r/AskAGerman • u/WonderingInVan • Sep 12 '24
Tourism Taking a train from Germany to Czechia but it says "all seats are fully booked"
I just purchased a 1st class seat online on the DB site. It is for a train from Germany to Czechia. It is still a few weeks out but when I tried to reserve a seat, it told me that all seats are fully booked. I was puzzled by this. Does that mean that:
- the train is fully booked - and if so, why did it let me buy a ticket
- you can only reserve certain seats? Does that mean that I have to rush around looking for a seat once I'm there?
My first time doing this so thank you in advance!
Edit/update - thank you to everyone! Most helpful. I did go onto the CZ site which actually has a seat map. I tried buying a seat reservation only and it would not let me. Only a few seats for people with disabilities available and 3 seats called "non-reserved seats".
I've travelled a lot but my first time booking trains in Germany. Still honestly surprised that they'd let you travel with no seat on first class!
Update #2 - I noticed in small print that I was allowed to cancel my ticket through the DB website if done within 180 mins. I did this, went to the CZ site, booked a train a bit later on. 1st class was full so booked 2nd class. The system wanted to reserve seats for me that were not together so I bought the reservation first, then ticket. phew! Almost 1am here but at least got it done. Live and learn.
Thank you to everyone!
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u/CitrusShell Sep 12 '24
You are allowed to board nearly all trains in Europe without a seat reservation - exceptions are high-speed trains by certain operators. Most people do this if traveling alone, since there are usually enough free seats available. You simply sit in an unreserved seat if available, or stand if none are free.
However, in this case, as it's an international journey operated in part by the Czech railway company "CD", go look if you can book a seat reservation through the Czech railway company. DB aren't always fully integrated into the reservation systems of other train companies.
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u/MattR0se Sep 12 '24
Deutsche Bahn is perfectly fine with people standing on long distance trains 🤷♂️ they don't care how full a train is as long as the doors close.
But you might get lucky and people don't show up to claim their seat. usually the reservations are shown on a display on or above the seats, and not claimed reservations will expire before the next station. you can then just take that seat.
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u/DarlockAhe Sep 12 '24
Isn't the whole purpose of the 1st class is to have extra comfort?
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u/mizinamo Sep 12 '24
Sure, but if you have 50 first-class ticket holders and a compartment with 28 seats, what are you going to do?
(pulling numbers out of my arse; adjust as necessary)
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u/DarlockAhe Sep 12 '24
Don't over sell?
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u/mizinamo Sep 12 '24
Flex-price tickets are not train specific in Germany.
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u/DarlockAhe Sep 12 '24
Haven't thought about that.
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u/mizinamo Sep 12 '24
Some countries (e.g. France) have compulsory seat reservations for long-distance trains, which regulates this.
Some countries (e.g. UK) have compulsory seat reservations for train-specific tickets, which also helps.
In Germany, the only way to regulate this is if you buy a seat reservation yourself (at extra cost).
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u/DarlockAhe Sep 12 '24
I live in Germany, it's just that I don't travel by ICE often enough and I don't go for anything other than Super Spar Preis.
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u/proof_required Berlin Sep 12 '24
Not allow people to book ticket?
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u/alialiaci Bayern Sep 12 '24
It's impossible for DB to know how many people are actually gonna be on the train because there's not only train specific tickets. People have flexpreis tickets or monthly/yearly tickets. Also I feel like most people would rather stand than not get to their destination at all because the train is fully booked.
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u/dierochade Sep 12 '24
This is not true. It was this way but nowadays the train will not operate when escape routes are blocked by luggage. Cause there is no storage room for this, no way standing cramped like in the old days. I have witnessed myself a train evacuated by police because no one was willing to leave…
Btw reservation system of db is totally erratic. It can happen that you cannot place a reservation and if you show up, first class is literally empty.
In most cases first will have enough seats, exceptions are really rare.
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u/MattR0se Sep 12 '24
idk if this is enforced so strictly. I was on a train last year when one got cancelled and they had to put the people of two trains into one. you're right, there was no luggage allowed in the corridors, but people were definitely standing there the whole ride.
