DBahn Seat Reservation question
 

I bought DB tickets for Hamburg-Berlin but didn't buy a seat reservation.

1. Is it possible to buy the seat reservation now?
2. If I don't have a seat reservation, how do I find unreserved seats when I get on the train?

You can book a seat online or on the ticket machine.

On an ICE train, you will find an indicator above every seat. It says if the seat is booked or not. The seat may only be booked for part of the whole train journey.

Just an add-on:
In the open plan section of the ICE cars, you find the indicator above the seat (at the overhead luggage rack).
It looks like this: https://images.app.goo.gl/hmLTk5XyLuNYyErM7
Note that there is no name or reservation number but just the stops between this seat is reserved, i.e. window seat 51 between Munich and Salzburg.
In the 6 seat compartments, these displays are mounted at the door to the compartments.
If you travel without reservations, note that many displays/indicators will say "ggf. reserviert" which means "possibly reserved". As you can reserve seat up to departure, those last minute reservations will be for "possibly reserved" seats. For peace of mind, I'd rather sit in a seat where the indicator does not say anything.

>>> how do I find unreserved seats when I get on the train?
If you look only for unreserved seats, you are leaving money on the table. There are many available seats among reserved seats. For example, in your case, if the reservation panel says something like Berlin-Nürnberg or any segment beyond your trip, then the seats are available for your purpose. The reservation is irrelevant in this case.
There are also no shows. For example, the seat says Kiel-Berlin, but when you get on at Hamburg HBF, the seat is still empty. The train would have traveled about 80 min since leaving Kiel, meaning whoever reserved seat should have had enough time to walk through the train or a cup of coffee and still should have made to this seat, hence the passenger is most likely a no-show.
I usually use the DB Navigator app on my phone to make seat reservations only on trains leaving large cities during the rush hour or when I am traveling in four and we want to sit together.

Yes, you can buy a seat reservation separately, but only through the Deutsche Bahn website (www.bahn.com) and not through third-party sellers like Trainline. On the first page where you plug in your train details, at the bottom on the left side is an option, "Seat only (no ticket)". You should select that and just plug in all the same details that you used for your original ticket so it all matches up.

I highly recommend a reservation, it can be a real pain without one.

Lavandula

Is that 'BVG ticket app' or 'BVG Fahrinfo..' ?

What's the one for Munich?

What's the best app to use for ridesharing? Does Uber and Lyft work in Germany?

I made another of my DB ticket purchases over the phone. I have the digital ticket but it doesn't also show up on the WWW.Bahn.Com website. It shows up on navigator. Is there any way to get it to show on bahn.com?

What's the best sim card to buy for my Iphone while in Germany?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks.

Hi Governator,

Once you download the tickets on the DB app, they are saved there, like a file. You do not need to be connected to the internet to access or display them. I frequently put my phone on airplane mode for my train trips, and then have to call up & display my tickets for the conductor -- no problem.

Of course you do need to be connected to the internet to purchase a ticket with the app ;)

Have fun as you plan!

s

Just a quick add-on re. 1st class and reservations.
You did not mention if you plan to travel in 2nd or 1st.
In older threads, you often see the advice that for 1st class no reservations were necessary. That is was mostly business jocks traveling with expensive flexible tickets, just hopping on whatever next train that comes along.
While it's still much more relaxed (fewer people, more space) in 1st class, the fare system has been changed a few years ago.
Nowadays, 1st class tickets include complimentary seat reservations. So almost everyone will get a reservation, even though a certain percentage will not use them cause they take another trains than planned. So you see a lot of "fake" reservation in 1st class.
And you can get pretty cheap 1st class tickets only good for the reserved date and time and train.
It still does not make 1st class the same zoo as 2nd on a holiday weekend. But things have changed a bit..

Swandav2000,

I was wondering about that. That's good to know.

I have all my trips and reservations showing on the app. I was even able to import the one purchased over the phone by entering a code that the operator gave me, into the navigator app.

I'll bring along printed copies of the tickets, as well, just in case.

Thanks!

Cowboy1968,

It's 2nd class for me, all the way :) Thanks!

We completed our trip. Train experience was great. I had all of our tickets and reservations on the DB Navigator app to easily show to conductor. I'm glad I reserved seats on all trips. We saw one couple without reservations playing musical chairs as they kept having to move seats. With large backpacks that would have been a real pain! The only issue I had was when boarding the train and people are trying to go in both directions clogging up the aisles. It's probably better to board at the last minute after everyone is settled.