ICE seat reservation advice

[williamn]

Hi all,
I'm travelling from Vienna to Brussels (and on to London) in December and am having a bit of trouble with the booking.

I thought I'd travel 1st class as its not much more expensive but the only seats available on the train I want (09.15 from Vienna on 19 Dec) seem to be aisle and in a compartment which is far from ideal!

I note on the seating plan that a lot of the seats on the train are unreservable - are these held back for people without reservations? And is it considered ok to not occupy the seat reserved for you in Germany?

Otherwise I'd be tempted to travel standard and get guaranteed window seat. If there are any particularly good seats on the ICE's on this route I'd be happy to hear.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[superalbs]

ICE from Wien seem to sell out about a month in advance. Take what you can get!

 

[Spoorslag '70]

The unreservable seats are held back for passengers without reservations - but that should not be too many in first class, as first class ticket include a free reservation since a couple of years ago. You can just occupy one even if you reserved another seat as seat reservations elapse 15 minutes after depature and are no longer displayed after that time.

If you want to reserve a seat (which could be a good idea - the ICEs to/from Vienna are quite busy normally), best first check on http://www.grahnert.de/fernbahn/reihung/fl4111.pdf to see if it actually is a window seat as there are quite some seats with a nice wall instead.

 

[Austriantrain]

ICE from Wien seem to sell out about a month in advance. Take what you can get!

It is usually easy on these trains to find an unreserved seat in Vienna, but lots of them are then reserved from some place in Germany onwards, so you would have to move around.

Both in Austria and in Germany, 100% of seats are usually reservable, and in Germany that often happens. It can also happen in Austria on busy days (eg Friday to Sunday).

Bottom line: if you know the train you will take, reserve a seat by all means. If you find a better one on the train that is unreserved, no one will bother you.

EDIT: The unreservable seats you mentioned are probably the „Bahn Comfort“ seats meant for last-minute reservations in Germany. You should expect that most of them will, in the end, be reserved for at least part of your journey.

 

[williamn]

Thanks for all the help! I don’t fancy hopping from seat to seat and don’t fancy a compartment so will go standard class. I note there are a couple of single seats at a table, are these good? I.e Coach 21 Seat 21.

 

[30907]

Thanks for all the help! I don’t fancy hopping from seat to seat and don’t fancy a compartment so will go standard class. I note there are a couple of single seats at a table, are these good? I.e Coach 21 Seat 21.

Right by the internal door, but only 8 passengers seated further away (in the rear view bit) so that shouldn't be an issue, and it aligns better than many with the window.

 

[Austriantrain]

It is usually easy on these trains to find an unreserved seat in Vienna, but lots of them are then reserved from some place in Germany onwards, so you would have to move around.

Both in Austria and in Germany, 100% of seats are usually reservable, and in Germany that often happens. It can also happen in Austria on busy days (eg Friday to Sunday).

Bottom line: if you know the train you will take, reserve a seat by all means. If you find a better one on the train that is unreserved, no one will bother you.

EDIT: The unreservable seats you mentioned are probably the „Bahn Comfort“ seats meant for last-minute reservations in Germany. You should expect that most of them will, in the end, be reserved for at least part of your journey.

I need to correct myself here. The Bahn Comfort seats are indeed unreserved in principle, but holders of Bahn Comfort cards (=DB frequent travelers) are entitled to chuck you out if you happen to sit there (not on the Austrian leg though).

So the advice still stands: reserve a seat.

 

[XAM2175]

Thanks for all the help! I don’t fancy hopping from seat to seat and don’t fancy a compartment so will go standard class. I note there are a couple of single seats at a table, are these good? I.e Coach 21 Seat 21.

The "Train Formations" page at VagonWEB is an excellent place to look for these details - if you know the train number you can check the booked stock, which in most cases will also show seat plans and photographs.

vagonWEB » Řazení vlaků » 2024

www.vagonweb.cz

(just bear in mind around this time of year that data might not yet be available for services in the new timetable year, which commences on the second weekend in December)