PKP reservations

[Krokodil]

I'm trying to book a reservation on a PKP train. Just a reservation, not the ticket. I've found the instructions below but on desktop site, mobile site and on PKP's app there is no dropdown list of discounts on the "select seat" screens. Anyone got any ideas?

Reservation guide

Strona internetowa przewoźnika kolejowego PKP Intercity S.A. należącego do grupy PKP, obsługującego kolejowe dalekobieżne przewozy pasażerskie: pośpieszne (Twoje Linie Kolejowe i InterCity) oraz ekspresowe (Express InterCity i Express InterCity Premium).

www.intercity.pl

 

[NCT]

It looks like on the home page you need to select 'Buy a reservation for your ticket' before entering your search criteria. And it seems that you need to log in / create an account before you can access that part of the booking ...

 

[rvdborgt]

I'm trying to book a reservation on a PKP train. Just a reservation, not the ticket. I've found the instructions below but on desktop site

Those are for the old booking website, and are thus of no use anymore.
Seat61 explains how you do it on their new website:

InterRail & Eurail reservation fees | How to make reservations with a pass

How much are Eurail & InterRail reservation fees for each country and route, how to make reservations with a Eurail or InterRail pass online. What trains does a pass cover in each country?

www.seat61.com

 

[Krokodil]

Ah, found it on the app now (not helped by the fact that the home screen is in Polish, the translations in the app are patchy). Thanks!

I'll have to sort it out in the morning, the relevant coupon is buried in my bag and I don't want to turn the light on as some of my room mates have gone to sleep. Not going until Wednesday anyway.

Next question. I'm going to be taking EC40 from Kutno to Berlin this evening. The train is compulsory reservation and is expected to be busy. I can book reservations up to the last station in Poland (Rzepin) but for any destinations in Germany "no offers available". I presume that this is a technical issue rather than down to the train being fully booked for crossing the border.

So, do I reserve to Rzepin and hope for the best? Or when I get to Kutno should I look for a booking office to see if they can reserve the full journey?

 

[NCT]

I think for an international journey you are meant to book on the DB website. I'm pretty sure at least Rzepin - Frankfurt Oder is still compulsory reservation.

 

[rvdborgt]

I think for an international journey you are meant to book on the DB website. I'm pretty sure at least Rzepin - Frankfurt Oder is still compulsory reservation.

That now also works on the PKP IC website, which is cheaper (€4) if you're only booking 1 train. If you also need to book connecting trains in Germany, then booking via DB is cheaper.

 

[nwales58]

If reservations are enforced after Rzepin and you have spare time, you can drop off onto the intermediate Rzepin-Frankfurt RB.

Slubice-Frankfurt/Oder is one of the 1 euro buy on board routes, useful if linking with a Deutschlandticket instead of the over-the-odds cross-border fares.

 

[Robski]

Next question. I'm going to be taking EC40 from Kutno to Berlin this evening. The train is compulsory reservation and is expected to be busy. I can book reservations up to the last station in Poland (Rzepin) but for any destinations in Germany "no offers available". I presume that this is a technical issue rather than down to the train being fully booked for crossing the border.

So, do I reserve to Rzepin and hope for the best? Or when I get to Kutno should I look for a booking office to see if they can reserve the full journey?

EC40 is fully sold out in 2nd class today. Reservations are not mandatory up to Rzepin - see "W komunikacji międzynarodowej [R]" below, which translates to "Reservations compulsory for international passengers" - which is why PKP is happy to let you book as far as Rzepin.

 

[rvdborgt]

If reservations are enforced after Rzepin [...]

Reports seem to agree that they're not enforced in practice. The train is not fully booked, but there is not one seat available for the whole length of the journey. You could e.g. split in Rzepin.

 

[Krokodil]

EC40 is fully sold out in 2nd class today. Reservations are not mandatory up to Rzepin - see "W komunikacji międzynarodowej [R]" below, which translates to "Reservations compulsory for international passengers" - which is why PKP is happy to let you book as far as Rzepin.

View attachment 178892

I see. That's a pain (I should have sorted it out last night). I've booked on an earlier train to Poznan to get as far as I can with a guaranteed seat. As I need to make the sleeper in Berlin so transferring to slower trains isn’t really an option, I may try my luck nursing food and drink in the restaurant car.

 

[rvdborgt]

I see. That's a pain (I should have sorted it out last night). I've booked on an earlier train to Poznan to get as far as I can with a guaranteed seat.

As I wrote: you can use EC40 and split the reservation in Rzepin. No need to leave earlier.

 

[Krokodil]

As I wrote: you can use EC40 and split the reservation in Rzepin. No need to leave earlier.

I'm struggling to find a seat which is actually available even for part of the journey. As I'm already at Kutno ready to go, I may as well enjoy a booked seat to Poznan - if nothing else I'd sooner wait there than here.

Incidentally knowledge of the two day rule for FIP coupons is really poor among Polish staff. They were still very uncertain when shown the Rail Staff Travel sheet with the rule written in Polish.

 

[rvdborgt]

Incidentally knowledge of the two day rule for FIP coupons is really poor among Polish staff. They were still very uncertain when shown the Rail Staff Travel sheet with the rule written in Polish.

Doesn't the coupon itself have a line in Polish stating its validity?

 

[Robski]

I'm struggling to find a seat which is actually available even for part of the journey. As I'm already at Kutno ready to go, I may as well enjoy a booked seat to Poznan - if nothing else I'd sooner wait there than here.

