I'm curious. Those of you who have traveled in 1st class for DB trains, do you always make seat reservations? Are 1st class trains crowded? I noted on the DB schedule that a few routes are noted as needing reservations as these are high demand connections. Is the demand high for both 1st & 2nd class?

After having taken literally hundreds of German trains i emphatically say there is IME NO need to reserve seats in first class - unlike 2nd class which often is more and more full IME

The value of a first class ticket or pass is thus you can just hop on and find empty seats - i almost always have room for my luggage on an adjoining empty seat.

Now there may be some trains that could be full in first class but i'm never seen one that i can remember.

That said before plopping down in an empty seat check to see if it is reserved down the line - digital signs over each seat will say if it is - if it is blank that seat should not be reserved by someone else who will board at a later station.

As they say in Germany - Have a Gute Fahrt - good ride - i love that when i see it on signs in stations!

Hi Elaine & Palenque
When I booked our seats from Paris to Munich 2 weeks ago on DB I noticed that they donot do single journeys any longer - BUT were giving a special offer on 1st class. It worked out to about 20euros more (for both of us I think).
Considering the long 6 hour journey we went for the deal and now can look forward to ending our month long holiday with some plush! Flying home business class as well - who could ask for anything more?!

It depends in my OWN experience.

I would agree that 2nd inevitably gets more crowded than First because it is cheaper to take and it often has more seats in thew same space taken up by fewer seats in the same space in First.

It also depends on which train you take and what time of day. For example, I had reserved First seats on an ICE returning from Koblenz to Hannover and it was on a Friday.
The train got to Cologne and a bunch of business people POURED into First...they were sitting in the aisles at one point.

Route and time of day would be my biggest considerations in whether or not to get reserved seats..but frankly, if you get them IN Europe they are usually pretty cheap.

I am a DB frequent traveller (always 1st class) and I always reserve seats - sometimes I even make multiple reservation (when I do not know precisely which train I will get).

At certain times (from 7:00 to 10:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00) and on certain sections (e.g. Düsseldorf - Köln - Frankfurt, Hamburg - Bremen, Frankfurt - Stuttgart) it is often impossible to find a non-reserved seat. When you are travelling alone, chances are better, but when you are travelling in a party, it is often impossible to find contingent seats for all.

Reservations are inexpensive - better reserve to be on the safe side.

Durkey, so you are saying that it is cheaper to reserve in Europe rather than reserving from the states on the bahn site? Correct?

i think dukey is saying in Europe cheaper than going thru RailEurope here - in Germany a few euros - what do they cost on bahn.de?

For 1st class, & at today's exchange, it's about $6.50 per seat. Dukey, do you know how much the reservation is in Germany?

>Dukey, do you know how much the reservation is in Germany?

I´m not Dukey, but reservations cost 4 € separately or 2 € if bought together with a ticket. It doesn´t matter whether 1st or 2nd class.

So it's about $1 cheaper. Thanks!