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Last-minute seat reservations (SE, CZ, PL)

  • 15 September 2023
  • 8 replies
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I confess I did not expect most of my trains to offer reservations only on paper. I only finalized my plans a couple of days ago and now am trying to reserve trains beginning about ten days from now. So I have not left enough time for paper reservations to be shipped to me here (US).

My trip goes to five cites in five countries. I am only staying a few nights at each stop. It seems too risky to try and ship my paper reservations to my hotels - the timing is too tight. Any delays and I will miss the shipments.

If I go to the carriers’ websites, some do not ask if I already have a Eurail pass, and want to charge me for the trip in addition to the reservation. So that doesn’t seem to be economical.

Already I am seeing that some trains I was planning to take show no reservations remaining (on the Eurail planning site). But this may only mean that the Eurail website cannot determine availability.

Once I arrive in Europe, is it possible to book seats for international trips (Denmark to Sweden, Czech Republic to Poland, Poland to Germany) in person ahead of time?

Or have I created a situation for myself where I will have to wait to book reservations in person after I reach each new country?

Thank you for reading my questions.

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Best answer by RRCalif 15 September 2023, 20:36

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Most reservations can be bought online through the railway company by choosing reservation only or by adding Eurail as a discount. They're also cheaper than through eurail.com. More info here : https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105

Denmark to Sweden : reservations not possible on Öresundtag trains. Otherwise sj.se

Czech Republic - Poland : cd.cz

Feel free to ask further questions mentioning route and travel date. Trains rarely sell out in September, don't worry :)

R
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Thank you, thibcabe, for your prompt reply.

I used intercity.pl to online-purchase a spot in a sleeper car I wish to take from Krakow to Warsaw, departing 00:24 07.10.2023 (TLK35170). It was a small amount more than the price Eurail quoted, but Eurail would then need shipping costs, and shipping time too. So I bought it without using my Eurail pass at all. The ticket arrived by email within a minute. The peace of mind in securing the ticket ahead of time is worth any difference.

Using what I learned there, I continued and used intercity.pl again to book a day train (seat) Warsaw to Berlin (EIC 248). But I was surprised to see no Eurail discount, even for a seat. I then tried Deutschebahn’s web site and again, saw no way to use my Eurail pass. Both sites only offered full fare. Booking through Eurail would be easy, but was again a paper pass and would require shipping time. So I have made no progress on this leg of my trip. That leg is reservations-required and my connection in Warsaw is only eight minutes.. too little time to attempt making a reservation. I will try to book the reservation in person when I arrive in Poland, and hope the train is not full by then. The leg is on a Saturday morning.

Next, I wanted to reserve a seat Copenhagen to Goteborg 09:07 - 14:35 28.09.2023 . RE 1040, BUS0534, HST488. This was a slight disappointment. website sj.se informed me that the track is under construction and no reservations for HST488 are available, but the Eurail planning app did not alert me to this. I am re-planning that day of the trip now to avoid passing through Lund.

Finally, Prague to Krakow (EIC113). cd.cz would not sell online, but referred me to telephone or email offers. This is a long trip and I would like to reserve 1st class, but there is limited seating and it may sell out. I will try to reserve this in person at the station when I first arrive in Prague.

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The 8 min connection is way too tight, night trains are often delayed. But the Eurail Pass gives you that flexibility, you'll be able to take the next EC to Berlin 2h later at no extra cost if you can't make that connection.

As alternatives : there is a night train from Krakow to Sczcecin, where you could connect quite easily to Berlin. I agree that the route between the 2 cities is not ideal but at least there's a daily direct daytime train. Hopefully one day a direct night train comes : there is one from Budapest to Berlin but it doesn't pass through Krakow.

Poland - Germany trains are indeed an exception, they're not available online. Reservations are optional whatever Rail Planner says but if you'd like to make one either :

- intercity.pl for the leg to the border (Rzepin) -> 1 PLN (0.20€)

- train station in Poland, Czechia, Germany, etc.

Rail Planner app works with offline data, it is sometimes unreliable. For reliable information use bahn.com, DB Navigator app or the companies websites/apps.

There are engineering works near Lund indeed. Rail replacement buses run between Helsingborg and Båstad, I'd recommend checking https://www.oresundstag.se/en

R
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Thanks again for the advice!

I have not rebooked my tight connection in Warsaw yet. It looks as if reservations are not available on either train departing Warsaw, and so I may lose a half-day getting to Berlin. I am still working om that.

I keep checking the HST status through Lund in hopes that the construction will be complete in the next week. If not, the Oresundtag link will be handy!

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(Oops, marked the wrong message (my own reply) as “best answer”. Trying to fix that now...)

T
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Yeah the pass gives you that flexibility. If you were to miss the 04:48 EC hop on the 06:43 one. :)

Engineering works are generally planned months in advance (even though Swedish railways seem to give last-minute notice) so I wouldn’t plan on the works being finished earlier but the finalised timetable should’ve been published a long time ago.

EDIT : Don’t worry about best answer, I don’t think you can change it anyway.

EDIT : as you said there’s nothing else left other than waiting for Copenhagen - Göteborg… it’s unlikely that these trains/buses sell out at any point anyway.

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I was able to book reservations from Lund Central to Goteborg using TrainPlanet.com . I’ll arrive in Goteborg only 55 minutes later than via HST, and the reservations were sent by email. This leg turns into train + bus + train and so I have five (total) transfers that day, but they are all 25 minutes or longer. I have never seen Sweden, and now I know I will have window seats on this mid-day journey. 🙂 I hear the autumn colors may be showing.

The “return to Berlin” leg remains unconfirmed, but I think you have given me enough options to work on that later today. Thanks again, very much.

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Since TrainPlanet is a third party website I'd still check closer to departure date if times remain the same. They may or may not inform you about change of plans so better be safe than sorry.

For the return journey there are 2 very good night trains from Stockholm and Malmö to Hamburg and Berlin run by SJ and Snälltäget. Their route is probably disrupted due to the same engineering works but I believe they still run.

Of course you could also do the journey on daytime trains but it is very long.

A third good option is the overnight ferry between Göteborg and Kiel (discount with Eurail).

Do not hesitate to come back for further questions.

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