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Help with reservations please

A

Hello everyone

 

I have taken interrail global pass. I have a series of doubts, please excuse me if I sound ignorant. Since I don’t live anywhere near London, I am quite new to the idea of using the rail to travel Europe.

My questions:

  1. I thought the interrail pass would be valid only from the day we start using it. And yet, when I was purchasing it, I had to enter  a date in the box. Likewise I was not offered an option for email pass, I had to order a physical pass. Email would have been cheaper, but in my case, I wouldn’t lose it as well. Do you think I may have missed something and got it all wrong and ended up with a paper pass? This information would be helpful for future purchases of pass.
  2. I have gone for an interrail pass that allows me 7 days of travel within one month. I actually would like to travel to Brussels, Anrwerp, Cologne, Berlin and back, from Manchester, preferably in September. Do I need to do reservations for any of these journeys?
  3. Can I include Manchester to London with this pass? I mean are UK journeys included?
  4. Although I have put one of the dates in September for travel when I purchased the interrail pass, hope I can travel within 11 months of purchase?
  5. Finally, the all important question, how do I make any reservations, please? I went through several blogs, forum, community here, I haven’t quite understood much because every link asks me to register, then it says that I cannot reserve or see prices or something like that. I simply have not managed to get through to reserve anything. Any UK agencies that you would recommend to tailor make a journey for us please. The interrail app asks me to be premium member before even viewing prices. Am I missing something?

Many thanks for your time in advance

 

Best answer by AnnaB

Only when you purchase a paper pass you must enter the start date in advance so I guess that's what you ordered. In that case, the only way to change the start date of the validity of the pass is to make an exchange of passes, and change the pass to a mobile pass. A mobile pass can be activated any time no later than 11 months after purchase. 

Read the instructions for pass exchange carefully and make sure to send the paper pass back to Interrail/Eurail in the correct way. 

https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/ordering-info/refund-exchange-policy

If you have any doubts regarding the pass exchange,  please contact Customer Support through the link below. 

https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001

 

 

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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
  • Railly clever
  • 5990 replies
  • Answer
  • July 15, 2023

Only when you purchase a paper pass you must enter the start date in advance so I guess that's what you ordered. In that case, the only way to change the start date of the validity of the pass is to make an exchange of passes, and change the pass to a mobile pass. A mobile pass can be activated any time no later than 11 months after purchase. 

Read the instructions for pass exchange carefully and make sure to send the paper pass back to Interrail/Eurail in the correct way. 

https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/ordering-info/refund-exchange-policy

If you have any doubts regarding the pass exchange,  please contact Customer Support through the link below. 

https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001

 

 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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    atraveller2023
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Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • 10635 replies
  • July 15, 2023
  1. This means you chose the paper pass instead of the mobile pass. There's an explicite choice you make when ordering.
  2. Reservations in that region are only mandatory for Eurostar (should be booked as soon as you know your travel dates) and Thalys (which is easily avoidable). Recommended on IC en ICE in/to/from Germany though. Can be booked on bahn.com using “Seat only” (€4.90 per journey, €5.90 in 1st class) or tickets.oebb.at (€3 per train, free of charge in 1st class).
  3. Sure you can. On 2 of your travel days, you can travel in your country of residence. If you're using Eurostar to get to the continent (and back), then you'll need to travel from/to Manchester on the same day as Eurostar.
  4. See AnnaB's reply above.
  5. "every link asks me to register” - I'm not aware of many reservation pages that ask you to register (Hungarian railways do for example). Most don't, such as the ones I mentioned above, so wonder where you've been. I suppose you've looked at this thread:

This page is also quite useful:
https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm
For anymore advice on reservations, we need route, date and departure time of any train you'd like to book.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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    atraveller2023
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Many thanks for taking the time to go through my queries. It could be me, I still am struggling and need more specific information than links to websites, which I have already gone through and not had any luck in reservation.

 

I wish I never took both these passes. Thinking of just forgoing money for a refund for unused passes because this is far too complicated. I cannot understand how to make a single reservation. I am also asked to pay $38 for reserving from London to Brussels. I could get a ticket with reservation for £39!

 

Wish it were all less complicated. Even better that I never bought these passes.

 

I may have chosen paper pass but I thought even paper pass was valid for 11 months

 

Important question: So how long is paper pass available please? Because there isn't a cat in hell's chance that I would secure any reservation for September 2023. I may manage something, if someone does it for me, perhaps by 2024. No way I could do this in two months.

 

I may not have selected mobile pass because my blackberry does not allow any apps on my phone.

 

Just to salvage a loss, are there any UK agencies that you would recommend to tailor make a journey for us please. Because I cannot just reserve anything, I have been on it for the past two days, there isnt a single website that just allows me to reserve two seats. Almost always ends with, you need to register, you need to be premium member, asking for some “numbers”, this pass is just not for me. I also noticed that there is absolutely no need to interrail pass if I used my conventional method of travelling off season. becuase Reservation seems terribly expensive! $38 dollar per person one way to Brussels when a seat can be secured in September for £39!

 

R
Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • 10635 replies
  • July 15, 2023
atraveller2023 wrote:

Many thanks for taking the time to go through my queries. It could be me, I still am struggling and need more specific information than links to websites, which I have already gone through and not had any luck in reservation.

For any more than general help on reservations, we need exact details about any train you want to book: route, date and departure time.

atraveller2023 wrote:

I wish I never took both these passes. Thinking of just forgoing money for a refund for unused passes because this is far too complicated. I cannot understand how to make a single reservation. I am also asked to pay $38 for reserving from London to Brussels. I could get a ticket with reservation for £39!

If you book several months in advance, maybe. Eurostar is very, very busy currently

atraveller2023 wrote:

I may have chosen paper pass but I thought even paper pass was valid for 11 months

Except that that is not mentioned anywhere.

atraveller2023 wrote:

Important question: So how long is paper pass available please? Because there isn't a cat in hell's chance that I would secure any reservation for September 2023. I may manage something, if someone does it for me, perhaps by 2024. No way I could do this in two months.

AFAIK paper passes will be available for the foreseeable future.

atraveller2023 wrote:

Just to salvage a loss, are there any UK agencies that you would recommend to tailor make a journey for us please. Because I cannot just reserve anything, I have been on it for the past two days, there isnt a single website that just allows me to reserve two seats.

I find that very hard to believe, you're the first one on here that says that. We should be able to help you with reservations but we need details.

Other than that, Seat61 mentions some UK agencies here:

https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-by-phone.htm

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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    atraveller2023
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“ I find that very hard to believe, you're the first one on here that says that “

   rvdborgt

 

Sorry, I am a first but this is genuinely greek and latin to me!

 

We used Eurostar for the first time in June and the trip to Brussels was very smooth. That was I found the Interrail pass mentioned and thought, ah well, should use them. I purchased it without any research.

 

So what is the validity of the paper pass please. Sorry, my mistake, I didn’t frame the question well, previously. I wasnt asking about the “availability”. I meant the validity of the paper pass.

 

Many thanks for your time 

 

R
Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • 10635 replies
  • July 15, 2023
atraveller2023 wrote:

So what is the validity of the paper pass please. Sorry, my mistake, I didn’t frame the question well, previously. I wasnt asking about the “availability”. I meant the validity of the paper pass.

The validity is printed on the pass itself.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
K
Keeps calm and carries on
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  • kaiotes
  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • 33 replies
  • April 2, 2024

I forgot my attachment in the last message.

 

 

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