How to Say “I have a reservation” in Chinese
Getting around · HSK 4
"I have a reservation" in Chinese is 我订了位子。 (Wǒ dìng le wèizi.). 订 (dìng) is booking in general; 预订 (yùdìng) is the fuller, more formal 'reserve in advance' used on apps and hotel front desks. For restaurant tables use 位子 (wèizi) or 位 (wèi); for hotel rooms swap to 房间 (fángjiān).
Primary translation
我订了位子。
Wǒ dìng le wèizi.
Traditional: 我訂了位子。
Variants by register
Formal
您好，我预订了位子，是用我的名字订的。
Nín hǎo, wǒ yùdìng le wèizi, shì yòng wǒ de míngzi dìng de.
Casual
我订了位，用我名字订的。
Wǒ dìng le wèi, yòng wǒ míngzi dìng de.
When to use it
订 (dìng) is booking in general; 预订 (yùdìng) is the fuller, more formal 'reserve in advance' used on apps and hotel front desks. For restaurant tables use 位子 (wèizi) or 位 (wèi); for hotel rooms swap to 房间 (fángjiān). Most Chinese reservations today run through 大众点评 or the restaurant's WeChat mini-program, so staff may ask you to show the booking confirmation on your phone. The 了 after 订 marks completed action; without it the sentence sounds like you're about to reserve, not that you already did.
Example sentences
你好，我订了一个六点的位子，姓李。
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ dìng le yí gè liù diǎn de wèizi, xìng Lǐ.
Hi, I have a 6 o'clock reservation under Li.
我在大众点评上订了位，这是截图。
Wǒ zài Dàzhòng Diǎnpíng shàng dìng le wèi, zhè shì jiétú.
I booked on Dianping; here's the screenshot.
我预订了一间大床房，住两晚。
Wǒ yùdìng le yì jiān dàchuáng fáng, zhù liǎng wǎn.
I've reserved a king room for two nights.