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HOW to reserve seats in EURAIL and can you edit reserved seats if you miss it?

  • 23 January 2023
  • 36 replies
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HI. I have read and known that apparently you can’t reserve seats from the actual Eurail planner app(which is frustrating). We will be traveling in April(after Holy Week)  from Milan to Rome, hence, I wanted to reserve seats ahead of time. What is the best site to do this for other trips as well or countries rather(Amsterdam, Paris, London, Brussels, Switzerland from Tirano). Thank you for your response.

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Best answer by BrendanDB 23 January 2023, 01:09

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Aa an addition to my query, I have just tried reserving a seat thru OBB as suggested but when I did a seat reservation only it said Ticket Unavailable. Does it mean there’s not more tickets?

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It means that tickets are probably not yet open for booking. Italy is always late in that. Which train(s) you were looking at exactly? (Time-date, the more details, the better advice you get).

Amsterdam, Paris, London, Brussels and trains between them should be reservable. Which trains you’re looking at exactly between those halts?

Note that reserving a Thalys between Amsterdam and Brussels (or the other way around) is usually not good value for money with a pass. It comes with a hefty seat reservation surcharge, for a fairly short distance where reservation free, very flexible and only a tad bit slower intercity trains exist. The reservation cost is often as much as cheap advance tickets.

 All guidelines for reservations not done via Interrail/Eurail can be found via this link:

EDIT: I checked, and there’s availability for april. Note that you cannot use “seat reservation only” when booking seat reservations in Italy via ÖBB (logic, I know...). Click on passenger/adult/ change button when booking ordinary tickets → select discount → Interrail/Eurail Global pass → the 10 EUR seat reservation should appear. 

This specific guide is also provided and well documented in the link mentioned above.

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thank you..can somebody tell me how the unlimited travel works please?for example on the april 18 we will travel to rome at 10am, does this mean if we travel or use the train until april 19 10am, it is still considered as 1 travel day?

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no, travel day means travel day. So on 18th you can travel. Only if you’d use a nighttrain starting before 19th, you could finish that trip.
But on 19th you can’t start any trip.

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can somebody tell me how the unlimited travel works please?for example on the april 18 we will travel to rome at 10am, does this mean if we travel or use the train until april 19 10am, it is still considered as 1 travel day?

A travel day is always from 0:00 until 23:59 and during that time, you can board as many trains as you like. If you board another train after 23:59, then you need a new travel day.

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Hello.thanks formyour reply..does that mean I will still have to have a ticket for all the travels within that day?Do i have to reserve a seat everytime,let’s say like trains within Rome like going to Vatican etc?

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Local transport within cities are not covered by Interrail/Eurail so for travels within Rome you need to purchase tickets for travels by bus/tram/metro.

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hi..thank you for all your responses..another question that I have is this..for example:

travelling from Interlaken to Zurich then from Zurich to Bern  to Interlaken within the same day, is that considered just 1 travel day? And do I have to pay the ticket from Zurich to Bern, Bern to Interlaken? or is that free?

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hi..thank you for all your responses..another question that I have is this..for example:

travelling from Interlaken to Zurich then from Zurich to Bern  to Interlaken within the same day, is that considered just 1 travel day? And do I have to pay the ticket from Zurich to Bern, Bern to Interlaken? or is that free?

 

There is nothing else to pay on top of your pass for these or other regular trains in Switzerland.

You can travel as much as you want in any direction you want on any valid trains for all of your pass days.

Reservations are not required or really needed on Swiss trains with the exception of a handful of special tourist services.

There are also a small number of tourist lines that passes are not valid on, most of these are around Interlaken towards Jungfraujoch.

This map shows Swiss lines, all solid and dashed lines are valid, only the dotted lines are not and if you wish to use these railways there is a discount for passholders.

https://www.interrail.eu/content/dam/miscellaneous/Map%20of%20Switzerland_SBB.JPG

 

 

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Hi AI_G..thank you very much for your response. 
 

for thise routes that I mentioned do I still have to plot that in my Eurail pass? you know, the one that you have to activate when you travel? So sorry if my questions are being silly but I’m just still a bit confused on how to use the Eurail pass to be honest

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Hi AI_G..thank you very much for your response. 
 

for thise routes that I mentioned do I still have to plot that in my Eurail pass? you know, the one that you have to activate when you travel? So sorry if my questions are being silly but I’m just still a bit confused on how to use the Eurail pass to be honest

 

You have to add EVERY train you take in your pass, this is a requirement of it’s use.

It also should be done before boarding.

In most cases the daily QR code that is generated once you activate a travel day is all that will be checked but there are checkers that will want to see their train listed as this is how revenue/use is assigned to their company/line.