Try booking a seat reservation through the DB website for EC40 for Rzepin > Berlin - there appear to be seats available but PKPIC can't issue an interrail reservation for some reason. You'll likely have to stand between Poznan and Rzepin.

 

[rvdborgt]

Try booking a seat reservation through the DB website for EC40 for Rzepin > Berlin - there appear to be seats available but PKPIC can't issue an interrail reservation for some reason.

Or just go to a ticket office.

 

[Krokodil]

Doesn't the coupon itself have a line in Polish stating its validity?

French, German, Italian and English, same as on all the ones I have. For some reason the concept of picking appropriate languages for the coupon issued is too difficult. They just attach the coupon to a sheet that has the appropriate wording for every coupon-accepting operator in the scheme.

Ok, I've booked a reservation through DB for Rzepin to Berlin, and through PKP one in the next carriage from Zbașzneyk to Rzepin. That just leaves Poznan to Rzepin to spend in the restaurant car.

 

[rvdborgt]

French, German, Italian and English, same as on all the ones I have. For some reason the concept of picking appropriate languages for the coupon issued is too difficult. They just attach the coupon to a sheet that has the appropriate wording for every coupon-accepting operator in the scheme.

Hm, I've seen multiple coupons before with that one sentence in the appropriate language(s). And Poland is indeed one of the countries where it's really needed. You always need to watch out for staff filling in the next box if you're travelling on day 2 of a box.

 

[Krokodil]

Hm, I've seen multiple coupons before with that one sentence in the appropriate language(s). And Poland is indeed one of the countries where it's really needed. You always need to watch out for staff filling in the next box if you're travelling on day 2 of a box.

I've had that with a KW conductor back in 2020. Like today I had spare boxes anyway so it wasn't the end of the world but it still shouldn't happen. Never had an issue in Switzerland (where that would have been the perfect set of languages anyway), but otherwise I've not really travelled in the same country on consecutive days.

EC40 has arrived in Poznan early (on top of a seven minute booked dwell) so it's going well so far. The restaurant car has more comfortable seats than the one from the Lithuanian border yesterday. It ran to time last night (I did check that) but most of the other EuroCities have been arriving around 40L in Berlin. So I'll be crossing my fingers because a similar delay will mean a missed connection and presumably an uncomfortable night on a succession of ICEs.

 

[AdamWW]

EC40 has arrived in Poznan early (on top of a seven minute booked dwell) so it's going well so far. The restaurant car has more comfortable seats than the one from the Lithuanian border yesterday. It ran to time last night (I did check that) but most of the other EuroCities have been arriving around 40L in Berlin. So I'll be crossing my fingers because a similar delay will mean a missed connection and presumably an uncomfortable night on a succession of ICEs.

Good luck!

 

[Krokodil]

EC40's guard didn’t question the box. Running to time so far, but this is still Poland - the real test will be when we reach the ever-reliable Deutsche Bahn.

By the way, PKP's pierogi comes in just the right portion size to fill the journey between Poznan and Zbașzneyk.

 

[NCT]

Fingers crossed!

It's a nicer restaurant car with a fuller menu on these ECs than the IC143/144.

 

[AdamWW]

By the way, PKP's pierogi comes in just the right portion size to fill the journey between Poznan and Zbașzneyk.

Convenient. The time I had peirogi in a PKP restaurant car it was about the right portion size to fill the time between coming to a rather sudden halt in a tangle of overhead wires and the fire brigade turning up with ladders to evacuate the train.

 

[Krokodil]

Apple pie was just right to cover me until arrival at Rzepin. Unfortunately that's where we still are. Driver of the train in front taken ill.

 

[nwales58]

Presumably your fallback is the delightful ICE101 Berlin Hbf 0022 to Köln to reach Brussels around the same time as the sleeper but without the sleep. I think that's the one I picked up in Köln last autumn where some coaches seemed more like a beer can dump than an ICE.

 

[Krokodil]

Presumably your fallback is the delightful ICE101 Berlin Hbf 0022 to Köln to reach Brussels around the same time as the sleeper but without the sleep.

Yep. Booked on the 12:56 Eurostar so a fester in Brussels too. Pretty sure that the public fare is now above the threshold that allows one to transfer a FIP/Interrail ticket to an earlier one.

Bearing in mind that I have been delayed on a train (on which my ticket was a free coupon), and that my missed onward connection is with an Open Access Operator (European Sleeper) do I have any prospect of claiming for the cost of the unused sleeper ticket? After all, I can use a coupon for normal trains.

 

[nwales58]

Pretty sure that the public fare is now above the threshold that allows one to transfer a FIP/Interrail ticket to an earlier one.

It is, for Interrail at least. The last tier at which Plus reservations are available seems to be £180. Standard and Plus are now above that all day tomorrow.

 

[Krokodil]

On the move 2209

 

[NCT]

Seems the Rzepin - Frankfurt Oder border run is cursed ...

 

[Krokodil]

Turned out all right in the end, the sleeper got diverted between Dresden and Berlin and is an hour late. Good old DB!

 

[RailWonderer]

I've checked Warsaw - Krakow - Zakopane and for the ICs it says reservations are recommended - does anybody think it's worth booking a few days ahead considering it's Labour Day in Europe May 1st and Polish Constitution Day May 3rd which would suggest it will be busy?