If the train that I want to add into my trip say “ seat reservations recommended “
Must I buy the seat reservation?
or it is no problem if I don’t buy this
Answer
The reservation seat recommended. London - Oxford
Best answer by Al_G
Without the exact details of the train (where from? What's your destination, date, time of the train?), impossible to say what you do the best.
Details of the train
from London paddington to Oxford
9:20-10:15
London Paddington - Oxford has direct fast trains every half hour. There are also slightly slower trains every half hour from London Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester.
It is not a route I would bother reserving seats for but you can if you wish.
Any staffed railway station in UK can issue them or if you sign up to the website of www.gwr.com they have a seat reservation facility.
Both of these are free as are all seat reservations in Britain.
+8Without the exact details of the train (where from? What's your destination, date, time of the train?), impossible to say what you do the best.
Recommended is still optional. But if you want advice on what tot do, please specify route, date and departure time.
Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
In this case “recommended” is there to indicate that the train is likely to be very busy and there may not be enough seats for all passengers. You may buy a reservation and be guaranteed a seat or you may just turn up and get on the train (and hopefully get a seat without having to pay for a reservation) but you run the risk that there are no empty seats . . . in which case you get to stand for your entire trip.
“Required” means that you MUST buy a reservation to use this train. You cannot travel on this train without having a reservation.
Mandatory is more used as required.
Rec. is what is says-but it is extremely very rare to have to stand all the way-trains make many stops and at any people get off and on. It may also mean you can sit on a seat UNres till next stop and then have to switch to another. People can be very creative in this and trains are not planes-you can easily get up and walk around. Quite often also seats labelled as RES will not be taken-after 10/15 mins anyone can then sit there. In these cases nearly always the seats have tiny screens which show from where to where they are RES (if it works properly).
For an overnite trip it is generally very unwise to NOT RES-even though in many cases that even is possible for the seats. This is mostly in DE and CZ.
In this case “recommended” is there to indicate that the train is likely to be very busy and there may not be enough seats for all passengers. You may buy a reservation and be guaranteed a seat or you may just turn up and get on the train (and hopefully get a seat without having to pay for a reservation) but you run the risk that there are no empty seats . . . in which case you get to stand for your entire trip.
“Required” means that you MUST buy a reservation to use this train. You cannot travel on this train without having a reservation.
There is no method by which the interrail app is in any position to predict the usage levels of any train, indications of reservation requirement are based on how the train type is listed, nothing more.
Some online resources can give indications of how busy some trains are likely to be based on historical data and/or current bookings, the DB app gives this for many of their own IC/ICE trains, this data, if available at all, tends to be only provided through operators own website/apps.
In order to be of any more specific help the actual train time and date is needed.
Without the exact details of the train (where from? What's your destination, date, time of the train?), impossible to say what you do the best.
Details of the train
from London paddington to Oxford
9:20-10:15
There is no method by which the interrail app is in any position to predict the usage levels of any train, indications of reservation requirement are based on how the train type is listed, nothing more.
I never said this was the app knew anything about usage levels. A lot of discussions here seem to go off on tangents rather than discussing the original posters request.
If the train that I want to add into my trip say “ seat reservations recommended “
Must I buy the seat reservation?
or it is no problem if I don’t buy this
I’ve seen this plenty of times before - for example on Saturday morning trains from Munich down into Austria in Winter. You don’t need to reserve, but the train will be full of families with skis heading for holidays, with loads of people standing in the aisles because there are no seats free. In this case it is recommended to reserve in advance as you can just get on the train, pass the people standing everywhere and sit in the seat that you reserved.
If it says required then there is a problem if you don’t buy it as you won’t be allowed to travel on that train without one.
Without the exact details of the train (where from? What's your destination, date, time of the train?), impossible to say what you do the best.
Details of the train
from London paddington to Oxford
9:20-10:15
London Paddington - Oxford has direct fast trains every half hour. There are also slightly slower trains every half hour from London Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester.
It is not a route I would bother reserving seats for but you can if you wish.
Any staffed railway station in UK can issue them or if you sign up to the website of www.gwr.com they have a seat reservation facility.
Both of these are free as are all seat reservations in Britain.
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