How to book your seat reservations

The Eurail website indicates that seat reservations will be sent electronically and that they must be printed out. Can they be shown on the device, rather than being printed out? I’m not certain of printing availability when I’m travelling in Europe for two months this summer.

Yes on the phone is enough. Only for night trains it is a good idea to print them as the carriage attendant might want to keep them for the night.

Note that some routes are very popular so you should book well in advance.

how much is the average rate for the seat reservation, we bought the 20 day unli pass, we’ve tried reserving for Zurich to Paris trip, and the reservation is around 65 Euro for us a couple. Is it the correct rate? we thought only for a few Euro like 6 or 8 Euros as we already have the unli pass.

Zurich to Paris is €29 in 2nd class, €39 in 1st. Book on raileurope.com to have no additional booking fees. It's expensive because SNCF see international passengers and pass holders as cash cows. You can save money by using a regular IC to Basel, a TER to Mulhouse or Strasbourg and only then a TGV to Paris, which will then cost €10 (limited availability) or €20.

Highly depends on the route, company, country. France has the most expensive reservations. Have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

Zurich - Paris direct trains cost 29€ per person and Interrail/Eurail websites adds 2€ fee per person per train (avoid the website and book elsewhere).

To save money : take any train to Basel, cross the border on a regional train to Mulhouse or Strasbourg and take a TGV from there. Domestic fares are 10€ (limited) and then 20€ until the train sells out.

Thanks for the prompt response, this is for an unli pass holder right? how much will that be if you are not a unli pass holder? We’ve bought the 20 day unli pass knowing we could save so much. 😭

unli pass? I have no idea what this is, can you link to what you have bought?

I am referring to this one, I thought this would give us free train rides to all/most of  Euro trains 

😭😭

Unli in unlimited, right? Now it becomes clearer.

The pass gives you unlimited travel on the vast majority of European trains. Sometimes you need to add seat reservations on top of the pass (extra costs). This highly depends on the country and company : France, Spain and Italy are very reservation-heavy. Have a look at : https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

On the other hand Eurail is excellent value in Switzerland (no reservations), Germany (optional reservations, required on some cross-border routes this summer) and the UK (free optional reservations). Last-minute tickets are expensive there and Eurail gives you full flexibility.

Where are you planning to travel ?

A 22 days pass is rarely the best choice unless you move every day. Note that transportation within cities is not included except sometimes suburban trains (not worth using a pass day).

To save money you could probably exchange the pass for a 10 days or 15 days within 2 months. There is a 15% sale right now too.

Questions welcome.

Berry wrote:

 

No. You can not buy reservations for these Spanish Renfe trains at French stations.

Reservations can be made online at either the Interrail reservation service or at www.happyrail.com .

Use this site for guidance on reservations across Europe https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm .

Al_G wrote:

Berry wrote:

 

No. You can not buy reservations for these Spanish Renfe trains at French stations.

Reservations can be made online at either the Interrail reservation service or at www.happyrail.com .

 

Use this site for guidance on reservations across Europe https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm .

Vielen Dank für die Info. Über eurail.com würde es funktionieren (90 Tage vor dem Reisetag). Happyrail funktioniert auf der Strecke wohl nicht. Bin aber doch erschrocken, wie teuer die Reservierungen sind (man muss ja pro Zug und Person ca. 15 Euro zahlen). Das ist ja kaum günstiger als ein Sparticket und das Interrail-Ticket haben wir ja schon gekauft. 

Naja Tickets sind viel teurer am 18. April (Karfreitag!) : 115€ für Avignon-Madrid und Madrid-Sevilla 32.50€.

Mit Interrail sparen Sie über 100€. ;)

Reservierungen sind manchmal billig, manchmal nicht: 3€ in Österreich, gratis in England aber 10-20€ in Frankreich, 35€ Paris-Barcelona, 30-35€ Eurostar...