judybr

I would like to make VIP seat reservations on the Golden Pass Train from Interlaken to Montreux on August 16. We plan on purchasing the Swiss Pass (2nd class) upon arrival in Switzerland.
So far, no luck. I went on the golden pass site (www.goldenpass.ch) and no date I entered had availability, so I called the Swiss Travel office in the US. The fellow there said the August date shouldn't be too far in the future, but he was unable also. On raileurope, I can't see how to specify the VIP seats.
I have e-mail sent to the golden pass site as well as rail europe,but so far no response.
Can't believe this is so difficult! Can anyone help?
Thanks

PalenQ

raileurope, I can't see how to specify the VIP seats.
I have e-mail sent to the golden pass site as well as rail europe,but so far no response.>

For any RailEurope info do not call or contact RE themselves as their staff may actually know every little - lucky to get an answer - rather call Byron at www.budgeteuropetravel.com - I have bought railpasses form him for years and he knows everything - a RE agent so same prices but he will give you the low down for sure. And check Swiss Pass prices thru RE too - when I looked last week the same passes were cheaper here in the U.S. than on arrival in Switzerland - has often been the case for several years of comparing - for some weird reason - plus in Switzerland figure in any currency exchange fees your credit card may impose and factor that in. If no difference then just buy once there - but if you can save $20 or so as I saw last week...

I would not be surprised if the very limited number of VIP seats has not been sold out - even this far in advance - with a 2nd class pass you have to pay an upgrade to first-class for the VIP seats I believe as well.

judybr

Thanks PalenQ. I will try Byron tomorrow.

PalenQ

Note that there are I believe VIP seats at both ends of the train - ones in back obviously not as thrilling as ones in front going forward. I suppose the ones in the rear are more available.

PalenQ

I would like to make VIP seat reservations on the Golden Pass Train from Interlaken to Montreux on August 16.>

I believe the VIP seats are only on the Zweisimmen-Montreux segment of the Golden Pass - not from Interlaken to Zweisimmen - everyone gets off the standard-gauge train at Zweisimmen (sp?) and changes to the narrow-gauge train that goes via Gstaad to Montreux - so that is the only segment I believe you can get VIP seats.

Hambagahle

Normally seat reservations open 90 days before the date of travel. Today is 20 April so I think you will have to wait a bit.

The VIP seats are only available on the sector Zweisimmen/Montreux. And even then there is only 2 trains a day in each direction that have these seats. 0944 and 1544 out of Montreux. I am not sure about the timing frfom Zweisimmen.

None of the other parts of the Goldenpass have these seats. (Goldenpass line is really a collection of private lines for marketing purposes. At present because of the different gauges of rail changes are necessary at Zweisimmen, Interlaken Ost and sometimes at Spiez. Work on the line as well as new rolling stock will solve this problem but it is unlikely to be fixed till about 2016 at the earliest.

PalenQ

Work on the line as well as new rolling stock will solve this problem but it is unlikely to be fixed till about 2016 at the earliest.>

Yes in deedy - making it all the same gauge - width of tracks - should solve the problem of having tour groups that dominate these GP trains IME change trains twice - and make thru running Lucerne to Montreux and perhaps VIP seating the whole way!

I had thought I had read that GP VIP seats only could be booked much farther out than 90 days?

PalenQ

Hambagahle - I assume they are making narrow-gauge tracks along the standard-gauge tracks between Zweisimmen and Interlaken-Ost, right and not standard-gauge the whole way, which wouldn't make sense.

Just curious as I am keenly interested in these things. Thanks in advance.

PalenQ

For others pondering VIP seats here is the official web site for reservations:

http://www.goldenpass.ch/goldenpass_booking

NorCal_Jo

Just one more comment on our experience that might be helpful. We were trying to do the same thing basically last summer traveling from Wengen to Montreux and wanted to consider the VIP seats or at least the 1st class seats on the portion of the journey from Zweisimmen to Montreux.

We used the goldenpass.ch website and couldn't see VIP seats available and so decided to book 1st class seats. We needed 5 seats and couldn't find 5 available that were generally grouped together which was surprising to us given our prior experience on Swiss trains where 1st class is rarely full. So then we saw the small print on the availability page as follows:

"It's possible that further free seats are available, but not on the internet.
The Rail Center goldenpass will be happy to help you. Phone CH: 021 989 81 90, International: +41 (0)21 989 81 90"

So, we called the number and the woman on the phone assured us that there were plenty of 1st class seats available on the 5pmish train we wanted from Zweisimmen and that we probably didn't even need an advance reservation (she explained that the 5pm train was never full). We were very skeptical as the internet showed almost no availability! So, we ended up booking 5 seats through the phone.

As it turned out, we got on our 5pm train and went into the last carriage and lo and behold, despite the website saying no seats were available, there was NO ONE else on the entire carriage! This carriage also had the VIP seats (facing backwards as was the last carriage). The conductor invited us to sit anywhere we wanted including the VIP seats so we had a great time moving between the VIP seats and normal seats for the views which were quite nice even when seeing from the back of the train....

So maybe if you want to get a better chance of VIP seats, see what train is later in the day???

china_cat

I made reservations for VIP seats in late May. So I went to the golden pass site, and checked your date. The problem is htere are only a couple of trains which have the VIP seats, and it looks like the early ones are, indeed booked up. But if you are willing to go late, the train which leaves Zweissimmen at 18:25 has VIP seats available. You only need to do this on the Zweissimmen to Montreux leg of the journey (there are no panaroma cars on the Interlaken-Zweissimen leg, I don't think). So make sure you only use Zweissimen and Montreux in your search on this website: http://www.goldenpass.ch/

judybr

Thanks to everyone for all the info. I did book 2 VIP seats from Zweissmmen to Montreux on August 16. They're for the 12:25 train. I received an answer from my e-mail to the Golden Pass website that included a diagram of the 1st car with 2 seats open in the first row. I called them immediately and they were able to book the reservations. They charged 15 chf each on my credit card. When we arrive in Switzerland and purchase the second class Swiss Pass, I need to pay an upgrade of 12 chf each then.

They said that for the 2nd row, they will book for you if you send your complete credit card info. They can do this 90 days in advance.

Looking forward to a scenic ride!

Thanks again for all the help.

PalenQ

so the impossible was not impossible after all - thanks to Nor Cal and china cat's great detailed experiences doing them. Especially valuable is the call number!