SNCF/TGV Basel or Zurich to Paris seat reservation

thank you so much for such detailed response, really appreciate, especially I’m a newbie here, completely new experience for me.

Question, if Eurail.com website is not ideal for making a seat reservation, where should I go ?? I’m also trying to reserve sleeping berths for 3 night jets in mid June and late June, is it possible to secure reservations via the train carrier website using Eurail pass ?? hope my newbie questions are not offending you.

Thanks you so much once again

No worries. Yes it's better to book through the railway company (whenever possible) to avoid fees and have a few extra perks. Sometimes you have access to a seat map for example.

Have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

nightjet.com works well (add Eurail as a discount) but tickets/reservations have not been released yet for most routes. Check regularly as the best fares are available at the start (dynamic pricing now even for passholder reservations) they can also sell out fairly quickly.

Your response is very helpful; I will definitely check back frequently so I can nail down the train for reservation in time; great to know that Eurail can be added as a discount; I sure hope this option is cross the board for all train lines when booking directly on the website. 

Thank you once again, I might have more questions in the upcoming weeks.

Best wishes

Most of the time it works yes but not always unfortunately... Also note that for optional reservations it’s the same process whether you have a pass or a ticket so you won’t get a specific Eurail discount.

The link above is a good guide.

Sure, we’ll gladly help.

I completely agree and I see that it can be kinda tricky; I just tried on SNCF website for June 1 trip, TGV Lyria from Basel to Paris direct; I was able to select the seats for all 3 of us, but no option for adding a discount code at the page of payment/check out. It came out €354.60; This is the train Lyria 9234 Basel to Gare de Lyon direct, somehow it wasn’t showing on Eurail website, so I assume this is likely not part of the Eurail Global Pass deal. 

Not sure if I recall it correctly, I read it somewhere that TGV is covered as part of Eurail Global Pass deal, vs OGV is not; honestly, it is kinda confusing. So I will probably just wait another week or so to check back and see if Eurail website has updated the schedule, and go from there. 

We are going to travel from Zermatt to Basel early in the morning, hope to get on Lyria either in Basel or Strasbourg to Paris in early evening. A tentative plan is to explore the old town of either Basel or Strasbourg during connection, so the trip won’t be too tiresome/stressed. Coming from the US, train ride will be an exciting experience, given we are so much used to drive on our own most of the time.

Anyway, still very much appreciate your input, you have been very helpful and informative.

Glad to help! The train is for sure a really good way to travel and I’m sure it’ll go well once you get how it works. Mandatory reservations are a bit annoying as they limit your flexibility (that’s why some countries are “better” for Eurail than others) but it’s manageable!

So TGV Lyria are fully included but the schedule has just been released yet, it’ll soon be on Eurail. Ouigo low-cost high-speed trains (OGV) are indeed not part of Eurail.

Passholder reservation fees are as follows :

• direct from Basel (or anywhere in Switzerland) : 29€ in 2nd class, 39€ in 1st class
• from Mulhouse, Strasbourg or any domestic journey : 10€ limited fare, then 20€ (both classes)

You see that it makes sense to cross the border on a regional train to save money. I’ve done that multiple times actually.

You can’t book passholder reservations through SNCF anymore as apparently too many people misused that option and travelled without a pass… The best way to book those TGVs is through Rail Europe as explained here : https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm :)

wow, this is so helpful; thank you

by the way, was pondering with Swiss Goldenpass, from Lucerne to Interlaken, not sure the reserve ration can be done on Eurail website; I went on https://store.luzern.com/en/specials/daytrips/zentralbahn-int-lu but it is only available until May 6 as of now. Lots to plan on starting now. 

Thank you so much for your input, I won’t be shy to drop in when I have questions from now on :-)

Reservations are optional on Lucerne - Interlaken and I've never bothered with one, travelling more than a dozen times on this route. I've never made one in Switzerland my entire life and always found a seat (with rare exceptions at rush hour). 

Like all Swiss trains it's a waste of money, they're not a thing unless you're a big group/class. Trains are large and have plenty of seats. We joke that a train is busy when we have to share 4 seaters. :)

As a tip the front/rear ends of the train are always less busy : boarding in Lucerne (terminus station) you should go the front and will find plenty of seats.

EDIT : Of course if you want to make one, do it. They should be available through sbb.ch at some point or through zentralbahn.ch.

On this touristic train people will likely acknowledge reservations and move seats if needed but on other standard ones you'll have a hard time convincing people to move haha (we're just not used this system). It's more a first come first served basis which works well.

Lots of words... enjoy your trip!