Train station counter, B-europe and Interrail.eu all do not work for Interrail reservations...


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Hello,

I need to book a reservation for the night train Paris->Latour de Carol on Saturday (and for a Spanish train on Sunday). At a DB counter, they told me that they cannot book domestic train reservations abroad anymore. On the SNCF website, it is not possible to book Interrail reservations any longer. B-europe does not show the train. And I cannot even access the Interrail.eu reservation tool: It says "Using the timetable below, you can make reservations for most European trains", but there is no timetable on the page at all. Does anyone know how I can book the reservation?


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DB cannot book domestic reservations in France anymore. They can still book lots of other domestic trains in other countries.

Interrail have a problem with their reservation service since today. Hopefully they can resolve it soon.

The Belgian railways website doesn't show this night train indeed but you could try calling them. It's possible they can do more there.

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Thank you for the quick reply! I will try the SNCB hotline though it is pretty expensive… So there is no other possibility to book the reservation?
 

The person at the DB counter told me that they cannot book reservations for Spanish trains either, but she was not very experienced. Do you happen to know if DB can book Spanish trains?

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Thank you for the quick reply! I will try the SNCB hotline though it is pretty expensive… So there is no other possibility to book the reservation?

 For this night train: I'm afraid not. French railways are a pain.

The person at the DB counter told me that they cannot book reservations for Spanish trains either, but she was not very experienced. Do you happen to know if DB can book Spanish trains?

According to their documentation, they still can. I've done it myself a few years ago. And last year, someone reported here that they succeeded in booking a Spanish reservation through DB. But you may have to insist and suggest they try tariff code 44 (TC44). You probably also need to show the exact timetable, including the train number (look it up via the RENFE website, since any other timetable is incomplete for Spain). The best way to book Spanish reservations is usually at a Spanish ticket office. RENFE are a pain, too :(

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Thank you! That is very helpful.

Through SNCB I can only book French high-speed trains online? I cannot find Spanish stations at their site (or maybe it’s the wrong page?). So I guess I’ll give the Spanish reservation a try with another salesperson at DB and report back whether I succeeded.

This used to be much easier a few years ago... I hope Interrail.eu fixes their reservation tool soon.

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Through SNCB I can only book French high-speed trains online? I cannot find Spanish stations at their site (or maybe it’s the wrong page?).

Correct: TGV and Intercité.

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Note that trains FROM lTdC into ESpana are NON reserved-these are regional/cercanias and have a special section on the renfe.com site. So do not sweat it too much-you´ll reach Barca midday or later. There go to counter, line up, wait, brush up espanol, and make onward REServations-and be flexible.

It MAY also be quite possible this still fairly new (well, renewed) overnite does not run sat/sun or has extensive works on the rails which lead to other timings or even other routings.

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@rvdborgt 

Problem if the train is not in the DB timetable we cant reserve it easy just with few cheats its sometimes possible but you have to know how to break through Spanish Railbooking System :D 

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@rvdborgt 

Problem if the train is not in the DB timetable we cant reserve it easy just with few cheats its sometimes possible but you have to know how to break through Spanish Railbooking System :D 

Do you know which hint would help the DB staff to do the right thing? "Bitte versuchen Sie es über ...”

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Thank you all! I know, the Rodalies/Cercanía train from Latour to Barcelona is not the problem, but I want to continue on to Sevilla with the direct train the same afternoon. I guess it is somewhat likely that the train is not fully booked (worst case, I have to travel via Madrid and pay €20 instead of €10). The bigger problem was the night train Paris->Latour, which I would not want to book only an hour before departure in Paris. Thankfully, someone over at Raildude pointed me to ACPrail, where the reservation is a little more expensive (€28 instead of €21) but available.

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@rvdborgt 

Problem if the train is not in the DB timetable we cant reserve it easy just with few cheats its sometimes possible but you have to know how to break through Spanish Railbooking System :D 

Do you know which hint would help the DB staff to do the right thing? "Bitte versuchen Sie es über ...”

This would indeed be great to know @seewulf :)

 

edit: Also, I don’t know if it makes a difference but the train exists in the DB timetable.

