Bernina Express seat reservation in 1st class – April trip
Edie is trying to reserve first class seats on the Bernina Express for April 28 but is finding no availability. She's concerned it might be due to tour groups booking all the seats and is looking for advice on possible options, including upgrading from 2nd class reservations if needed.
- Try to secure your reservations as early as possible, ideally several months in advance.
- Keep an eye on seat availability, as tour groups often release unneeded seats closer to the date.
- If you have a first class Eurail pass, consider booking 2nd class seats now and hope to upgrade on the day, although upgrades are not guaranteed.
- Use ordinary trains as an alternative; they provide flexibility without reservation fees.
AI-generated summary-
Hello, I’m looking to make a reservation for two people on the Bernina Express in first class for Monday 28 April (which apart from being an afternoon local holiday in Zurich seems to be a regular day). I have first class Eurail passes so just need the reservations to sit in the first class panoramic car.
The booking site (shop.rhb.ch) is showing ‘no seats’ available on that day and on most of the days either side of it (although there’s odd days with ‘1 seat’ or ‘2 seats’ showing here and there). Is this just bad luck, is there an event or public holiday I don’t know about, or could someone suggest another reason for there being no seats left? I have read that tour groups often randomly book out the first class seats, but really, all of the seats? I have also read that seat reservations are only available 90 days out, so I’m just outside of that timeframe, but if that was true there wouldn’t be any seats available past the 28th, or in 2nd class on that day, so I’m figuring that’s not the issue here?
I know I can book 2nd class, or sit in the Allegra carriage, but having first class Eurail passes, I would much prefer to sit in first class on the BE if possible, and definitely want the panoramic experience.
If there’s no seats in first class, is that just it, they’re gone, and I’ll have to take what’s left? Or is there a possibility they may open up at some point?
Following on, if I book 2nd class reservations, is there any potential to upgrade to first class seats on the day (if there’s unoccupied seats)? I’ve seen you can upgrade your 2nd class base ticket, but can you upgrade just the reservation if you already have a first class base ticket?
Thank you for any assistance/advice.
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Hello Edie
Welcome to MySwissAlps
I suspect that your problem getting seats on Monday 28 April is caused by block bookings by tour companies.
I would not bother with the Bernina Express (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/bernina-express/), (though I would just mention that the Allegra unit pulling the train has 24 first class seats which cannot be reserved). I would go Chur to St Moritz via Filisur using the hourly IR38 trains. SIT ON THE RIGHT AT THE BACK OF THE TRAIN. (The first class carriages are at the back.)
St Moritz to Tirano using the local R19 or RE9 trains. Taken together, these two services provide an approximately hourly service. Sit on the right.
(Take the Italian hourly train from Tirano to Milano Centrale. Sit on the right.)
The Advantages of Using Ordinary Trains
You avoid reservation charges.
You pick the seats
You can hop off/hop on at points en route, taking advantage of the hourly services
You get a 55 minute break at St Moritz
You are less likely to be disturbed by fellow tourists or people trying to sell you refreshments
(The scenery is of course the same!)The (arguable) disadvantages are that you do not ride in a ‘panoramic’ carriage.
You have an additional change at St Moritz. But note that St Moritz station is a ‘dead’end’ station. No subways! It has a pleasant location very close to the lake. I would not expect it to be busy on a Monday ‘out of season’.Best wishes
Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for taking the time to reply and offer an alternate travel suggestion. However as we will only ever likely be in this area this one time, we really would like the full panoramic Bernina Express experience.
If you have the expertise, could you please advise on whether:
a) any first class seats are likely to open up if they are currently showing as ‘unavailable’; and
b) if there’s any way to upgrade 2nd class seat reservations to first if the base ticket is first class and some seats are left vacant on the day?Thanks, Edie.
Hello Edie
I am afraid I cannot answer your questions. I first visited Switzerland in 1971, and I have been visiting the country on a regular basis ever since, always travelling with a first class Swiss Travel Pass. I always try to avoid the panoramic trains. (See my previous comments.) On one occasion about 20 years ago, before the introduction of the wonderful Allegra units, I did pay the conductor of a Bernina Express the reservation fee to travel SECOND class. The First Class was fully booked.
Kind regards
Roger
Thanks anyway Roger, hopefully someone else will be able to assist soon. I’m really feeling the pressure and think I should book the 2nd class reservation before they too sell out…all the best.
We did first class on the BE last year in October and we are so glad we did. I know the views are the same etc. etc. but it was a lovely experience, and like you, we will likely not go back, sadly.
We booked almost twelve months in advance, so I suspect that that is why there are very few seats left. Everyone says to wait until 90 days before, but I didn’t and I am glad that I didn’t as we had our pick of seats.
Having said that, after reading multiple posts like yours last year, it seems that tour groups do book large chunks of seating, which in my opinion shouldn’t be allowed, but there you go.
They often release the unwanted seats at about the 30 days in advance mark, so I suggest you wait until then and try and nab the first class ones then. From memory, the reservations were not terribly expensive, maybe get two second class ones now, and if you can, replace them with first class later.
You will be very glad you did this trip!
Thanks Deb for your response here and on TA. It’s quite disheartening to see no availability three months in advance on a Monday – I was certainly not expecting that and didn’t know about the tour groups’ monopoly until today – surely there could be a separate allocation for them and for the public? But nothing to be done about it, I guess, if this is just ‘how it is’. I will book the 2nd class tickets – there’s also potential to upgrade them with the conductor on the day I believe, but that’s not at all a certainty, so I’d rather have something than miss out on the panoramic experience altogether. Cheers.
Hi Edie,
You can make your seat reservation on the Bernina Express up to 6 months in advance. It’s likely that you booked too late. Seats in 1st class are limited and they do sell out fast. Once seats are booked, they are non-refundable. If you booked seats in 2nd class, it is not possible to upgrade later.
You can find more information about the Bernina Express seat reservation here: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/bernina-express/#price
Regards,
Anna
Thanks Anna – FYI you can now make reservations almost a year in advance – the booking calendar is available to mid-December currently. I’m also almost sure that where there are blocks of ‘unavailable’ tickets these are tour group buy-ups that will be re-released if they are not sold closer to the date (for example there is currently first-class availability for the next six weeks from today, then not for a two-week block, then availability again for a two-week block, then very limited availability for the six week block after that, then open availability thereafter) – I don’t think it’s a matter of my being ‘too late’ to book – I’m estimating that in around three weeks from now some more tickets will free up. I could be wrong, but that’s my analysis of the patterns of availability. The ‘blocks’ are too linear and there’s too much contrast between availability and no availability for these to be ordinary public booking patterns. But appreciate your help, thank you.
Hi Edie,
Yes, that’s correct, seat reservations can be purchased further in advance but your travel ticket only 6 months in advance.
I really hope you manage to secure your 1st class seat reservations. Just keep tabs, you may find some 1st class seat reservations open up in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thanks Yolanda 🙂
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