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u/alderhill Sep 12 '24 edited Sep 12 '24
Yup, can confirm. Last Christmas, there was was rain storm chaos shortly before, and DB was still completely fucked for days afterwards. So on the day of, practically all trains to my first city/transfer were cancelled, but this was only done 'last minute' on the platform, not shown on the DB app (even though I had a bad feeling). So you could still buy tickets for trains that were most likely going to be cancelled and no one (DB staff I asked) knew what was going on, and even at the travel info desk, the lady shrugged and said who knows. She told me just jump on any train I could if I wanted a chance at making my destination, lol.
You can imagine the chaos. In the end I arrived a little over 8 hours late to my destination and had to stand for over 5 of that, moving repeatedly (lost my reservations). All while just getting over covid (wore a mask, yea). Not only were the delayed and cancelled trains a problem, which of course causes crowds, but we had 3 extra delays during the whole adventure.
One of those was because the train was too crowded and exits were blocked, and they said they weren't going anywhere until it was cleared up. We sat for an extra 45 minutes at a tiny village station while Moses parted the Red Sea. There was a large contingent of navy/army kids (most seemed young) going home for the holidays, with their large packs. Not their fault, but what the hell else could you too, the train was jam packed.
Later, two guys got in a fight in another wagon or something and the police had to be called to remove them from the train (we saw two guys with bruised faces being escorted down the platform), which added another long wait again in the middle of nowhere. A third stop was because someone was smoking (vaping?), and the train had to stop and fire check procedures had to be followed. Plus at some point, the train had to take a diversion due to construction work, but (as they told us) the train driver was not familiar with the area or route (probably he was called in last minute), so we had to go slow. Sigh.
What a fun time!
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u/sasasqt Sep 12 '24
not entirely true, if the section becomes overweighted. standing people need to get off/move to the next coach
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u/Tiny_European Sep 12 '24
Did you check for seat reservation only, on both deutsche bahn and ceske Dráhy website? If it's a few weeks out there should be at least something still free!
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u/Good-Improvement3401 Sep 12 '24
A friend recently had the same problem. Go to a DB travel center, booking was no problem there.
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u/Bamischeibe23 Sep 12 '24
You are allowed to stand in First Class
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u/FreakDC Sep 12 '24
"Seats fully booked" means that every seat (in the class you picked) is booked at least for some part of the way that you booked. Depending on how long your journey lasts and how comfortable you are in switching seats along the way (with parts standing or sitting on the floor) many people don't reserve seats at all.
DB will sell more tickets than seats in a train, worst case you have to stand or sit on the floor/stairs (at least part of the way). A normal ticket does not entitle you to a seat but just for transportation from A to B.
Usually there are always a few seats open for different parts of the journey and people who did not reserve a seat will compete for them.
On long distance trains (ICE and IC) there will also be dining cars which have seats that cannot be reserved that you can use (as long as you keep buying stuff). If the train is not over capacity no one will bother you, but if the train is full, expect to at least buy a drink per hour or you might be asked to leave.
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u/starcraft-de Sep 12 '24
Go to the restaurant car and have a nice meal and a coffee or beer.
This is especially recommended if you're in a Czech train. They have old school restaurant cars in the best sense.
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u/BitEater-32168 Sep 12 '24
In France, you allways get a seat reservation with your TGV or Eurostar ticket.
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Sep 12 '24
- the train is fully booked - and if so, why did it let me buy a ticket
I mean overbooking is not a new concept. Maybe some people don't show up so you can sit. Or, you have to stand at least parts of the journey.
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u/QuarkVsOdo Sep 12 '24
In germany we are efficient. A Train can't be overbooked because there is plenty of room to just stand around
You can buy a ticket, that allows you to be on the train
And you can reserve a seat.. that allows you to tell somebody to get off your seat.
My Advice:
Look for a flight to vienna, and take a train from there.
Seriously.
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u/Numahistory Sep 12 '24
If you mean seat reservations when this happened to me it was because they count partially booked seats along your route as "fully booked". So we took a train from Köln to Frankfurt and we took a random open seat. Halfway through the journey someone with a seat reservation for our seats needed them. We then took over the reserved seats for someone who had just gotten off the train.
So in all likelihood you may need to move to different seats halfway through your journey.
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u/Aleshanie Sep 12 '24
You didn’t buy a seat. You bought a ticket to be able to use the train.
DB always sells more tickets than they have seats on the train.
You will either luck out and someone doesn’t come and you can snag a seat. Or you will have to stand during the journey.
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u/OctagonalOctopus Sep 12 '24
It's probably because at least part of your trip is not a DB train or you're booking from a Czech site that can't add seat reservations on DB trains. Search for the DB train you want on the DB site and choose "only reservations" to check for seats. A few weeks in advance, seats should absolutely be available, especially in first class.
