Reservation for Norway trains crushed?

I'm not sure what you mean by "booked tickets”. If you already have tickets, then you don't need a pass  (which is your ticket) and separate reservations. If you mean you registered a train journey in the app: please do not activate your pass or any travel days in advance. It is advised to do that only on the day you are travelling, shortly before boarding your train. You can only cancel activation of the pass or a travel day until 23:59 CET on the day before it becomes valid. If something happens on your travel day and you want to postpone travel, then it will be too late to cancel.

That being said, the rail planner app can't book any reservations. It will just forward to some of the websites where you can book, including the Eurail website. The Eurail website currently seems to have problems with Norwegian trains.

You can also book via Entur by phone (add +47 for Norway). They'll send the reservations by email and you don't pay the booking fee that Eurail charges.

Thank you rvdborgt.

I had activated and confirmed the train tickets through the apps and the problem is regards the reservations which are mandatory as stated. I am prepare to cancel travel days before thay are valid for any changes. If it’s confirmed the reservations for Norwegian trains is having problem now than I will wait for a day or two before changing plans. I had tested other Norwegian cities reservation and all seem to have problem too. Not calling Entur yet as phone charges cost a bomb from Singapore. Thank you.

And dont panick-you are not competing for the very cheapest AirAsia/Batik fares, in general on such fairly quiet times trains will have empty seats till right bef. dep-you can also of course, no need to even ask, do it when there at any staffed counter (but there are not tat many left-only in real big cities). A RES still will cost money, but this app/EUrail slaps on an extr 2€ for its ´help´.

I also highly doubt that these trains will be sold out for the entirety of March. Plenty of availability and very cheap (ordinary) tickets of about 200 NOK (which is absolutely not much for a 7h train ride and probably cheaper than a pass day).

The end of march is a bit more booked, because of Easter.

You can also chat or mail EnTur.

When do you arrive in Norway? You can make your bookings in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Oslo S and Oslo (Gardermoen) airport. You can book your reservations at the ticket counter there for all your Norwegian journeys in one go.

Hi All,

Can I also make reservations at Norwegian ticket counter for train journeys in Hungary and Austria?

Thank you

Maybe. But most of those can be done online on tickets.oebb.at (Austria) and/or jegy.mav.hu (Hungary). Most day trains in Austria and from Austria to Hungary have optional reservations. The rail planner app is often wrong about this.

Is it the same cost for buying reservation online and at the station for 1st Class Eurail pass?

If you buy a reservation online via Interrail Eurail you have to pay an extra fee. If you buy online via DB, ÖBB, SJ,… no extra fee

At ticket offices, it depends from company to company. Usually not.

For Norway you get the 1st class Interrail/Eurail seat reservation for domestic day trains for free through Entur and at the ticket offices in Norway.

How far ahead do you think I should try and reserve seats in Norway:?  Ihave been reading all the Norway threads and it seems quite difficult to make reservations.  I’m planning to arrive on the ferry from Hirtshals, in Kristiansand on May 18th, and get the train to Stavanger that day. Then from Bergen to Oslo a few days later, then up to Trondheim and the night train from there to Bodo.  And then later, the  sleeper from Narvik down to Stockholm. I have been trying to find out if these trains are likely to be booked out at that time of year. Ringing Entur from Australia is very expensive and it doesn’t answer sometimes. Or is it safe to wait until the day I arrive?  I have a first class global pass. 

Thanks for any suggestions or advice from the community.

@juliadbau The 17th of May is the Norwegian national day, so usually a lot of people travel around those days. For your travels week of the 18th, you might want to grab reservations in advance.

According to the Norway section on the website, you can also book via the reservation service of Interrail /Eurail. 

Thank you very much for your useful advice: it could well be a bad time to travel, then, rather like Holy Week in Spain and Italy perhaps?  Maybe I need to change my plans…. go earlier, despite colder weather.

Calling Entur works just fine. Just make sure you ring them when they're open.

With €2 extra costs per person and train and €9 extra costs for postal delivery. And if you have a 1st class pass, you pay the normal fee (NOK 50, ~€4.60) whereas it's free of charge when booking via Entur.

@juliadbau It's not a bad time to travel, in contrast. I'lld recommend that you'll go there and experience the National Day (Best bring some fancy clothes).

It's absolutely not as busy as the Holy Weeks in Spain. 

May and June are perfect months to experience Norway. Spring sets in, usually the sunniest months of the year, very long days, and still some snow on the tops of the mountains. And the waterfalls are the most impressive then. May is usually a bit calmer, and a perfect month to experience Norway. June, July and August much busier, tourism wise. 

Then a short phonecall, even from Australia, seems the better option here. 

I had all my reservations resolved. The reservations for Norway trains happened since last Dec till now. Issues caused by rail company and not Eurail. I contacted Euter through WhatsApp call(free), and the line was bad. We managed to continue communication through email and their online chatbox. Reservations from Oslo to Bergen and Bergen to Myrdal done. Managed to book Myrdal to Flam with discount too.

My advice for all to do reservations is to reach out or check website of the railway companies directly if able after confirming tickets through Eurail. You can book your reservations with seats selection and it's cheaper. 

thanks, Brendan DB - I shall go ahead with late May then! thanks, and will try using Whatsap with Entur.

The Entur telestaff are sure very helpful and understanding. For reservations for Austria OBB and RJ trains, do it at OBB website without buying tickets.

Purchasing a Eurail pass for Scandanavia is a waste of money. Everything is booked. Or they want you to go on some other website for your Seat Reservation, then they want to send you the physical seat reservation to your home country. It is an absolute farce and a disgrace. I am dreading my trip there in a couple of weeks. 

I tried to get a seat reservation to Stockholm and was told I needed to use the Sweden rail website - www.sj.se/  what they don’t tell you is the site will ask you for your Swedish Personal Identification Number before you can purchase. Don’t have one? “Start a chat” with an agent. Everything requires starting a chat online with an agent. I don’t want to say it’s a scam, but we will find out soon.

This sound strange. You don't need to create an account and you don't even need to have bought your pass before getting the reservation. 

Did you follow these instructions?

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105/index2.html?postid=20744#post20744

For reservations in Norway please contact Entur

https://om.entur.no/kundesenter/

Indeed, I've booked multiple reservations on sj.se without an account and without needing to provide any ID number.