Ruby99

I am trying to book my tickets from Prague to Dresden and Dresden to Berlin (staying in Dresden 1 night) and I can get to the final step where it tells me:

Reservation request cannot be satisfied...

it seems to be the seat reservation that isn't working. It asks if I want to proceed with the purchase without a seat reservation... but I'm thinking a seat reservation IS a good idea.

Trying to book 2 tickets, 1st class.

Any ideas why this isn't going through? The date is in October (I did read where it said seat selection for international available within 2 months of departure........???)

Thanks!

adrienne

I booked a domestic ticket a few weeks ago and the seat reservation didn't work for me either. I've booked through bahn.de before and had no problems. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the site or why I couldn't book a reservation. I bought the ticket without reservation. When I get to Dresden I'll ask for the reservation then.

nytraveler

Um - if you going from Prague to Dresden don;t you have to buy the tickets from the Czech railroad site. My understanding is that while bahn.de has schedules and routes for all of europe they sell tickets only for trips starting in Germany.

Ruby99

I tried both the Prague - Dresden route and the Dresden - Berlin routes and it wouldn't let me get my seat reservations for either leg.

I sent a message to customer service, not sure I'll get a reply, but it's too late now to do anything. Since adrienne had a similar experience, I'm thinking it could be a glitch.

adrienne, how many months ahead are you booking? It said domestic seat selections can be booked 3 months ahead...

nytraveler, it actually lets me do the booking on the bahn.de website, and it is for the same price as the Cz railroad site. I'd like to keep things simple and stick with booking at one website.

mjdh1957

In first class you almost certainly won't need a seat reservation as there will be empty seats.

Most travellers use second class, first is often for business users who don't pay their own fares so don't care about the cost.

adrienne

I bought my ticket not quite 3 months in advance.

adrienne

I just tried to make a seat reservation and was successful.

Ruby99

adrienne, did you go through all the steps until confirmation? I could get right to the very last step before it processed my payment, and that's when it wouldn't let me. I even got as far as choosing what kind of seat I wanted and everything.

mjdh1957, I have traveled on a few trains, both 1st and 2nd class, and I still prefer to pay a bit more to get 1st class. We'll both have a large suitcase and find if it's not busy, we can just park the suitcase at our individual seat, not on the luggage racks at the head of the cars, and this makes us more comfortable.

There is a big enough difference in prince from Praha to Dresden (30 Euros each... so I'm considering booking 2nd class) but for the Dresden to Berlin leg, there is only an 8 Euro difference between 1st and 2nd!

adrienne

I didn't choose my seat - I took whatever I was given. Yes, I entered my credit card and received an email confirmation within 2 minutes of completion.

Did you register? If not (I didn't register), did you change the option to purchase without registering?

adrienne

Did you already book the ticket? If not, do that booking and then go back later on for a seat reservation. That's what I did.

adrienne

<< My understanding is that while bahn.de has schedules and routes for all of europe they sell tickets only for trips starting in Germany. >>

You can use bahn.de for travel TO and FROM Germany.

Ruby99

adrienne, thanks! I will try that tomorrow... A bit brain dead tonight, scared I'll mess up the date! I did register... will try to figure it out.

thanks again, and glad you got your reservation

danon

I booked the same itinerary several years ago using bahn.de

mjdh1957

I didn't say you shouldn't go first class, I was saying that it's unlikely to be full enough to make a seat reservation absolutely necessary.

Ruby99

Update: I got the tickets WITHOUT the reservation...

This is the reply I got from customer service :

A pure seat reservation for international connections is not possible on www.bahn.com .

Those can be purchased from any DB Travel Centre or DB-licensed travel agency or by calling our colleagues and partners of our Travel-Service 0049 180 6 99 66 33; please press 9 for the English menu, 1+1 for the Travel-Service (20ct/call from German landline, for other rates please contact your current phone provider). Our staff there will gladly assist you.
With kind regards
yours www.bahn.de service-team

Ruby99

I'm thinking I'll wait while I'm in Prague (staying 4 days) and get the seat reservations then. For the Dresden to Berlin leg, I might do as adrienne did and book the reservation separately. Or maybe I'll wait til I get to Dresden (first leg, from Prague).

2 months to go, the trip is really coming together

adrienne

Get the reservation in Prague. I was going to get it when I got to Dresden but your post prompted me to try again and it worked. Probably if you were doing the trip in reverse (starting in Germany) you could book on line reservations. I had a domestic ticket - Dresden to Berlin.