You almost never need a reservation. Sometimes you badly want one.

When a reservation is required

• •Not required for travel inside Germany — you can board any train
• •Required on some international connections and night trains, marked R in the timetable
• •A pass surcharge applies on certain connections, such as ICE/TGV trains to France
• •Night trains always require a booked seat, couchette or bed.

When it is worth paying for anyway

• Friday afternoon and Sunday evening on any main ICE corridor
• The start and end of school holidays, and the days around public holidays
• Long runs where you'd rather not stand: Hamburg–Munich, Cologne–Berlin
• Travelling as a group, with children, or with large luggage
• During Oktoberfest, Karneval or big trade fairs in Frankfurt, Cologne or Hannover

Reservations are sold per journey and per person, in both classes, and can be bought at a machine, a counter or in the DB Navigator app up to shortly before departure.

Finding your seat

• Displays above the platform show the Wagenreihung — where each coach will stop, by lettered sector. Stand in your sector before the train arrives.
• Above each seat a small screen shows the stretch it is reserved for. Blank means free for the whole run.
• Coach order is sometimes reversed at short notice. Listen for "in umgekehrter Wagenreihung".

Validity rules that catch people out

• A Flexi travel day runs by calendar day. An overnight journey that departs before midnight normally uses the departure day — check the terms for night services.
• Write the travel date on a paper pass before boarding if the seller issues one that way; filling it in after the conductor arrives counts as travelling without a ticket.
• Carry the passport or ID you bought the pass with — it is checked with the pass.
• The pass covers the train, not the city transport at either end. See what's covered.

Source: Deutsche Bahn — German Rail Pass product page and FAQ. Checked on 4 September 2026.