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Reservation for Glacier Express open 93 days before the departure date?

  • 15 February 2023
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Userlevel 2
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Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone knows the exact time when the seat reservation for Glacier Express opens 93 days in advance. I thought it would be open by midnight 93 days before the departure date, but it already passed midnight and I kept refreshing the booking page, it still says “Travel date too far in the future. You can only book 93 days in advance.” The latest date available is May 18 so far, however, I need to book for May 19. The first class seats of the earlier train seem to be very popular and the good seats are sold out pretty fast as soon as the booking opens. I can't really sit in front of the laptop and keep refreshing the booking page for hours until it opens. So any chance, anyone here knows the exact open time? Thank you so much :)

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Best answer by MartinM 15 February 2023, 08:06

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Userlevel 7
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I guess you know that there are reservation free trains regional trains on the same route as the Glacier Express. There is a high reservation fee for the Glacier Express. 

The advantage with taking the regional train is that you can stop at a scenic station for an hour or two and then just take the next train. If you bring some food you can have a nice lunch picknick in the middle of the mountains. 

Userlevel 7
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I’d also recommend to take the regional trains and go to a nice restaurant in one of the places en route with the money that you saved from the reservation…
You could e.g. stop in Disentis, Oberalppass, Andermatt or Brig.
Big advantage of the regional trains: you can (mostly) open the windows and enjoy the nice views with fresh air. In the Glacier Express you can’t open them AFAIK (maybe they have small photo windows like in the Bernina?). 

Userlevel 7
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I seem to be able to book seat reservations now on May 19th for the Glacier.

But I also adhere to the above, take the regional trains. Much nicer, more flexible and exactly the same views. If you want to take a break, hike, lunch or eat, that’s perfectly possible somewhere on the way.

Also, don’t worry about changes in Switzerland if you take the regional trains. It’s the world’s railway walhalla, and everything goes very smooth in 99% of the cases.

Userlevel 2
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@BrendanDB @AnnaB @MartinM Thanks so much for your advice guys. I only wish I saw it earlier haha. It’s too late that I already paid CHF170 for 2 seats reservations and 2 meals. 😥 I would definitely take your advice to book the regional trains if I ever visit Switzerland again. 😊

I was literally refreshing the page every second from midnight till 1am. As soon as the clock clicked 1am CET time, the reservation for 19th May became available. I couldn't believe that it was literally the first second when the status of the availabilities changed, almost all the seats in 1st Class of the earlier train were unavailable to be selected. 😮 I ended up selecting the last two available window seats in 1st Class but unfortunately they were 2 seats of a club-4. 😐 I was going to delete this post as soon as I made the booking but couldn't figure out how to delete the post. Anyway, once again thanks so much guys for your help. I do appreciate it. 😊

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