How is a EuroRail ticket supposed to work? ?

I bought a second class open return ticket from Vienna to Prague. We got on the train in Vienna, found a little parlour and enjoyed our trip thoroughly.

On the way back we were told that the whole train was reserved and that we had to pay 9 鈧?for a seat. (Apparently the 99 鈧?we paid for the return ticket was only for the ticket itself, although we didn't have to pay for a seat on the way TO Prague.)

We paid the man, and were told that we would have to give up our seats if someone who had reserved them came along, which they did. We moved and then we moved again, until finally we spent the last two hours standing in the dining car.



So if we paid 50 鈧?for one way passage and 9 鈧?for a seat but we were not allowed to sit down - what the heck was the 9 鈧?for?How is a EuroRail ticket supposed to work? ?
You're talking of a normal train ticket (not Eurail pass or the likes), and while the ticket is valid for a month, it is pretty much just for the train. Seating is usually not guaranteed unless you pay a reservation supplement.



So for your outbound journey, because the train wasn't full, you were able to keep the seat and not pay anything extra.



On the return journey, could it be that you took a train of another type on your return journey than what you're supposed to take e.g. your ticket was for InterCity train and you return with a EuroCity train (something to that effect)?



If that's the case, then you were paying the relevant supplement for taking a train of which ticket is normally more expensive.



This could explain why they know all the seats were reserved, because normally with trains like EC or ES trains, reservation is compulsory.How is a EuroRail ticket supposed to work? ?
I should think that the 9鈧?would have been for the reservation!



And what you describe has nothing to do with a Euro Rail ticket. It was a single round trip ticket that you bought, not a Euro Rail pass, which lasts for a month or so. (First class can be two weeks, I think)