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Extending TGV seat reservations (France / Germany)

  • June 9, 2025
  • 7 replies
  • 140 views
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I have bought an Interrail passholder fare for TGV9577 Paris Est - Karlsruhe. Due to a change in timetable I need to extend my journey to finish in Munich.

Can I:

  • Extend the passholder fare that I already have to cover the new destination? OR
  • Buy a separate seat reservation for the Karlsruhe / Munich section? (Ideally booking the same seat so I don’t have to move...)

A timetable search indicates that a seat reservation for this service from Karlsruhe to Munich is actually optional. Is that correct?

(Further details in case they matter: travelling on a second glass global interrail pass. This is for a family of 5, so keeping the same seats would be *really* helpful!)

 

Thanks!

Best answer by AnnaB

Seat reservations on the TGV in Germany are optional so unless someone else has made a reservation for your seats you can stay in them. But, as there are 5 of you I would make seat reservations from Karlsruhe to München. If you have a child under 15 in your group you get a discount on the seat reservations if you maje the reservation through DB.

7 replies

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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
  • Railly clever
  • Answer
  • June 10, 2025

Seat reservations on the TGV in Germany are optional so unless someone else has made a reservation for your seats you can stay in them. But, as there are 5 of you I would make seat reservations from Karlsruhe to München. If you have a child under 15 in your group you get a discount on the seat reservations if you maje the reservation through DB.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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ralderton
Railmaster
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  • ralderton
  • Railmaster
  • June 10, 2025

Depending on where you made your reservation, you might be able to cancel for free and rebook it as Paris-Munich (but do make sure there is sufficient availability better you do that! The cancelled seats aren't guaranteed to become available again).

Otherwise, you can stay in your seats and take the risk that nobody has reserved them.

If you do reserve Karlsruhe-Munich seats on the DB website, check if you can select then from a seat map - I don't know if they offer this for the TGVs.

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Railly clever
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  • eurocity101
  • Railly clever
  • June 10, 2025

 

If you do reserve Karlsruhe-Munich seats on the DB website, check if you can select then from a seat map - I don't know if they offer this for the TGVs.

Unfortunately, they don’t...

I'm NOT working for Interrail/Eurail.
ralderton
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N
  • NMcG
  • Author
  • Rail rookie
  • June 11, 2025

Thanks for the replies. In the end I rebooked the seat reservation Paris / Munich and then claimed a refund for the Paris / Karlsruhe original. It cost me the booking fee (10 Euro), but I guess making onward seat reservations would have cost me more than that anyway.

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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
  • Railly clever
  • June 12, 2025

If you only paid 10 EUR for Paris-Karlsruhe, then that was not a seat reservation that is valid with Interrail/Eurail. The correct cost for a seat reservation on an ICE-train between France and Germany is 19 EUR per person. If the reservation is made through DB and if there are children under 15 in the group, there's a family discount.

How much did you pay for the new reservation?

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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Railly clever
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  • eurocity101
  • Railly clever
  • June 12, 2025

^^I’m not sure if ​@NMcG meant a service fee for refunding his reservations.

If he bought his reservation through eurail: 5 x 2€  = 10€

I'm NOT working for Interrail/Eurail.
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  • NMcG
  • Author
  • Rail rookie
  • June 12, 2025

If you only paid 10 EUR for Paris-Karlsruhe, then that was not a seat reservation that is valid with Interrail/Eurail. The correct cost for a seat reservation on an ICE-train between France and Germany is 19 EUR per person. If the reservation is made through DB and if there are children under 15 in the group, there's a family discount.

How much did you pay for the new reservation?

Sorry - my message was misleading. 

Yes: I paid the 19EUR per person for the pass holder reservation. But I was refunded the original cost minus a 10EUR service fee. So the net cost to me for extending the reservations was only 10EUR.

Thanks for flagging this though - I should've been clearer.

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