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Problem if the train is not in the DB timetable we cant reserve it easy just with few cheats its sometimes possible but you have to know how to break through Spanish Railbooking System :D 

Do you know which hint would help the DB staff to do the right thing? "Bitte versuchen Sie es über ...”

This would indeed be great to know @seewulf :)

edit: Also, I don’t know if it makes a difference but the train exists in the DB timetable.

According to this post, DB can still book domestic RENFE trains (there's currently a problem with booking tickets for some other trains). The Interrail supplement is also still in their "Angebotsinformation” document (page 50; after the next update, the file name will have changed but you can find it via the AGB page). Apparently, they have to book the RENFE trains via "direct reservation”/”Direktreservierung”.

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@rvdborgt

 

It dont know the hind 😕 my colleague did it back then but he said the "standard Reisezentrum " cant do it 😕 just few Agents at the International Booking office (special office of DB) 

 

I tried it by myself and didnt came through either :/ (my system redirect me to few UK Based travelagencies) 

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@rvdborgt

 

It dont know the hind 😕 my colleague did it back then but he said the "standard Reisezentrum " cant do it 😕 just few Agents at the International Booking office (special office of DB) 

 

I tried it by myself and didnt came through either :/ (my system redirect me to few UK Based travelagencies) 

 

Thanks for the hint! I just called the DB International booking office, but they told me they can only do it at least 14 days in advance because they would have to issue it on paper. It seems that there is currently no way to book reservations for Spain from Germany, so I’ll try my luck in Barcelona.

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@rvdborgt

It dont know the hind 😕 my colleague did it back then but he said the "standard Reisezentrum " cant do it 😕 just few Agents at the International Booking office (special office of DB) 

I tried it by myself and didnt came through either :/ (my system redirect me to few UK Based travelagencies) 

Thanks for the hint! I just called the DB International booking office, but they told me they can only do it at least 14 days in advance because they would have to issue it on paper. It seems that there is currently no way to book reservations for Spain from Germany, so I’ll try my luck in Barcelona.

They should be able to sell it with the option to collect the reservation from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix”). In addition, according to this post the standard DB ticket office should be able to book reservations for domestic Spanish trains. Even if they're not in the DB timetable. It works via the Direktreservierung and they need the train number for that. You could also try DB-Agentur Lennestadt. I've used them multiple times in the past, also for Interrail reservations in Spain or Italy, which I usually collect via Bahn-Tix.

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@rvdborgt

It dont know the hind 😕 my colleague did it back then but he said the "standard Reisezentrum " cant do it 😕 just few Agents at the International Booking office (special office of DB) 

I tried it by myself and didnt came through either :/ (my system redirect me to few UK Based travelagencies) 

Thanks for the hint! I just called the DB International booking office, but they told me they can only do it at least 14 days in advance because they would have to issue it on paper. It seems that there is currently no way to book reservations for Spain from Germany, so I’ll try my luck in Barcelona.

They should be able to sell it with the option to collect the reservation from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix”). In addition, according to this post the standard DB ticket office should be able to book reservations for domestic Spanish trains. Even if they're not in the DB timetable. It works via the Direktreservierung and they need the train number for that. You could also try DB-Agentur Lennestadt. I've used them multiple times in the past, also for Interrail reservations in Spain or Italy, which I usually collect via Bahn-Tix.

 

Thank you so much for your patience. I emailed the DB-Agentur and will try again at the Reisezentrum if this doesn’t work out and report if I was successful :)

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They should be able to sell it with the option to collect the reservation from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix”). In addition, according to this post the standard DB ticket office should be able to book reservations for domestic Spanish trains. Even if they're not in the DB timetable. It works via the Direktreservierung and they need the train number for that. You could also try DB-Agentur Lennestadt. I've used them multiple times in the past, also for Interrail reservations in Spain or Italy, which I usually collect via Bahn-Tix.

Thank you so much for your patience. I emailed the DB-Agentur and will try again at the Reisezentrum if this doesn’t work out and report if I was successful :)

Extra hints from this post: “Tarifcode und die besondere Eingabe für die Wagenklasse (T, P, C), muss man ebenfalls beachten.”

