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Hi everyone,

I bought a two month global pass to use this summer. I started adding some journeys to the trip connected to my pass. In addition, I already made some seat reservations for some of these trains via bahn.de.

I was thinking to activate my pass on the day I would take my first train this summer,  as I am not 100% sure which day this will be. But now I am in doubt that this would be too late: Is it possible that when you don’t activate your pass well in advance, it may be too late to actually get on board as all interrailer spots are already “taken” for that train? 

If so, then I’d like to activate the pass now and choose a start date somewhere in July. Just in case it would be necessary: is it later also possible to advance the start date chosen upon activation?

Thank you!

 

 

Pass and reservations are separate. Some trains indeed have limited places for pass holders (especially where SNCF is involved) but this is entirely separate from pass activation. You can activate your pass minutes before boarding your first train.

Once you activate your pass, you choose the first travel day. You can cancel that first travel day again until 23:59 CET the day before it starts. After that, you can activate it again with a new start date.

But I'd advise not to activate until you know for sure when you'll be leaving, because if you decide to postpone and forget to cancel your first travel day, then you loose it.

Pass and reservations are separate. Some trains indeed have limited places for pass holders (especially where SNCF is involved) but this is entirely separate from pass activation. You can activate your pass minutes before boarding your first train.

Once you activate your pass, you choose the first travel day. You can cancel that first travel day again until 23:59 CET the day before it starts. After that, you can activate it again with a new start date.

But I'd advise not to activate until you know for sure when you'll be leaving, because if you decide to postpone and forget to cancel your first travel day, then you loose it.

Thank you very much for your response. Just to be sure:

So just adding some journeys to my trip (connected to the unactivated pass) on the app and then activating my pass right before my first boarding is enough to be allowed on the train? Already activating the pass now (with start date chosen somewhere in July) does not secure a spot for an interrailer on trains that do not require reservation?

 

So just adding some journeys to my trip (connected to the unactivated pass) on the app and then activating my pass right before my first boarding is enough to be allowed on the train?

Sure.

Already activating the pass now (with start date chosen somewhere in July) does not secure a spot for an interrailer on trains that do not require reservation?

Activating a pass or adding a journey to My Pass does not secure anything. Your pass has the same validity as a normal open ticket without reservation.

 Already activating the pass now (with start date chosen somewhere in July) does not secure a spot for an interrailer on trains that do not require reservation?

 

You can never secure a spot on a train in advance unless you have a reservation.

However you can travel on many trains without reservation, but then you might have to stand if all seats are taken.

In some cases there might be a good idea to make a reservation even if it not is mandatory. 

If you are wondering whether to make a reservation on a specific train or not, please ask for advice. 

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