I also just found out very recently :)

See the description here:

It should also be possible on TrenItalia ticket machines, but I heard it's a quite hidden option.

And for those who like these sleeper/overnight trains so much: as Italy is still quite severe in its anti-covid-spreading measures and the need for the ´GReen Pass´ to state you have been vaccinated. A recent report from another prospective pass-user showed that to book such a sleeper you now apparently need to give all details about your person in the system-including country of birth and all adresses where you think to stay whilst in bella Italia.

Maybe Angelo can try out how to get the machines to deliver a REServazione dalle posti a sedere? I remember that in the past this was quite easy, but since then I´ve only read it was withdrawn. Molte grazie!

I will try next week at the ticket machine. This week, due to a hacker attack against Trenitalia, the ticket machines was out of order. They started working again.  

@rvdborgt @seewulf  I saw something strange at the ÖBB Onlineshop. When you look for a trip like Bolzano to Rome with change in Bologna. DB-ÖBB Eurocity and than Frecciarossa, it says full trip bookable, but only 10€. I should be 10€ Eurocity fee + 10€ Freccie reservation. 

The first one is the Standard reservation for Freccie “Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr Aufpreis zu Interrail/EURail” but for the second trip with change in Bologna is it “Standard-Ticket + Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr Aufpreis zu Interrail/EURail”

When you book Innsbruck-Rome, or Munich-Rome it shows the correct one, “Aufpreis Brennerverkehr Passzuschlag 1 + Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr Aufpreis zu Interrail/EURail” for 20€.

P.S. it is also possible to book Interrail/Eurail Reservation for Eurocity Switzerland-Italy (11€ 2nd class, 13€ 1st class)

I will try next week at the ticket machine. This week, due to a hacker attack against Trenitalia, the ticket machines was out of order. They started working again.  

Very pleased to see this.

I posted a reply on Seewulf’s reservations thread a few days ago, but it seems to have been held up by the moderation system - in any case though, the conversation seems to be here, so here is where I’ll repost it.

I notice that when making any reservation in Italy with OEBB, the Choice of Coach field under Reservation Details always reads “Sitzplatzreservierung 2. Klasse”, even when the 1st Class box is ticked. I’m sure once you’ve booked you do in fact receive a 1st Class seat reservation, but I suppose it’ll only be possible to know for certain by testing it out.

Also, there are a couple of routes or stations that can’t be booked from. It is possible to book the daily Ventimiglia - Roma IC train from San Remo or Diano, but not from Imperia. And the international SBB service between Genova and Zurich can be booked, whereas the similar one between Bologna and Zurich cannot.

Even so, these are minor quibbles - on the whole, this new function is fantastic and will hopefully save a lot of passholders time and hassle :-D

I've found something else that looks peculiar:

This is for EC 134 in 2nd class. It's not a seat reservation (that would be €3 extra). I haven't found this anywhere on the Interrail website but it looks like the 10€ fee via Brenner :/

Edit: this supplement only appears for journeys Slovenia <-> Italy with an EC. Looks like Trenitalia may have introduced it.

I've found something else that looks peculiar:

This is for EC 134 in 2nd class. It's not a seat reservation (that would be €3 extra). I haven't found this anywhere on the Interrail website but it looks like the 10€ fee via Brenner :/

Edit: this supplement only appears for journeys Slovenia <-> Italy with an EC. Looks like Trenitalia may have introduced it.

...and don’t forget, one train daily begins from Vienna! A north-south Alpine crossing for well under €10 without having to faff about with S-Bahn or TiLo transfers :-D

The EC runs in Italy by ÖBB Railcargo Carrier Italy (like the RJ to Venezia via Tarvisio and NJ to Venice). ÖBB doesn’t get anything from Interrail for the Italian part, so you have to pay a fee to use it.

If that's reason for these supplements, then there's something wrong with the agreements on distributing the Eurail/Interrail income. It should be possible to make a fairly accurate estimation of the number of passengers using these EC trains with Interrail/Eurail and then get some money out of the income that the passes generate. What does ÖBB get from passengers with normal tickets?