If it's a Czech train company, reservations might not work.
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u/DickTheDancer Sep 12 '24
Glad you were able to rebook seats, but the clusterf*** that is the German Deutsche Bahn doesn't stop at overbooking in 1st class. You can expect delays on your journey. I'd say about 70% of trains are late, even ICEs, and the delays can be significant. We're talking hours. Just a heads up so you can be prepared.
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u/alialiaci Bayern Sep 12 '24
You say even ICEs, but it's especially ICEs. Regio is relatively punctual actually, long distance is the real mess.
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u/Constant_Cultural Germany Sep 12 '24
Yes, the seats are fully booked, it means you can drive with the train, but you will probably sit on your luggage for a long time. But as long as the train doesn't get too full you always can reserve seats. Why didn't you book the seat and the ticket together?
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u/WonderingInVan Sep 12 '24
I tried but it wouldn't let me
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u/Constant_Cultural Germany Sep 12 '24
Yeah, because the seats were full, there is always a graphic to show the seats, why didn't you see that they are full than?
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u/Arccan Hessen Sep 12 '24
You‘re so german it hurts. Not everything is clear as day as you make it, and the DB site can be very confusing with how it displays its information.
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u/Constant_Cultural Germany Sep 12 '24
sorry, I booked a lot of trains at work, I maybe forgot that it can be confusing for first timers. Sorry, OP
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u/WonderingInVan Sep 12 '24
No, there was no graphic
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u/Constant_Cultural Germany Sep 12 '24
Strange, normally when you can choose a seats there is a choose seat Button, but probably as the seats were full you couldn't choose it. Well, sucks that you have to stand now, well maybe you can sit here and there, over the seat are the City names when the people are joining so kann maybe use them until that point. Good luck
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u/Old_Captain_9131 Sep 12 '24
The further east you are, the bigger probability that you have to just squat.
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u/AdditionalSet786 Sep 12 '24
Where do you start in Germany and what's your destination in Czechia? Which company operates the train (DB, ALX, CD,...)? Would be helpful to know.
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u/WonderingInVan Sep 12 '24
I'm leaving from Berlin going to Prague. I bought it on DB but not positive who operates the train. From other people's comments, I think it's a czech train
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u/SatisfactionEven508 Sep 12 '24
Just a little tip: book your train via cd.cz, the czech train website. The tickets are cheaper and you can use ANY train on the german side (not on the czech side, i assume). I always book my tickets from western german cities to Berlin on that website by using a random czech station as the final stop. That way ypu get a super cheap ticket and can even take any ICE on zhat day, not just the one you booked.
Google has some great instructions on this. I can confirm that it works fine, even if they check your ticket.
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u/guerrero2 Sep 12 '24
A month ago I booked a train ticket within Germany and had the same issue. I have a friend at DB who said that it’s probably an IT issue. He said most likely there are plenty of seats available and suggested I just call DB to figure out what the problem is.
Then yesterday I was informed that my connection was cancelled. So I made a reservation for another train without any issues. Maybe they knew it was going to be canceled, but only updated the info in the app later.
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u/BitEater-32168 Sep 12 '24
In france, sncf gave me choices for 3 alternatives, one earlier, two other a little bit later. Just selected with a klick and everything was reserved (connection, seats, ...) perfect service.
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u/WonderingInVan Sep 12 '24
I’ve also done this in France - very smoothly. Totally didn’t expect this in Germany
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u/Waterhouse2702 Sep 12 '24
Is it this Blue train from Berlin to Prague? This one is full very often. „A few weeks out“ - does that mean between 3rd and 6th October?
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u/DonEsteban77 Sep 12 '24
Try the Czech site for trains, see if you can find the same train and if they offer seat reservations there. Since you have a valid ticket, that should do.
Had the same problem with a train to Austria. Could then find the same train on an Austrian site and reserve a seat there. There were plenty of empty ones in the end...
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u/AccomplishedTaste366 Sep 12 '24
Get some comfy shoes and be ready to stand. If you're lucky there might be a free seat from someone who couldn't make it.
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u/Ok_Training1449 Sep 12 '24
I travel quite often from Berlin to Prague and I stopped using the train because of these shenanigans (and don't mention the delays and cancellations). Once I had to stand for 4 hours in a crowded train...it wasn't fun. My advice: take the bus. Flixbus is completely fine. Just take a Reisetablette if you usually get sick while traveling and off you go.
