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Seat Reservations with European train bookings

bluenoxid

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Joined
9 Feb 2008
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2,668
I don’t have a lot of details about this one but I felt that this forum was the best place to raise this query.

A friend of mine is doing a Brussels-Berlin and Berlin-Prague rail journey with a family member later this month. The rail tickets has been booked by the family member through a travel agent and they have not included seat reservations. They have also advised that they cannot book seat reservations retrospectively.

If my friend wants seat reservations, has anyone got any suggestions about what they should do.

Thank you
 
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NCT

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18 Apr 2025
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What kind of tickets did they get? They can always go to int.bahn.de/en and get seat reservations.

To be honest, there should be no problems with not having seat reservations. ICEs and RJs are just like British trains - as long as your ticket is valid on the service you are travelling on you can sit in any unreserved seat.
 

6PAN

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22 Aug 2026
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35
Location
Hampshire
What kind of tickets did they get? They can always go to int.bahn.de/en and get seat reservations.

To be honest, there should be no problems with not having seat reservations. ICEs and RJs are just like British trains - as long as your ticket is valid on the service you are travelling on you can sit in any unreserved seat.
It is correct that ICEs within Germany do not require seat reservations, however international services such as those to or from Brussels have always shown as needing compulsory reservations when I have used them. The DB site linked above allows you to book seats without buying a ticket provided there is space available.
 

Mainline421

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7 May 2013
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917
Location
Aberystwyth
It is correct that ICEs within Germany do not require seat reservations, however international services such as those to or from Brussels have always shown as needing compulsory reservations when I have used them.
That is summer-only (for only a few weeks per year) and was only introduced last year so quite new, it won't affect their journey.
 

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