Solved

Unable to reserve seat on some trains


My wife and I have Interrail Global Passes and we’re trying to book a trip from Brussels to Cologne on the 17th September.  On the Intercity trains (ICE) it gives us this message:

“Not available for some travellers
Some of your travellers' Passes are not valid on this train. Change your selected travellers to book this seat reservation.”
 
We can book seats on the Thalys trains (THA) but that will cost 54 Euro as opposed to 16 Euro on the Intercity.  We were under the impression that our passes would be valid on all intercity trains.  Are we wrong?!
icon

Best answer by Revolver 29 June 2022, 21:16

View original

12 replies

Book here:

Deutsche Bahn: bahn.de - Verbindungen - Ihre Anfrage

4,50 € per person 2nd class / 5,90 € 1st class.

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

@Hektor Isn't the reservation also optional?

@Hektor Isn't the reservation also optional?

It is optional. But I understood that @Revolver wanted to do a reservation. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

@Hektor Isn't the reservation also optional?

It is optional. But I understood that @Revolver wanted to do a reservation. 

Yes, but I just wanted to ask to be sure for my knowledge🌞

Hi. Thanks for your replies.  Yes, we want seat reservations but the main problem is that it’s telling us that our Interrail passes aren’t valid on those trains.

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

The advice from the experienced travellers is to neither use the Rail Planner to make the planning nor to make the reservations.

 

The time tables in the planner is only updated about once a month so the data there is not reliable. 

 

The advice from the experienced travellers in the community is to use other ways to make reservations than the Interrail/Eurail website. You can look at the guide in the link:

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105

If you, after having looked at the guide, have questions about how to make specific reservation, please give your travel details (departure date, time and route) preferably in a new topic, and you will get advice. 

Hi. Thanks for your replies.  Yes, we want seat reservations but the main problem is that it’s telling us that our Interrail passes aren’t valid on those trains.

I you have a global pass and you’re not having a problem with your residency, it’s valid (in general). I think the app’s message is not because of this (so there might be any other problem with your pass). 

I refreshed the bookings page on the Interrail website and it asked me to loigin again.  After doing that I can now book the train.  Looks like the website may be a bit flakey so the experienced travellers know what they’re talking about!

Just to be sure, I’ve messaged the Deutsche Bahn website and asked them to confirm that my pass is valid on that train.

Again, thanks for all your help.

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

I refreshed the bookings page on the Interrail website and it asked me to loigin again.  After doing that I can now book the train.  Looks like the website may be a bit flakey so the experienced travellers know what they’re talking about!

It's not only that. You also pay an extra fee of 2 EUR per ticket and person in addition to the seat reservation fee when you make the reservation through Interrail.

I refreshed the bookings page on the Interrail website and it asked me to loigin again.  After doing that I can now book the train.  Looks like the website may be a bit flakey so the experienced travellers know what they’re talking about!

It's not only that. You also pay an extra fee of 2 EUR per ticket and person in addition to the seat reservation fee when you make the reservation through Interrail.

Thanks for the additional info.  I didn’t realise that booking direct would be cheaper.

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Thanks for the additional info.  I didn’t realise that booking direct would be cheaper.

Because of that we have made a Post (The link is in the Answer of Anna B. at the top. ) 

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

I refreshed the bookings page on the Interrail website and it asked me to loigin again.  After doing that I can now book the train.  Looks like the website may be a bit flakey so the experienced travellers know what they’re talking about!

It's not only that. You also pay an extra fee of 2 EUR per ticket and person in addition to the seat reservation fee when you make the reservation through Interrail.

Yup, and Interrail already use an expensive provider to begin with, that charges 6€ per person and train. That makes 8€ in total per person and train, whereas DB does it for €4.5/5.9 per person and journey.

Reply