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> Reserve, even when you think you do not need to. A few euros for a Sitzplatzreservierung is the cheapest insurance in this entire system. On a delay-day, your

> Reserve, even when you think you do not need to. A few euros for a Sitzplatzreservierung is the cheapest insurance in this entire system. On a delay-day, your reservation is the difference between a four-hour journey at a table with power and a four-hour journey standing in a vestibule next to the toilet. Except when it is really crowded, reservations are revoked.

usr1106 6mo ago
On delay-day you won't be travelling on the train you booked. So the reservation will only help if things go reasonably well. Which depending on your itenary might be less frequently than desired. Yes, a reservation helps if you happen to be on the correct train, but many others are not. It all remains a big gamble, you never know...
pseudohadamard 6mo ago
Always, always reserve. If you're traveling internationally, check whether the operator in the other country gives free reservations. For example České dráhy does, OeBB doesn't, and is much cheaper to boot, so if you're going AT <-> CZ, book your ticket through CD not OeBB. Reservations are also incredibly useful on things like the EC 172 "Orban's Pride", which is permanently late and often breaks down en route. When it does, immediately reserve a seat on the next train going in the same direction so when you transfer you've got a guaranteed seat, unlike the hundreds of other transferring passengers who don't.
- 1718627440 6mo ago
  > book your ticket through CD not OeBB. Whenever I try to book a ticket via CD, I get to a screen that tells me to call a number or visit a train station. How do you actually book a ticket, without being in Czech.
  - pseudohadamard 6mo ago
    That'll happen if you run off the end of the connections that CD can book for you. For example I recently tried to book one all the way down to Trieste and it could show the trains but couldn't book them for me, you need to break it down into parts and book with relevant operators, in my case CD for the first part and Trenitalia for the last, skipping OeBB in the middle. Just beware when you do this that different operators will show different trains and connections so you may need to manually select the trains if (for example) CD and Trenitalia disagree over the best links. Seat 61 has an excellent guide on dealing with this, https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-online.htm https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-online.htm.

usr1106 6mo ago

On delay-day you won't be travelling on the train you booked. So the reservation will only help if things go reasonably well. Which depending on your itenary might be less frequently than desired. Yes, a reservation helps if you happen to be on the correct train, but many others are not. It all remains a big gamble, you never know...

pseudohadamard 6mo ago

Always, always reserve. If you're traveling internationally, check whether the operator in the other country gives free reservations. For example České dráhy does, OeBB doesn't, and is much cheaper to boot, so if you're going AT <-> CZ, book your ticket through CD not OeBB. Reservations are also incredibly useful on things like the EC 172 "Orban's Pride", which is permanently late and often breaks down en route. When it does, immediately reserve a seat on the next train going in the same direction so when you transfer you've got a guaranteed seat, unlike the hundreds of other transferring passengers who don't.

1718627440 6mo ago
> book your ticket through CD not OeBB. Whenever I try to book a ticket via CD, I get to a screen that tells me to call a number or visit a train station. How do you actually book a ticket, without being in Czech.
- pseudohadamard 6mo ago
  That'll happen if you run off the end of the connections that CD can book for you. For example I recently tried to book one all the way down to Trieste and it could show the trains but couldn't book them for me, you need to break it down into parts and book with relevant operators, in my case CD for the first part and Trenitalia for the last, skipping OeBB in the middle. Just beware when you do this that different operators will show different trains and connections so you may need to manually select the trains if (for example) CD and Trenitalia disagree over the best links. Seat 61 has an excellent guide on dealing with this, https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-online.htm https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-online.htm.