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HI.Thank you for your reply. Will there be a train going from St Moritz to Luzern? 

 

And can I add the different times of travel as well like for example from Rome to Florence, or Interlaken to Bern and just activate it ones I have a definite time to board?

 

And is Amsterdam to London included in the Eurail pass?

 

Thank you so much for your patience in answering all of my queries

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HI.Thank you for your reply. Will there be a train going from St Moritz to Luzern? 

 

And can I add the different times of travel as well like for example from Rome to Florence, or Interlaken to Bern and just activate it ones I have a definite time to board?

 

And is Amsterdam to London included in the Eurail pass?

 

Thank you so much for your patience in answering all of my queries

1) Yes (with some changes, but don't worry. This is super smooth in Switzerland). 

2) Yes, most people do it this way.

3) Yes, but it has mandatory seat reservations, best get them asap. If not available from Amsterdam on your preferred dates, check Brussels-London, since it has more services. You can easily get to Brussels reservation free with the hourly IC from Amsterdam. 

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There is a limited number of pass holder seats on the Eurostar between London and mainland Europe. On popular departures and during high season those sell out weeks, and sometimes months in advance.

The best place to see the availability of passholder seats and make reservations on the Eurostar is 

https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Booking/Pass#TravelWish

If you don't get any result, press "later trains" and eventually you will find the next available connection. 

If you have a mobile pass you need to generate a Pass Cover Number in order to make the reservation at b-europe. You do that here in the PCN generator:

https://community.eurail.com/news-and-announcements-39/pass-cover-number-generator-is-live-5653

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thank you so much everyone..this is really helpful for domeond like us who has never been to eutope and havent use this pass..

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hi again everyone..another question has come in mind..

1- is there an app to check trains(including travel times) in europe(for countries like italy,switzerland,netherlands,france,belgium,london) that will get me from point A-B?

 

2- if we travel from amaterdam to brussels for a day trip, where can I check train travel times and fares?

 

3- how do I book a train via Eurail from London to Paris Disneyland? or do I have to have a stopover to Gare Nord and book another train going to Disneyland?

 

Thank you all so much.Very much appreciated

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hi again everyone..another question has come in mind..

1- is there an app to check trains(including travel times) in europe(for countries like italy,switzerland,netherlands,france,belgium,london) that will get me from point A-B?

 

2- if we travel from amaterdam to brussels for a day trip, where can I check train travel times and fares?

 

3- how do I book a train via Eurail from London to Paris Disneyland? or do I have to have a stopover to Gare Nord and book another train going to Disneyland?

 

Thank you all so much.Very much appreciated

1) On the website of Deutsche Bahn, or the DB navigator app. Or the respective websites or apps from each operator (for any real time updates on delays, track changes, works,... quite handy) 

Italy = Trenitalia; Switzerland = SBB CFF FFS; Netherlands = NS; Belgium = NMBS/SNCB ; travel to/from London from the rest of Europe = Eurostar.

For internal London travel I use the Citymapper app, a very handy thing including all local transport (underground, tram, bus, foot, bike, taxi,...). Not that in London only overground trains, national rail, and the Elizabeth line are included in your pass.

Citymapper is also usuable in the other Big cities of Europe, like Paris or Brussels. Google maps also does the trick quite often for real time information in almost every European country. 

2) Either NS international or B-Europe. Note that you do not need to pay any extra seat reservations fare if you travel with your pass, when using the hourly intercities Amsterdam-Brussels. Thalys is quicker on this route, but has high seat reservation fee and very limited pass holder places. If single advance  tickets are cheap (+/-30 EUR, you might want to consider buying ordinary tickets). But with Thalys you're bound to one train, so not very flexible in comparison to the hourly IC.

3) The dkrect Eurostar London Disneyland is not driving any more, due to Brexit difficulties and the aftermath of Corona. Two options from London: you change at Lille and switch to a direct TGV to Marne-la-vallée-Chessy. Or you go to Paris Gare du Nord and take the RER to Disneyland (RER, not included in pass; RER is not reservable). The option with change in Lille is probably more time efficient. @Sherly Ruiz at what date you want to do this trip?

The well documented seat reservations guide is already posted in my first reply. You can find guides there to check where to get your seat reservations, other than via the Interrail /Eurail reservation website. 

[3]

The direct Eurostar from London is still running (10.14 from London until the first Monday in June). You did write before that you'll go in April, so if this is correct there will still be a direct train. 

But AFAIK it's not that easy to reserve. I'm not sure if a reservation with eurail will fail or not. If it fails, you'd need to try to reserve by phone with b-europe / SNCB International. 

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good day everyone..i have managed to reserve seats as shown here..is this the actual ticket or do i still have to generate the barcode from the rail planner app?

