I have used ICEs many times, sometimes on Friday afternoons. I think you definitely need a reservation on Friday afternoons (and other peak hours), even in First Class. The few remaining seats in the Bistro car are also quickly taken over by passengers. I have seen people standing in First Class from Frankfurt to Mannheim, Hannover to Hamburg. It is not pleasant; 3 euros is worth it, IMHO.

More on DB Reservations
 

It is a waste of money to make seat reservations in the US at $11 each for travel in Germany. Rather, if seat reservations are desired, they can be made in Germany when you arrive. (It now also appears possible to make seat reservations on the DB website at E 3, each without also purchasing a ticket, but I haven't tried this yet). That would be helpful to people with a rail pass.

And ICE definitely means Inter-city express.

My experience is that single travelers in 1st almost never need reservations in Germany, except maybe on key holiday weekends (probably fewer business travelers in 1st on a Sunday than on a Friday, though).

Now, I'm wondering whether I should get a seat reservation on a midday IC train in 1st from Frankfurt to Cologne via Rhine Valley on the Friday of the Pfingsten holiday (5/13). Anybody have any thoughts?

Pfingsten is a busy holiday as it lasts three days. Many people are on the move but you should not have problems in getting a seat at that time of day. A 4PM train however might be crowded. Driving is going to be more of a problem.

You may be right. Thinking back to last summer's trip I now realise I did not actually travel on a Friday.

allen074 - unless things have changed very recently you should not have had to pay for two reservations for your trip. "Connecting" reservations are included in the price of the first reservation.

Thanks avi - I am going to call Rail Europe on Monday morning - they changed their system to some real time crap and it does not seem to be smart... it also calls IC trains ICE trains which is completely not the same.

I will report back once I hear from them.

Thanks,
Allen

Ok - spoke to rail europe - woman said you need 2 reservations because you have 2 different trains

blah - whatever this trip is going to cost me a small house i think when its all done :)

RUBBISH.

And I have now checked my facts at www.bahn.de because I wanted to be sure that the rules hadn't changed since I last bought a train ticket in Germany. They haven't. RailEurope are wrong and are ripping you off, it's as simple as that.

The cost of reserving seats is 3 EUR per one-way trip, regardless of how many different trains you take on that one-way trip. It's always been like that (I've been using trains in Germany since I was a small child - which was quite a long time ago!), and it's not changed.

Sorry to get so worked up, but I absolutely hate it when service providers don't know their job.

Thanks Avi - I will try calling again tommorrow... blah

Raileurope not a good deal
 

Raileurope offers a service that charges the higher reservations fees. They are high. Indeed, DB charges only E 3, per trip, including 2 segments if needed.

But the DB rules don't apply. This is the free market.

That's why I never buy anything from them, passes or otherwise. Seat reservations, if I get them, I would get in Europe. You can get them in Germany for Spanish trains and vice versa, so it doesn't matter where you go first.

And, you can find agencies selling rail passes that do not charge a handling/mailing fee. Those are the ones I patronize. Pass ordered on a Sunday night; arrived Tuesday at noon, from Florida to west coast.

Your solution...
 

ok i got the tickets today - they say SMOKER - so i call them - and fight with them - she says our web site lets you pick - BUT IT DOES NOT

so basically after 30 mins of fooling around - i told her to cancel the seat reservations

it appears that on bahn.de i can book the seats that way for 3 euro as you have all suggested... so i will do that --

is there anyway to guarantee the first car on the ICE train?? thanks again for all of your help!

There is a way of reserving the first car (with view over the driver's shoulder), but I don't remember the reservation code. Email DBahn and ask. By the way it's only the ICE-3 trains, the newest ones, which offer this view, and it's a first-class compartment in one direction and second-class in the other. Anyhow, the ICE trains between Berlin and Hanover are all ICE-1 and ICE-2 sets, so it doesn't help. ICE-3's are used on the Hamburg-Berlin-Munich, some Munich-Frankfurt-Cologne-Duisburg-Amsterdam/Dortmund, Stuttgart-Zurich, and IIRC Dresden-Frankfurt runs.

There is a small First class cabin with those spectacular views at least on the ICE-3 running on the Frankfurt Airport - Cologne highspeed track.

Well, in Denmark both the new regional and the Intercity trains are provided with A/C.

hmm - i created an account on bahn.de -- before i created the account i could just reserve a seat - now it wont let me do anything but buy the full ticket.

anyone know why?

thanks!