How to order reservations for European trains online (with pass)?
I have a European rail pass, bought in the US, but to go really long distances I still have to order reservations (without ticket). The lines I'm particularly interested in are TGV in France, ICE, and Thalys. Everywhere I read says to do this at the station, but it seems like you wouldn't be able to make reservations for French trains from Germany, and if I wait until I'm in France it will be too late.
Deutsche Bahn's website only sells reservations for trains within Germany. Supposedly you can search and order them at raileurope.com, but every single one is "unavailable." raileurope.co.uk seems to work, but the prices for TGV lines are all about £18, much more than the €3-5 that this guy says they should be. Most other websites are a pain to navigate and only seem to sell full tickets in the end.
Surely there's another way?
Best Answer
As far as I know, Raileurope is the right site. The normal site for train tickets in France is TGV-Europe (the international version of Voyages-SNCF, but neither sells reservations without tickets, as far as I can see.
I tried booking a reservation with Eurail for next week and one for September. I was given the option in September but not next week. I suspect that like other fares, there is a quota of reservations for Eurail, Interrail and similar passes, and that quota is already full for many summer trains.
I don't know if you can get different quotas by booking on-site. I wouldn't be surprised if the quota was a time bomb in your pass's advertised fares, designed to make you pay more than you intended. Sadly, hidden charges are par for the course with many transportation companies; SNCF's gimmick is seat quotas per fare type.
Trains without compulsory reservations (TER and Intercités) are not subject to quotas, you can board any one you like. Depending on where you're going, this may make the trip very long.
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Quick Answer about "How to order reservations for European trains online (with pass)?"
How do I make Eurail reservations online?
You can make seat reservations through the Eurail.com website for 95% of all European trains. To do this, you need a Eurail Pass and a Eurail.com account. You can also book many trains through our Rail Planner App.Do you need to reserve seats with Eurail Pass?
We're all about flexibility \u2013 most trains covered by your Eurail Pass don't require seat reservations, so if you're willing to take a slower route you can often avoid the extra cost. National trains will take you to all corners of Europe, and you can just hop on and off as you please.How do I reserve a seat on Rail Europe?
Access your ticket details by pressing the pink button with 'Ticket details' jumping out at you. If the relevant train operator lets you book a preference, this is where you will see the choice of 'window', 'table' and so on*. Take the tickets you want and add them to your basket. You will not be charged at this stage.Can Eurail passes be purchased in Europe?
You can also purchase Eurail Passes at train stations in Europe, but that's more expensive than ordering them online in advance.HOW TO BOOK RESERVATIONS FOR INTERRAILING | A STEP BY STEP GUIDE
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Answer 2
Raileurope.co.uk currently has a problem with its booking system (due to a change in the French reservation system "Resarail"). My website, loco2.com, will be selling the reservations soon at the same prices as Rail Europe, but we are integrated with the same booking system, and so we are suffering from the same problem. We don't know when it will be fixed, but hopefully soon (we are waiting for SNCF to fix it).
I don't think it is possible to book French reservations online anywhere whilst this is broken (I don't think you can book reservation-only tickets at the main French site, voyages-sncf.com). However, you can probably book over the phone by calling Rail Europe (which Rail Europe number you call will depend on where you are). You can book non-French reservations on other national sites (e.g. Deutsche Bahn for German trains).
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