Train Reservations

A word about terminology. A rail pass, such as a German Rail pass or a Eurail select pass, is a document which allow you unlimited rides on any number of mediocre trains in designated countries in Europe on a designated number of days. You must validate the starting date of a pass at a ticket counter before the first use. After that, you validate the pass for each day of use by writing in the date of use on the pass before boarding the train for a specific day.

"Reservation cards" or "reservation passes" have no meaning. You can reserve a seat on any train by paying a fee, €5,50, for example, for a first class seat in Germany. On certain premium trains, like Thalys, you must pay an extra "supplement" to ride and this supplement includes a seat reservation. You don't have to validate a reservation. Just show it to the conductor.

Thanks for this. As usual the forumers have come through with the goods. We have received our seat reservations. The reservation card looks like an airline boarding pass with the activation strip on the reverse side. Hence the question about activating before boarding the train.

That sounds like a French reservation(?). The only reservations I've ever made were with a ticket for Germany. They sent me a pdf file that printed out on 8½ x 11 paper with a ~3" sq "maze" in the upper RH corner (they called it a bar code). The conductor scans it with a special gun. Perhaps his "gun" also reads magnetic strips.

If they mail to you, I don't know what you get.

Validate on the 1st DAY you will use a Rail Pass Day. For example if it is cheaper to buy a point-to-point ticket....don't validate it then.

Thanks again

I may be wrong, but specifically regarding your reservation cards (I assume these are seat reservations required in addition to your pass) I do not believe you are required to validate them since they are for a specific train, time and seat.

You will activate/validate your pass before use, if it is a "select" or "flexi" pass (good for a certain number of days within a longer time period) you will also need to fill in the travel date (the current day you are travelling on), but nothing else should be required for the reservation except showing it and the pass to the conductor.

I agree, Paul. First, except for some conveyances of the transit districts (maybe just U-Bahns or trams), you don't validate tickets in Germany.

You don't have to validate the reservation. Other countries use validation (canceling) so you can't use an open ticket twice. The reservation is only there to prove you have the right to that seat for that route segment.

Except for a few ICE Sprinter, you never have to have seat reservations on German trains. You can sit anywhere that isn't already occupied by someone with a reservation. Sometimes a seat might be reserved for another segment of the train's travel. You can use the same seat for the rest of the train's route. Only if someone shows up with a reservation for that seat will you have a problem, and the problem will only be having to find another seat.

Now for France, ?