Yes, it looks indeed like the pass holder reservations are not free of charge anymore. I did some tests and ÖBB now only give free reservations when you book a flexible ticket at the same time.

I can still get reservations to/from Munich free of charge but otherwise yeah it doesn't work anymore.

Has anyone seen any written confirmation from OBB that they are now charging for Interrail 1st class passholder reservations, and that it is not just a temporary IT error? If you try to book a normal ticket (without Interrail), reservations are still free for 1st class, but 3 euro in 2nd class, so the 3 euro charge seems to only apply to 1st class reservations using Interail.

Nope, many people just noticed it. You could ask them of course.

Not only Interail, Eurail too - charges €3 for 1st class

There's no difference between Eurail and Interrail when it comes to reservations. 

Now? or you did a while ago? Try now!

It worked yesterday (CET time) and it still works now from/to Munich. Try it yourself!

I have tried this morning and now. Nope. Not even from/to Munich. It may show up €0.00. However, if you click in and tick 1st class -- €0.00; but if you tick Reservation €3.00 will be added in.

Well, pity but I think if you can afford a 1st class pass, then the 3 euro for a seat reservation also shouldn’t be the problem . The railway companies also have to earn some money from Interrail users :-D

€3.00 certainly not a big deal, if you don’t change your mind/schedule. The big advantage of using Pass is the flexibility. As the seat reservation is not allowed to change/refund/reschedule, it would be a problem even for one who can afford a 1st class pass, in my opinion.

If you make the reservation too early, you may end up change your plan and can’t use it. If you made the booking late, you may not be able to get your desired seat or a seat at all.

Then book via CD (cd.cz or app). They also offer reservations for ~€3 but you can cancel them and get a full refund until 15 minutes before departure time.

That’s true, but the problem is, if it is free, that many people do it and then don’t use it… but as the normal first class tickets are sold together with a free reservation, this leads to the problem that a train might be shown as fully booked but then 10 Interrailers don’t appear and the 1st class carriage is “half empty”. So it is understandable IMO, that they don’t offer it for free anymore.

Great! Thank you very much for info!

Munich definitely still works. Maybe not on all trains but here's a reservation I "bought" 2 minutes ago :

You are right. I have tried with your date. It works. But now with some date in summer. e.g. July, August.

It looks like free up to early June.

Anyway, I am not going to Munich this time. Just curious about this. 

Only hope this is a system error - for charging €3.00.  Will keep eyes on it.

Or they invented a new rule, with mandatory summer reservations, to earn a bit more money in the busy summer months?

Ahh.. in that case the compulsory reservation during summer is the reason.
If you buy a standard ticket it is included, but if you have an Interrail you’ve to pay extra for the reservation from June until end of summer 

Not all country require for seat reservation though. e.g. Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany etc. Seat reservation are not required in these countries.

They will be for cross-border trains this summer due to overcrowding in the last years : Brussels/Amsterdam - Cologne, Berlin - Prague, Munich - Salzburg,…

But the free reservations trick doesn't work within Austria either so I'm not sure that's the reason.

If you cross from any of those countries to Germany this summer, then there are seat reservations required (or from Germany to these countries). For domestic trains there’s no reservation required, that’s true.

Gee. you are right. I have just checked Rail Planer. From Köln to Bruxelles Midi, seat reservation is required in July. Luckily, I made the reservation in January. 

There may well be sound reasons for introducing a fee, as the discussion has suggested. OBB have always appeared to be one of the good guys when it comes to Interrail, but the fact that they seem to have sneaked this change out without publicising it anywhere, as far as I can see, leaves a bad taste. The combination of the new DB rules around compulsory reservations on many cross border trains durign the summer, and the poor timekeeping of many of their long distance trains means faffing about with changing seat reservations has removed some of the flexibility which is such a hallmark of Interrail usage in Germany and Austria.

That’s true, but best is to avoid high season so or so (in case you are able and don’t have kids where you are “stuck” to high season). This offers better value for accommodations, less overcrowding, fewer people on the trains and better availability of reservations where they are compulsory (and in this case no reservations for the mentioned routes into/out from Germany)

They also never published that they give free reservation to interrail first class holders! I’m sure it was an error in the system and never designed to be. But still sad. But the thing with the compulsory reservations is even worse. I mean. they could just let DB do their thing. In their territory only! For example between St Margrethen and Lindau, only ÖBB tariff applies. They could just say, no to DB: you want to introduce an unnecessary reservation obligation? Do it on your part, we don’t want to scam our customers!