Sprinter train tickets and reservations

Just in case anyone out there gets the run-around like I did in Berlin Hbf last week, as I tried to get on a Sprinter to Frankfurt that was apparently fully booked, I wanted to say that despite what some Bahn employees (and all 5 that I spoke with at the Hbf) say, you can get on a Sprinter train without a reservation. It costs 2€ more, but it's within the rules.

Other tips I picked up from the experience:

- If you find an unreserved seat (or a bunch together makes the argument more potent) you can claim it's unfair to charge an extra 2€ to pay on the train, since you tried to pay it earlier, but the system said the train was fully booked (which it's not) and that smells of cash grab. (This can be a weak argument, but it worked for me and I didn't have to pay the extra 2€)

- Usually the Bahn blocks a significant chunk of seats (was told ~10% but that seems high) for "Komfort" passengers (I assume frequent flyers for trains), which leads me to beleive you've got a good chance to snag a free seat on the Sprinter even without a reservation.

yes, the BahnComfort program. you have to have bought at least 2,000 EUR in train tickets the last year to become a member of the program. once in, you get special perks (free use of DB lounges, which is great for free drinks & coffee or using a clean toilet or not having to wait in line at the tix counter to buy a tix).

the grand thing is, if you are a BahnComfort program member & someone is sitting in a reserved seat for BahnComfort customers, then you can demand they show you their "ID", if they're not a member of the club, and you're convincing enough, you can get them to get out of that seat. before, the schaffner did this for you, but now there are too many bahn.comfort customers & so they tell you you can try it yourself, but they won't help you.