The ticket office staff should probably consult their documentation to check how Spanish trains can be booked.

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They should be able to sell it with the option to collect the reservation from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix”). In addition, according to this post the standard DB ticket office should be able to book reservations for domestic Spanish trains. Even if they're not in the DB timetable. It works via the Direktreservierung and they need the train number for that. You could also try DB-Agentur Lennestadt. I've used them multiple times in the past, also for Interrail reservations in Spain or Italy, which I usually collect via Bahn-Tix.

Thank you so much for your patience. I emailed the DB-Agentur and will try again at the Reisezentrum if this doesn’t work out and report if I was successful :)

Extra hints from this post: “Tarifcode und die besondere Eingabe für die Wagenklasse (T, P, C), muss man ebenfalls beachten.”

The ticket office staff should probably consult their documentation to check how Spanish trains can be booked.

I mean, I know it’s a tough job, but for each of my last three Interrail passes I would have paid €100+ more if I hadn’t insisted repeatedly that they had entered the wrong type of pass. The person I talked to yesterday would have stared at me incredulously if I had asked them to consider the “Tarifcode und die besondere Eingabe für die Wagenklasse” in Spain. But I’ll give it a try^^

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Extra hints from this post: “Tarifcode und die besondere Eingabe für die Wagenklasse (T, P, C), muss man ebenfalls beachten.”

The ticket office staff should probably consult their documentation to check how Spanish trains can be booked.

I mean, I know it’s a tough job, but for each of my last three Interrail passes I would have paid €100+ more if I hadn’t insisted repeatedly that they had entered the wrong type of pass. The person I talked to yesterday would have stared at me incredulously if I had asked them to consider the “Tarifcode und die besondere Eingabe für die Wagenklasse” in Spain. But I’ll give it a try^^

:)

Here is the final confirmation that it is definitely possible to book, at a DB ticket office, an Interrail reservation for Spanish domestic trains, even if they're not in the DB timetable. The ticket office staff must use the Direktreservierung / manuelle Eingabe, enter train number, tariff code (TC44) and the class (T, C or P; not 1 or 2). I believe T is equivalent with second class.

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@amadeu the issue with the reservation tool has been resolved as of yesterday afternoon, so you should be able to use it again. Cheers, 

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@amadeu the issue with the reservation tool has been resolved as of yesterday afternoon, so you should be able to use it again. Cheers, 

@Nanja I'm also seeing the same issue again. I cleared cache and cookies but when I click on "Book reservations”, I can log in but after that nothing happens. The form to search for connections does not appear anymore.

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They should be able to sell it with the option to collect the reservation from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix”). In addition, according to this post the standard DB ticket office should be able to book reservations for domestic Spanish trains. Even if they're not in the DB timetable. It works via the Direktreservierung and they need the train number for that. You could also try DB-Agentur Lennestadt. I've used them multiple times in the past, also for Interrail reservations in Spain or Italy, which I usually collect via Bahn-Tix.

Thanks a lot! I got the reservation via the DB-Agentur and Bahn-Tix. The salesperson there was very friendly and also told me that it should have been no problem to book the reservation at the Reisezentrum counter.

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@amadeu  Lucky it work for you. Was it the Agentur Lennestadt? (Maybe use it as the last hope for Interrail/Eurail :) like back in the days the Wastels Travelagency in Budapest (there are due some struggles history) 

I usually use one of these https://www.die-bahnprofis.de/index.html but Lennestad is not mentioned 😕 and most of them charge a service fee or even offer the service just when you bought the pass with them. 

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I usually use one of these https://www.die-bahnprofis.de/index.html but Lennestad is not mentioned 😕 and most of them charge a service fee or even offer the service just when you bought the pass with them. 

DB-Agentur Lennestadt are usually very good and if there's a problem, they consult their helpdesk first, before saying "geht nicht”. They don't charge any service fees.

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The Belgian railways website doesn't show this night train indeed but you could try calling them. It's possible they can do more there.

I've asked their Facebook team and they came back to me and said they don't sell tickets or reservations for the night trains in France. Neither do they currently have plans to add these trains.

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@rvdborgt I will put them on the list of my expert Travelagency´s 

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