 

Thank you

 

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This is a reservation. Your pass is your Ticket, you need to generate a QR-Code. But at the Eurostar gates you scan the reservation (don't forget to be soon enough at the Eurostar Check-in).

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hi again everyone..another question has come in mind..

1- is there an app to check trains(including travel times) in europe(for countries like italy,switzerland,netherlands,france,belgium,london) that will get me from point A-B?

 

2- if we travel from amaterdam to brussels for a day trip, where can I check train travel times and fares?

 

3- how do I book a train via Eurail from London to Paris Disneyland? or do I have to have a stopover to Gare Nord and book another train going to Disneyland?

 

Thank you all so much.Very much appreciated

1) On the website of Deutsche Bahn, or the DB navigator app. Or the respective websites or apps from each operator (for any real time updates on delays, track changes, works,... quite handy) 

Italy = Trenitalia; Switzerland = SBB CFF FFS; Netherlands = NS; Belgium = NMBS/SNCB ; travel to/from London from the rest of Europe = Eurostar.

For internal London travel I use the Citymapper app, a very handy thing including all local transport (underground, tram, bus, foot, bike, taxi,...). Not that in London only overground trains, national rail, and the Elizabeth line are included in your pass. -→ what do you mean it’s included in the pass? the trains around London?

Citymapper is also usuable in the other Big cities of Europe, like Paris or Brussels. Google maps also does the trick quite often for real time information in almost every European country. 

2) Either NS international or B-Europe. Note that you do not need to pay any extra seat reservations fare if you travel with your pass, when using the hourly intercities Amsterdam-Brussels. Thalys is quicker on this route, but has high seat reservation fee and very limited pass holder places. If single advance  tickets are cheap (+/-30 EUR, you might want to consider buying ordinary tickets). But with Thalys you're bound to one train, so not very flexible in comparison to the hourly IC.

3) The dkrect Eurostar London Disneyland is not driving any more, due to Brexit difficulties and the aftermath of Corona. Two options from London: you change at Lille and switch to a direct TGV to Marne-la-vallée-Chessy. Or you go to Paris Gare du Nord and take the RER to Disneyland (RER, not included in pass; RER is not reservable). The option with change in Lille is probably more time efficient. @Sherly Ruiz at what date you want to do this trip?

The well documented seat reservations guide is already posted in my first reply. You can find guides there to check where to get your seat reservations, other than via the Interrail /Eurail reservation website. 

 

 

Hi. Thank you for your response Brendan. Can you clarify for me regarding the Amsterdam to Brussels trip for me please? If I understood it right, we just go to the train station and just ride the hourly trains that run thru that route? Do I still have to generate a trip in the Eurail app?

 

Re the London to Paris, is Lille in London or in Paris? My reservation is from London to Paris Gord, can we still get off in Lille and just catch the train to Disney there? Do I have to generate a trip for this too?

Thank you

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This is a reservation. Your pass is your Ticket, you need to generate a QR-Code. But at the Eurostar gates you scan the reservation (don't forget to be soon enough at the Eurostar Check-in).

-- Hi Angelo. Thank you for your response. Can I just ask as well, the times in the rail planner and in the reservations are  actually different, which one is correct or do I follow as I’m getting a bit confused.(please note: I have not activated our pass yet, I’m not sure if this matters) Thank you

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@Sherly Ruiz Stick to the time mentioned in your reservation and the Eurostar website. The rail planner app is not trustworthy. 

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Hi. Thank you for your response Brendan. Can you clarify for me regarding the Amsterdam to Brussels trip for me please? If I understood it right, we just go to the train station and just ride the hourly trains that run thru that route? Do I still have to generate a trip in the Eurail app?

 

Re the London to Paris, is Lille in London or in Paris? My reservation is from London to Paris Gord, can we still get off in Lille and just catch the train to Disney there? Do I have to generate a trip for this too?

Thank you

Yes, indeed. The IC has yellow - blue carriages and always leaves at +/- hh:45 during the weekend from Brussels - Midi or leaves from +/- hh:28 from Amsterdam Central. 

You have to generate a qr code in the app for every train journey you take.

Lille is a city in the North of France. Usually the London-Paris Eurostar does not stop there. Only those to Brussels/Amsterdam. So getting off won't be possible.

You'll need to take the RER (Train like metro in Paris) to Disneyland. This is not included in the pass. Best take in Paris Nord the RER B or D to Châtelet Les Halles, and change there to RER A to Marne-la-vallée-Chessy. Tickets for the RER can be bought in the Eurostar bar on the train normally or in the RER stations. 

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Hello everyone.. Just want to know regarding travelling from Tirano, Italy to St Moritz via the Bernina Express, do I generate a QR code from the rail planner app for the tickets?  I have already reserved the seats..Thanks

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