It's great that you can now book online for trains in Italy via the OEBB website!
Thank you for letting us know.

What strikes me, and I am now trying to explain to OEBB customer service, is that there is a difference if you choose the English website, or the German website.

If you try to book a normal ticket, or an Interrail surcharge, for 1st class via the English website, the website will always show a seat for 2nd class.
OEBB customer service says there is no problem if you want a regular ticket, or interrail surcharge, in 1st class. But I was not able to book a normal ticket, or surcharge for Interrail, 1st class.
After requesting a screenshot from OEBB customer service as they continued to claim there is no problem, I saw it was on the German language website.

So, I've now tried it myself, and sure enough, if you use the German language website, you will get 1st class seat. And this for a regular ticket, as an interrail surcharge.

Good work, I’m still waiting on my own reply from OEBB customer service about this but I will now know what to expect!

It’s a bit annoying, but I suppose booking via the German site is at least doable, especially if done on Chrome with automatic web page translation.

I’d be curious to see whether this problem would still apply for English-language in-app purchases.

I got a message from customer service that they have passed it on to the IT department. So I hope they will change this effectively so that it is also possible to use the English website.

It's still a bit of unfortunately that you can't choose your own seat when you travel 1st class. Anyway, there are no reservation costs, so it is understandable.

@mcadv @rvdborgt 

Hey I tried today to book an Interrail Reservation at a Trenitalia ticket machine, but I didn’t get how to book it. After the third time the machine yells at me that I should be avare of pickpockets I went home. 

I just noticed that booking from Milan to Zurich doesn’t work anymore. In the other direction, there's no problem. I also tested in de week before 12 June. The website just says "Ticket not available”.

Milan to Brig and Brig to Milan is no problem.

Anyone else seeing this or is it just me?

I still see a price from 76 euros through the OEBB website, until the date of June 11th. This is for direct EC trains to Milan Central, not to Milan Lambrate.

The OEBB and DB BAHN websites will no longer display direct connections from June 12. While SBB and TRENITALIA do.

At TRENITALIA you can even book for after June 12, not at SBB at this time.

I meant the pass fare.

I also see the price for an Interrail pass, with the same comments as in my previous message.

I actually meant from Milan to Zurich :)
Zurich to Milan is working fine.

Sorry, I misunderstood.

I can't book tickets for Milan - Zurich either.

Hello! Thank you for introducing the OEBB method to reserve seats for Italian trains. I noticed on the OEBB website that under discount, only Eurail Global passes are available. However, the pass I hold is the Eurail Pass for Italy only. Does this mean that I am unable to use the OEBB website to reserve my seats?

Hey @pkyungmin 

good question. Ehhm normally this Global pass adding is because you can get the “discount” also for international trains and with your pass it is not possible. But for routes within Italy it should work. Because the price is the same as One country pass or global pass. But I never booked a reservation via ÖBB for Italy to tell you what they will write on the reservation. 

Thank you for the quick response! I will be travelling within Italy only using my Eurail Italy pass. For example, when I select Milano Central > Roma Termini, the only Eurail option that appeared in the discount drop-down is Eurail Global Pass. Hence, I was not sure if I would get into trouble if I were to book via the OEBB website. 

Additionally, is it possible for me to reserve seats for trains within Italy from main stations outside of Italy, lets say in Paris Gare du Nord? First time traveller in Europe and am not sure about the system haha

If someone would post a screenshot how the reservation via ÖBB would look like, we would know if it would work or not. 

You can reserve trains in Italy also at International Ticket Offices of Trenitalia at Paris Gare de Lyon and Lyon Part Dieu, maybe SNCF can still give you reservations for Italy (it was possible at 2019, but now Trenitalia is their biggest competitor in France...)

In other countries is it also possible, like in Switzerland at SBB CFF FFS, Belgium SNCB/NMBS, Germany at DB or Austria at ÖBB. 

Such things are usually possible, although I'm not sure what exactly French railways can sell.

Do keep in mind though that the pass for Italy does not any travel to or from Italy.