I purchased a Eurail Global Pass: 4 days in 1 month - 1st Class ticket for my wife and I for travel next month. I can’t seem to use the pass to book and reserve seats. Eurail has no phone number to call either. We are going throughout France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. I would prefer to prebook these seats.
Answer
I need help
Best answer by zagmund
Your pass is your ticket (or permission) to travel.
Your seat reservation is permission to sit in a specific seat in a specific carriage on a specific train at a specific date and time. They are conceptually linked, but are still distinct. You could have a reservation, but no ticket - problem. Or you could have a ticket but no reservation - problem if your train requires one, but not a problem if your train doesn’t require one.
Seat reservations are optional on some trains, not available at all on others, and mandatory on yet others.
If you go into the app and enter a trip from say Dublin to Galway at 15:00 on 31st August, then (after the additional step of confirming that you actually want to consume 1 of your 4 travel days on 31st August) you now have a valid ticket which will allow you to travel on the train at that time, on that day. This is an example of a trip that does not require reservations.
Now, if you go into the app and enter a trip from Paris to Geneva at 15:00 on 1st September the app will tell you that you need a reservation for that train. Because you do need a reservation (for a specific seat in a specific carriage) for that train. It will also tell you some places where you can buy the reservation, but the link provided by AnnaB above is a better resource for identifying the best place.
Check out (for example) bahn.de which is website for DB - the German carrier. You should be able to book a seat reservation for a train from Berlin to Munich or anywhere in Germany for something like €8. You are now in possession of a seat reservation which will guarantee you a seat. This is independent of your eurail.
Here you can read more about making reservations.
https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm
Your pass is your ticket (or permission) to travel.
Your seat reservation is permission to sit in a specific seat in a specific carriage on a specific train at a specific date and time. They are conceptually linked, but are still distinct. You could have a reservation, but no ticket - problem. Or you could have a ticket but no reservation - problem if your train requires one, but not a problem if your train doesn’t require one.
Seat reservations are optional on some trains, not available at all on others, and mandatory on yet others.
If you go into the app and enter a trip from say Dublin to Galway at 15:00 on 31st August, then (after the additional step of confirming that you actually want to consume 1 of your 4 travel days on 31st August) you now have a valid ticket which will allow you to travel on the train at that time, on that day. This is an example of a trip that does not require reservations.
Now, if you go into the app and enter a trip from Paris to Geneva at 15:00 on 1st September the app will tell you that you need a reservation for that train. Because you do need a reservation (for a specific seat in a specific carriage) for that train. It will also tell you some places where you can buy the reservation, but the link provided by AnnaB above is a better resource for identifying the best place.
Check out (for example) bahn.de which is website for DB - the German carrier. You should be able to book a seat reservation for a train from Berlin to Munich or anywhere in Germany for something like €8. You are now in possession of a seat reservation which will guarantee you a seat. This is independent of your eurail.
In Switzerland reservations are optional and making them is a waste of money. Train are frequent and you always find a seat.
In Germany reservations are also optional and for shorter travels during high season, and for all travels during low season, except maybe for a Friday or Sunday afternoon on a popular route, reservations are unnecessary.
In Italy, reservations are mandatory on high speed trains (FR) and IC trains. On regional trains, reservations are impossibile.
Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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