Train Reservations

[GSNW]

DH and I had a similar situation a few times when traveling by train in Italy.  First-class seats required reservations with our Eurail pass, and more often than not, someone was sitting in our seats when we boarded.  More than once they asked us to choose another empty seat in the car, which we politely declined to do.  I don't want to deal with the awkward situation of the person that seat belongs to showing up, asking for what is rightfully theirs, and being forced to move and shuffle all my stuff to the seat I originally reserved. 

ETA:  This also happened with some annoying fellow season-ticket holders at a local team stadium a few years ago.  We would arrive, this same pair would be in our seats.  We would ask them to move, they would point out all the empty seats around them.  We specifically selected those seats, and I'm not going to engage in the shuffle n' move stuff dance in the middle of the game when the people whose seats I am NOW sitting in (due to original seat usurpers) show up.  I'm not sure it matters how likely/unlikely it is to happen, the thought of having to move after settling in makes it impossible to enjoy myself.

[Raintree]

I don't think anyone was rude here, but personally, I probably would have spoken to the other couple and said something like, "well, I guess we didn't need to reserve after all, as the rest of the train is empty. It's silly for us to all be squashed up here, so we'll move and give you more space."

I do think that since you were there first, they should have been the ones to say this (although they weren't obligated to), but since they didn't, I'd have picked up and moved, as you did. I think the woman's refusal to pick a different seat is odd, but not rude.

[mw8242]

I'm a rule follower - mostly because it keeps me from being stressed out when I know I'm in the right. So if I reserved seats I want to sit in them to avoid spending the entire trip worrying about people showing up and making me move - especially if I'm reading and lost in a book. I would not enjoy the book, paper, computer, or talking with my friend because I would always be wondering when someone was going to make me move.

I get that some people do not have this anxiety and sometimes I will try to go with the flow but overall for me to enjoy my trip I need to be in the seat I chose.

[Bees]

We still are not sure how full the train got to be, however as other passengers got on wouldn't they see your reservation tags on the first table and not take those seats? So in effect you were taking up two tables?

[ClaireC79]

The tickets on the seats have the start and end of your journey on them, so if you get on past that stop and noone is sitting in there it's fair game to assume they didn't turn up.

Sometimes you can look at the ticket and know you'll be off the train before those who reserved them get on

[Margo]

It's also worth remembering that if the reservations are because they booked 'Advance' tickets (which you can't tell from looking at the reservation tickets on the seats) then its a condition of the tickets that you sit in the seats assigned, and (some) ticket collectors will enforce that, even when the train isn't full.

I agree that they weren't rude to want to sit in their own seats, and once you'd chosen to move, there was nothing rude about their spreading out and using the table.

The frustrating part is that the train company choses to put all the reservations together!

[TootsNYC]

I'm curious--when you reserved your table seats, at that time could you tell that only the seats next to you had been reserved? And what did you base your knowledge on when you say that none of the other seats in the car were reserved?

If that's info you had when you made your reservation, I'm wondering why *you* didn't reserve at a different table, in an attempt to avoid the guarantee of sharing a table.

[MOM21SON]

I'm a rule follower - mostly because it keeps me from being stressed out when I know I'm in the right. So if I reserved seats I want to sit in them to avoid spending the entire trip worrying about people showing up and making me move - especially if I'm reading and lost in a book. I would not enjoy the book, paper, computer, or talking with my friend because I would always be wondering when someone was going to make me move.

I get that some people do not have this anxiety and sometimes I will try to go with the flow but overall for me to enjoy my trip I need to be in the seat I chose.

We must be related.  Once DS and I were flying, I had reserved our seats.  UGH we got to our row and there were people sitting in our seats.  Yes, i could have moved to their seats one row back, but for some reason I saw DS and I being pulled off the plane and held for breaching security. 

[Ezeesee]

I'm curious--when you reserved your table seats, at that time could you tell that only the seats next to you had been reserved? And what did you base your knowledge on when you say that none of the other seats in the car were reserved?

If that's info you had when you made your reservation, I'm wondering why *you* didn't reserve at a different table, in an attempt to avoid the guarantee of sharing a table.

When making reservations with this train company you can choose if you want a table seat, window / aisle, sit forward / backward, and I think a quiet carriage on some routes as well. But you can't specifically choose which seat number, and there is no way of seeing how many other seats in the carriage are reserved. When on the train itself all the seats that are reserved have little tickets sticking out of the back with the start and the end station of the journey booked on them. The conductors do tend to stick all the reserved seats together, I suppose it makes it easier to put the tickets there?

To get back on topic, I always sit in my assigned seat as I was once told off by the conductor for not being there. It was a half empty carriage and I'd just taken the first available seat, but they can make you move if they want to. It's why I almost never reserve a seat any more, I'd rather just scramble for an empty one!

[TootsNYC]

. . .  I always sit in my assigned seat as I was once told off by the conductor for not being there. It was a half empty carriage and I'd just taken the first available seat, but they can make you move if they want to. It's why I almost never reserve a seat any more, I'd rather just scramble for an empty one!

Given this, I can see that the lady in the OP might have just wanted to sit in their own seats.

[Miss Understood]

Yes, but I do not understand how the OP knew in advance that the table seats next to hers were taken.  If there were other table seats available, and OP could see that (I'm thinking about booking plane reservations in which you can pick your seat online), why didn't the OP take the other table seats?  I'm confused.

[Mental Magpie]

Yes, but I do not understand how the OP knew in advance that the table seats next to hers were taken.  If there were other table seats available, and OP could see that (I'm thinking about booking plane reservations in which you can pick your seat online), why didn't the OP take the other table seats?  I'm confused.

She didn't until she got on the train, where the seats are marked with little tags that say when the person who reserved that seat will be getting on the train, which happened to be after the OP got on the train.