rail pass).

CNL night trains have a full fare price that covers both the cost of the accommodations plus the rail part. For passholders, there is a lower fare just to reserve the accommodations because the rail part is covered by the pass. You can use the "passholder" fare if you have a Eurail pass, an Interrail pass, a BahnCard, or a ticket covering that class of train (IC?) on that route.

Be sure to pay attention to what Andrea said and I hope others see that and your 94 day comment and respond to them. The limit is 90 days combined in the countries you listed. Be sure to research that online and on the Helpline. If you go over the 90 in any 180 day period, you can face fines and worse. Although this series of postings -- https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/six-month-stay-in-europe -- is about a slightly different topic, there is a lot there about basic Schengen requirements. Be sure to read the posting by Dennis on 1/9/14.

I am going to Italy in April. I plan on starting in Bari and then, Matera, Reggio Calabria, Naples, Rome, Chiusi, to Pienza. The first leg mentioned is happening in two weeks, then staying in Pienza for two months. During time in Pienza will take a couple of trips probably to Florence, Pisa maybe Cinque Terra.

So, should I buy a rail pass? Was thinking of using a 2 month 10 day pass, but already know that I can't use a rail pass to get from Bari to Matera, and it is also complicated to get from Matera to Reggio Calabria. So the rail pass would be used from Reggio Calabria to Naples, Rome etc.

I know you have to make advance reservations, on some of these trains. After reading the posts, I am wondering if is is better not to buy a pass. Please give me some suggestions.

I used a rail pass in before, and it worked out fine, but someone else made all my reservations and I was in three countries, so it was different than just a one country pass.

Thanks.

Rita

OK, so since you haven't actually bought the pass yet, time to do your own leg work and compare costs. Not the inflated, 1st class only costs quoted by Rail Europe and other ticket resellers, but the actual price directly from the individual national rail companies. Your trip involves so many countries that rather than hyperlink each nation's passenger rail service, this guy's website has links to all of them (although you have to dig to find them). Only when you see the quoted ticket price directly from the operator, and considering the usual substantial 2nd class early purchase discounts if you can commit early to riding specific trains in advanced, and compare it to all the mandatory fees the rail operators place on pass holders, then consider if a pass saves you money. In about 10 years of spending too much time on this website, I don't think I've seen a single itinerary that ended up being cheaper with a rail pass, apart from the rare traveler who insists on traveling first class.

Now that we have a little better idea of your itinerary, I can make a few more comments, but I'll restrict them to the countries I know. Domestic trains within the Netherlands do not require or offer reservations, and are generall pretty cheap. Far cheaper than the daily cost of a rail pass. If I'm reading correctly, you're heading from France to the Netherlands. You will most likely ride the Thalys high speed service, and as others have mentioned, you would need to purchase a special supplement to ride this train. I'm not sure, but when you compare the daily cost of your pass plus the supplement, it's probably cheaper just to buy the advanced purchase ticket.

Amsterdam to Copenhagen is operated by two to three different companies and takes over 11 hours. Have you considered adding a stop somewhere in between to break up the trip? You didn't specificy from where in Denmark you plan to depart to Berlin, but if it's Copenhagen and you book in advanced, the trip costs as little as €59.

For "interior Germany", I refer you to Lee's post above.

And just to emphasise again, so that you're not caught breaking the law, you can only spend 90 days in the Schengen Zone (basically, every country on your trip) in any 180 day given period, unless you apply in advanced for a visa. But that's a whole other can of worms. So, you need to cut something out to stay legal.