From the 1st of June till September, a seat reservation is obligatory on the ICEs between Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Normally, I can make a (first class) reservation at the website of the DB for € 5,90. But last week, when making a reservation in that period from Bern-Amsterdam, I suddenly had to pay double, € 11,80. Did anyone else experience this? How could this be prevented? It seems like a very healthy business model to me, making a reservation obligatory and then doubling the prices… For now, I just buy reservations for the leg Frankfurt-Amsterdam, but that means I’m screwed when the connection does’t work, which happens frequently.
Answer
Prices of reservation Amsterdam-Frankfurt
Best answer by AnnaB
Did you proceed to the payment page?
There seems to be an error showing the double price on the first page when a train with temporary mandatory reservation is involved, but when you proceed to the payment page, the price is correct. 4,90 EUR in 2nd class and 5,90 EUR in 1st class.
DB struggles to sell standalone mandatory reservations. Until this year it was simply impossible and now it seem to be possible but as you said they sell them separately...
Better to book through ÖBB: 3€ per train. There's no seat map though. You have 3 min after payment to cancel the order if the seats don't please you.
I mean it doesn't matter whether you book Frankfurt - Amsterdam or Bern - Frankfurt - Amsterdam. In which way are you screwed?
My prefered itinerary is Basel - Cologne (buffer) - Amsterdam.
Did you proceed to the payment page?
There seems to be an error showing the double price on the first page when a train with temporary mandatory reservation is involved, but when you proceed to the payment page, the price is correct. 4,90 EUR in 2nd class and 5,90 EUR in 1st class.
Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
DB normally charge mandatory reservations separately, so I'm not sure if the €4.90/5.90 price is a bug or a feature...
DB normally charge mandatory reservations separately, so I'm not sure if the €4.90/5.90 price is a bug or a feature...
The € 11,80 seems to be a bug. This Tuesday I finally managed to book a connection with changeover in Frankfurt, and at first it seemed as if I had to pay € 11,80, but then I checked out and had to pay only € 5,90.
Probably unrelated: when I tried to book a seat a week in advance, the train Amsterdam-Frankfurt was fully booked. One day before the trip there was suddenly quite a lot of place. And then the train seemed to be much less crowded than normal…
It’s still slightly annoying because I can’t be sure that there will be place one day in advance.
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