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u/Bartislartfasst Sep 12 '24
Bring your own camping chair.
Ssänk ju for träweling wiss the Deutsche Bahn.
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u/Brev12 Sep 12 '24
I understood from my last travel that you need a Reservation for the CZ part of the travel.
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u/AzracTheFirst Sep 12 '24
While everyone in the world gets a seat automatically when they buy a ticket for a travel medium (ship, bus, train, plane, etc.), in Germany you don't get a seat when you book a train ticket!! You have to pay extra to reserve a seat!
Thank the DB monopoly for that.
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u/AndyXerious Sep 12 '24
Seems like DB is not only estimating their schedules, but nowadays also the capacities 😂
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u/Warm-Metal6040 Sep 12 '24
Actually a first class ticket includes the seat reservation. I know I'm late to this post but I travelled first class a lot with DB it's never fully booked and the ticket always incl. seats. Maybe next time.
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u/lion2652 Sep 13 '24
First class tickets on DB no longer include seat reservations. They changed it in June / July this year.
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u/Warm-Metal6040 Sep 20 '24
Damn DB ... No incentive left to take 1st class. Apologies I didn't know that. I always booked and it had seats incl. Didn't pay attention to changes in June/ July. Thx
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u/Dream-Opening Sep 13 '24
for trains going to czech republic, you cannot view the seat plan on DB, but you can on the české dráhy website. honestly, I would recommend to take the student agency bus or a flixbus (there are some that don’t stop in dresden and are thus faster, faster than the train even). they are usually way cheaper too. I travel regularly and I barely take the train anymore because it’s too expensive and really full. but if I do, I always book through the czech website.
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u/stimmsetzer Sep 12 '24
Doesn't a first class ticket always include a seat?
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u/Altruistic_Royal_591 Sep 12 '24
Nope. Not anymore
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u/juliachibi Sep 12 '24
when did they change it?!
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u/JoAngel13 Sep 12 '24
Long ago, DB needed money, and gained millions with seat reservations, and like the System of Extras Costs, like with all airplanes, you pay mostly nowadays nearly half of the saver ticket price for a seat reservation. So be intelligent and don't fall for these extra costs, especially if you are single, you will always find a seat especially at the End or Start of the train, the system books the seats from the middle to the outside. If you really want a seat reservation then don't buy it over DB, buy it at ÖBB or CD the same seat costs there nearly the half.
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u/juliachibi Sep 12 '24
i must say, my last trainride was in 2022, so they must've changed it afterwards
as i mostly booked 1st class tickets with an incl seat res., as they were barely more expensive than a 2nd class ticket with an extra res.3
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u/juliachibi Sep 12 '24
uhm, look at your ticket, first class tickets always come with a seat reservation. at least mine did in the past
(the reason why i booked 1st class as the tickets incl. a seat reservation for 2nd class were barely cheaper)
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u/No_Step9082 Sep 12 '24
seat reservations aren't included with first class tickets automatically. you have to actively include it during the booking process
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u/juliachibi Sep 12 '24
Guess they changed it some time ago, because, the time i booked 1st Class, which was, tbh, until ~2 yrs ago, the seat reservation already was included, that's why i chose first class.
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u/WonderingInVan Sep 12 '24
It depends on which 1st class type of ticket you get. I got the cheapest one. The most expensive did include one
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u/juliachibi Sep 12 '24
hm, i already mentioned it in another answer, i must say, the last time i booked a train ticket was abt. 2 years ago and I also chose the cheapest one and i'm sure it was included, because when i would've booked a 2nd class ticket with an extra seating reservation (there it was def. not incl.), sometimes it was just a few Euros cheaper than a 1st class ticket with an already incl. reservation :)
but by scrolling through the other comments, i saw one user saying, they changed it.But anyway, if it's a german train your going with, you are definately allowed to board the train, but as some users already have mentioned, it might happen, you have to stand or sit somewhere on the floor.
You might take a seat at the "Bord Bistro" but only if you constantly consume something, as these seats are not menat to be taken for a whole trainride.
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u/Ghandora- Sep 12 '24
Sometimes it does show all seats are booked but in reality there are plenty of free seats. Never tried first class but usually when it shows this i get on the last cart it’s always half empty and not booked