Seat selection and seat preference
European train seat selection can be tricky. It's not always possible to choose a specific seat, but this article outlines what's available to you. Please see our Help article Seat maps to find the seating plan for your train.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Can I choose a specific seat?
It's not possible to choose a specific seat for most European trains. Unfortunately, the few rail operators that do offer this service haven't made it available to third-party booking agencies yet; the exception is Trenitalia.
How can I choose my seat preference?
When the rail operator offers seating preferences, we show them at the "ticket details" stage of the booking process. Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to specify forward-facing seats because the rail operators can't guarantee the direction of travel.
Reviewing your seats
You can see which seats you have been allocated on the Basket page, under the "Times and seats" tab.
The only exception is for German (Deutsche Bahn) tickets. Your assigned seats will only be shown on your ticket, so you won't be able to review them on the basket page.
Can I choose an upper-deck seat on the TGV Duplex?
The answer depends on which route you want to book. Our Help article A guide to France’s TGV duplex double-decker trains has all the info you will need.
Seating preferences on buses
If you've booked a journey with a bus operator (this is different than a bus operated by a train company, such as Deutsche Bahn), your seat reservation won't be shown until after you've paid, and in some cases you'll only see it on your ticket. However, you will always have a reserved seat. The following preferences are available:
- Front or back of the bus
- Window or aisle
If you're traveling in a group, we'll prioritize seating you together over your seating preference.
Booking a Reservation for Austrian & German Sectors
- If you have booked a ticket already and need to book only a seat reservation, you can contact our customer support team, which will be able to help you with this.
- The team will inform you of the applicable seat reservation charges along with the Rail Europe (RE) service fees.
- Once you review the charges and confirm, you will be provided with a payment link.
- After the payment is complete, the seat reservation vouchers will be issued by the customer support team & sent to you.
