and is it really taking "longer" right now, or is it just a permanent and deliberate understaffing issue? I mean, it's never fast...

hi Finn, tricky when the travel is 5am tomorrow... and yes, I emailed as soon as I could after being told the original train was cancelled. I'm in the middle of nowhere, with no manned station nearby, so it's tricky.

hi Phil, any idea how long they take to respond? Travel date is tomorrow, heard... nothing. If there's only one person working there, I understand, but...

thanks! :) have a great evening!

and thanks, will email them later today. don't expect a response before Tuesday but will enjoy a nice surprise :)

hi Phil, many trains elsewhere only make a fraction of the seats reservable, leaving some for on the day, my question was whether DB do this, or set this to 100% with zero flexibility. (sounds like the latter?)

but there are no seats available for reservation on that train, hence my question about whether this means there are *actually* no seats.

thing is, I'd like to keep my cash which I need, but use the points I've already used for a new reservation. why can't I cancel the original reservation, then reuse those points? should take seconds.

But how do I do that *in advance*? Surely it's impossible?! So I have the option of a) taking a (2h!) earlier train (bad, should be sleeping!) or b) taking a train ignorant of available space.

DB must know if any seats are reservable, a well-designed database of basic information will tell them.

ah ok, thanks! I wonder if I bought them with bahnbonus points... might have! They're 0EUR on the ticket invoice. Does that mean I'll spend 5.5EUR for a new reservation, and have 0EUR returned?

And the train to Mainz that I *could* catch is fully booked - are there any spaces on it that aren't booked? This would save me a lot of time (yay!) but I can't stand for two hours... and the restaurant car is fine but likely to be full - all that great coffee :)

Yes, I know, I don't need a new ticket, I need a new reservation because the old train I cannot take. How do I get *that* given that it was included in the original (sparpreis) ticket? The app wants to charge me 5.50EUR, which is a disgrace: I didn't cancel the train! :)

yep, to book a reservation on the trip which DB cancelled, I have to pay 5.50EUR even though I paid for a ticket which included the reservation. This is not right, surely? Or perhaps it is... :-/

And what does "go to cancellation" mean in the app? No idea, makes no sense. Does it mean "cancel journey" (I don't want that)? Or perhaps go to "information about the cancellation" (might be useful)? Could really do with a native speaker on your team to check the confusing language (again ;)

thx, turns out they were part of the sparpreis ticket. how do I sort those? rebooking costs more cash it seems.... and shouldn't! danke!