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Can i have several journeys on my first travel day?

  • 26 July 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 869 views
T

Hi,

I'm a UK resident with a mobile pass and intending to travel to Brussels via London on the Eurostar on my first travel day.

 

I have added a train from my home station to London Euston as one journey and my Eurostar journey as a second journey. I'm planning on a long connecting time in London because of the possibility of rail disruption (and also it will be lunchtime!)

 

Is this acceptable or will I be unable to add the Eurostar once I've activated the pass (because of the one journey in your home country rule) and added my UK connection? Should I try and combine both trains into one journey?

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Best answer by Yorkie 26 July 2022, 22:46

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9 replies

M
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Userlevel 7
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Yes, can do-and from BRU can also add local trains In BE only or even f.e. ICE to In DE=Germany or the hourly BeNeLux to Amsterdam/NL.

Very smart ones have thought longer and even added the NightJet till Wien (Vienna for you still)-as one can end that ride till well after midnite. But for you its too late now to RES that one.

A
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Userlevel 7
Badge +9

As long as you board both trains on the same day (00.00-23.59 CE(S)T) it counts as the same outbound travel day. 

I hope that you are planning to make the reservation for the Eurostar well in advance as the pass holder seats tend to sell out weeks, and sometimes months in advance. 

 

Here is some useful information from the experienced travellers in the Community regarding both planning, reservations and activation of pass and travel days. 

 Planning

The rail planner is normally not up to date, as it only is updated once a month, so to be sure of the time table you better check the timetable and availability on the websites of the national railways. The bigger national railways, like DB (Germany) SBB (Switzerland) and ÖBB (Austria) cover several countries. 

 Reservations 

The advice from the experienced travellers in the community is to use other ways to make reservations than the Interrail/Eurail website.  You can look at the guide in the link:

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105

If you, after having looked at the guide, have questions about how to make specific reservation, please give your travel details (departure date, time and route) preferably in a new topic, and you will get advice.

Please note that Interrail/Eurail charges an extra fee of 2 EUR per person and train in addition to the fee for the seat reservation.

 Activation of pass

During the activation process, when you choose the start day of the validity of the pass, the first day of the validity period is automatically made a travel day, even if you don't enter a journey, the advice is therefore not to activate the pass before the first travel day as you only can deactivate the pass before 00.00 on the day the validity starts. If your travel plans change in the last moment you will loose travel days if you have activated the pass in advance.

It can be wise to make a test and activate the pass with a start date well in the future and then deactivate the pass immediately, just to see that everything works.

 Activation of travel day

The advice from the experienced travellers in the community is also never to activate a travel day, that is connect a journey to your pass, until just before boarding the train, otherwise you might loose a travel day if your travel plans change in a late stage  You can't delete a travel day in the past. A travel day can only be deleted until 23.59 CET the day before the travel day.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
Y
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Hi,

I'm a UK resident with a mobile pass and intending to travel to Brussels via London on the Eurostar on my first travel day.

 

I have added a train from my home station to London Euston as one journey and my Eurostar journey as a second journey. I'm planning on a long connecting time in London because of the possibility of rail disruption (and also it will be lunchtime!)

 

Is this acceptable or will I be unable to add the Eurostar once I've activated the pass (because of the one journey in your home country rule) and added my UK connection? Should I try and combine both trains into one journey?

It is no problem to take multiple trains in the day chosen for your outbound journey, nor to take a long break. If you travel early you can even jump a late onward train in France/Belgium, as long as it leaves before midnight (CET).

I assume you have already reserved your Eurostar train of choice as they have limited availability for Pass holders, and we often read about late bookers unable to find a seat as a pass holder and needing to pay full fare for their trip.

T

Yes I have had the Eurostar reserved for ages (return too)! 

 

So the number of journeys created in the app and added to your trip is irrelevant as long as UK starting ones only occur on my first travel day?

A
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Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Yes I have had the Eurostar reserved for ages (return too)! 

 

So the number of journeys created in the app and added to your trip is irrelevant as long as UK starting ones only occur on my first travel day?

That is correct. And that the last train starts before 22.59 GM(S)T = (23.59 CE(S)T)

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
T

Thank you for helping me understand it!

A

My case is similar. I need to travel from my home station in Surrey to London Waterloo by South Western Railways, then by tube to St Pancras to take the Eurostar on my first day of travel. I checked with the staff at my home station and was advised that i still needed to buy a ticket from that station to London, though it would be cheaper if I could show them my Eurostar ticket. However, I can see on Interail Website that I can reserve a train ticket from my home station to London Waterloo. Would it be ok if I book the local train ticket online, making it a total of 2 journeys in the UK on my first day of travel?  Many thanks.

Y
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

There is absolutely no reason you cannot travel on as many trains as you wish in your home country on the 2 days you can take advantage of the In/Out days. Reservations in the UK are optional when available and should be free. Your local staff are wrong.

If you wished you could do a full day in the UK e.g. Edinburgh to London and then London to Southampton or any other ferry port or airport. There is no need to cross a border. Obviously you can also use your travel day for onward journeys from the Eurostar terminus e,g, the European Sleeper from Brussels as long as the departure is scheduled for before 2359 CET (2259 UK time).

 

E

Additionally, as you mentioned, it is possible to travel within your home country on the In/Out days of your pass, including doing a full day trip or taking onward journeys from the Eurostar terminus, as long as the departure is within the valid time frame specified by the pass.

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