[Monkey]

21 April 2024 at 3:24:31 #1436294

We are a family of 3 traveling Golden Express from Interlaken Ost to Montreux in July 2024.  I bought seat reservations for the 3 of us so there is one empty seat in the configuration of 4 seats.  We would prefer leaving that seat empty.  Can I buy a seat reservation for that seat & use my Swiss Travel Pass twice – for my own seat & for that empty seat?  Or would I need to buy an actual ticket for not just my own seat but the empty seat as well?  Thanks for your help — Marie

[Yolanda]

21 April 2024 at 22:53:24 #1436688

Hi Marie,

Welcome to MySwissAlps.

That’s lovely you will be traveling on the GoldenPass Express soon.

Seat reservations can purchased independent of the ticket or rail pass.

The Swiss panoramic trains are popular. July is peak season so securing seat reservations are highly recommended.

In regard to your request I would contact Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) directly and ask. Theoretically, you could be denying someone a ride on the GoldenPass.  In the same vein, leaving it ’empty’, it could be that the seat will remain ’empty’ anyways.

You can find their details if you scroll to “Other websites of interest” in the below link:

• https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/goldenpass/

Kind regards,

Yolanda

[Alpenrose555]

22 April 2024 at 2:33:18 #1436691

Hi Marie,

I’m afraid you would be wasting your money.

The usual rule is that reserved seats are released for anyone to sit in if they remain unoccupied 15 minutes after leaving the station from which the seat has been reserved. But contacting the MOB, as Yolanda suggested, is probably a good idea if you wanted to pursue the idea.

In my experience, someone else will only sit in the last remaining seat of a group of 4 if there is nowhere else to sit, so unless it is the last free seat left, that seat will most likely remain empty.

If it is indeed the last seat left, I doubt if you could refuse to let anyone sit there, regardless of whether or not you had paid for a ticket and/or a reservation fee for it.

Alpenrose