gjspring

My fellow travel experts:

I just purchased tickets on-line from Berlin to Prague using www.bahn.de.
Got a great price (80 Euros round-trip for first class), but I have some questions.

My tickets arrived by mail with no time or seat assignment on them which I have been used to when purchasing rail tickets from Europe. My ticket DOES include a reservation.

So my question is, do I have an assigned seat? Do I need to have this ticket validated before travel?

Please only answer this if you are certain. www.bahn.de has not answered my questions relayed by e-mail.

Thanks,
G.

PalenQ

There is an English language phone for bahn.de to call that would definitively answer this question

several Fodorites have said they have used it and got English speaking staff to straighten things out.

Scour bahn.de for the number or maybe someone else has it?

quokka

Did you actually book a seat reservation? Did the system show reservations during the online booking process?

Is there a separate ticket with the others that states a train connection, car and seat number?

If yes, fine.
If no: Go back to www.bahn.de, log in with your user name and password and check the bookings you made. A seat reservation should be shown.
Check if there is an extra ticket in the list about the seat reservations. The reservation might be on an online ticket. If yes, open the file and print it out.

No validation necessary. The conductor does this at your seat when checking the tickets during the ride.

Larryincolorado

In the past (twice) I have called 49 1805 996633. The first time my question was fairly complicated, so I asked if she spoke English (even though I probably could have done it in German). She put me on hold for a German speaking person. The second time, not wanting to be put on hold, I just asked in German, but I had the feeling I could have had another English speaker. It's my feeling that English speakers <u>are</u> there, but don't answer the phone so as to keep them available when needed.

As for your ticket, you said &quot;tickets&quot; so I assumed two people, RT, 1st class. I put in a round trip with stay over a Sat. nt. It showed a SparPreis 50 ticket for &euro;158,95 for 2 (almost &euro;80 per person). Is that what you got?

The screen show it was only for delivery by mail and shows specific times, and &quot;without reservations&quot; was blanked out. If you have SparPreis tickets, I think they <u>should</u> show seat numbers somewhere.

Larryincolorado

By the way, if it IS a SparPreis ticket, I don't think it would be sent as a open ticket and a separate reservation, since SparPreis tickets are supposed to be train specific and that would allow you to use the ticket part on any train.

Larryincolorado

Oh, oh. I just put in a single traveler, RT, 1st class, <b>regional trains</b> and got a price of &euro;78 (again almost &euro;80) each way. Those tickets are only for mail delivery, but reservations are not possible.

Could that be what you got. That would be an open ticket, with no train, coach, or seat specified.

quokka

If it's a connection on regional trains, there are no seat reservations possible anyway.

Larryincolorado

&gt;&gt;My tickets arrived by mail with no time or seat assignment on them ... My ticket DOES include a reservation.

What does that mean. Isn't a reservation time and seat assignment?

I now see that it would be possible, if you got SparPreis 50 tickets, to <u>not</u> reserve a seat. That red seat symbol with the black line through it does not mean that the option is ruled out; it means you're buying the ticket without a seat reservation, which is &euro;3 extra. The &quot;radio&quot; button to the left of the symbol is still &quot;active&quot;. It is possible with a SparPreis fare to not reserve a seat, but the date, times, and train number should still appear on the ticket, to make it non-transferrable.

quokka

We'll have to wait for G. to come back and tell us more details, Larry, otherwise we are just speculating.

PalenQ

You don't have to be a genius to figure out that if the tickets have no time or seat number on them you do not have a reserved seat and if want one will have to make it on bahn.de or in person.

Larryincolorado

G. has never written back, so I think it's an indication that he found that there really was at least time information on the ticket. That low a fare almost <u>has</u> to be a promotional fare (SparPreis, Dauer, etc), which is train specific. He might have deselected the reservation option, but the ticket should still have specified a time and train number.

Larryincolorado

BTW, PQ, that website was www.geocities.com/reise_deutschland. However, I am in the process of switching to my own URL, www.germantravel-info.com.

gjspring

Fellow travel experts:

I am planning to call the number listed for exact info:

Here's what my on line reservations says:

Receipt Date of travel Description Receipt number Price
Fahrschein 11.10.2008 Hin- und R&uuml;ckfahrt, Sparpreis 50/Sparpreis 25, 1. Kl., 2 Erw.., Berlin/Praha 2190312 158,95 EUR
Fahrschein 18.07.2008 Versandkosten 44926204 3,50 EUR


This is the &quot;detail&quot; there is no other place to click for more information.

As far as I can tell there is no seat number, or train times.

Thanks for your help.

G.

Larryincolorado

&gt;&gt;there is no other place to click

Meaning you are viewing this online? I thought you said the tickets have arrived by mail. What do the tickets say?

The &euro;158,95 is the price shown on the Bahn site for the tickets WITHOUT reservations. Reservations would be &euro;3,00 per person and per direction, i.e. another &euro;12,00. I don't see that you were charged for reservations. Maybe that is still coming.

There were two radio buttons to select &quot;with&quot; or &quot;without&quot; seat reservations. The default is &quot;with&quot;. You would have had to have changed it to &quot;without seat reservations&quot;.

The receipt gives the date as Oct 11, 2008 and then says &quot;Hin- und R&uuml;ckfahrt&quot;, which means outbound and return. Are you doing it in one day? The ticket must have more information than you have given us, like the return date.

Maybe instead of times it gives train numbers, like EC 370. According to the site, this is a SparPreis fare and &quot;use of selected train is required&quot;.

gjspring

Larry -
I did get the tickets by mail, but my info shows up on-line as I posted it.

The outgoing train # does show up on my ticket as EC-177 and time (?)
as 12:46. My return train is EC-176, but no time is listed.

When I tried to book this with reservations on-line, it could only give a reservation for the outgoing portion, so I'm not sure what happened.

I'm still confused regarding the train times and seat #'s.

Thanks,
Gary

gjspring

Here's exactly what my printed tickets shows:


2 Erwachsene

Von -&gt; NACH
Berlin Praha
Praha Berlin

Kl/Cl: 1

H: &lt;1080&gt; &lt;11.10.08&gt; B-Hbp 12:46 EC 177 R: &lt;1080&gt; (15.10.08) Sch&ouml;naG EC 176 VIA: Sch&ouml;na (Gr) &lt;0054&gt; Usti nad Labem*Kralupy n. Vlt.

Sparpreis 50 Deutschland
Sparpreis 25 Tschechien

Preis EUR ** 158,95



Passenger names????
Train times????
Seat #????
Reservations????

PalenQ

you have an open ticket for the return. make a reservation in Berlin before departure and stop worrying.

Larryincolorado

I believe an open ticket means <i>not train specific</i>. This ticket is. You <b>must</b> ride EC 177 which leaves Berlin Hbf at 12:46 on the 11th of October, and return on EC 176, which leaves Prague at 8:25 on the 15th.

You do not have seat reservations. Either you clicked &quot;without reservations&quot; or it wasn't making any.

As PQ says, you can make reservations in Berlin. I believe at the time they will be &euro;4 per person and direction.

Larryincolorado

Your name and the credit card number you used to purchase the ticket is in their data base. You will have to show the credit card to use the ticket.

Larryincolorado

You should also be aware that EC 177 goes into Praha Holesovice station, but EC 176 leaves from Praha hl.n. (main station)