Hi Angeline,

No, there’s absolutely no requirement that both your outbound and inbound entitlements are used. If either or both are not used, those travel days will remain available for journeys in any other countries in the area of pass validity, just as displayed in your itinerary :-)

 That’s good to know ! 

Do you happen to know if it is possible to reserve the train before purchasing my eurail & interrail ticket ? 

Depends on what train and what sector (start in which country). You did not give enough details for that. See general info, reservations first. For trains IN Germany and some (NOT to FR!!) to it, its easily done via bahn.de, click button for ´only reservation’its 4€/seat/trip (even including 1 transfer) and its only possible for IC/ICE trains. Sometimes one needs the ´cover-nr´ of the pass, which is not directly visible on mobile passes-you have to mail/call them to get it.

But good luck with it, I think I´ve said it before, you´ve chosen about (again) the hardest to get route for reservations. If you encounter problems, post again with all details and maybe we can help by suggesting alternatives (more changes, takes hence more time)

I think only for certain trains I’m afraid. I mean, I haven’t actually tried to do that before, but certainly on the Interrail website, going to the booking menu and clicking No under “Do you have an Interrail Pass?” just sends you round in circles.

I don’t know exactly which trains you intend to take, but at least for London to Germany you’ll probably (unless you’re particularly keen to sail on a ferry) be taking the Eurostar, and that does need to be booked either via Interrail themselves, or via B-Europe - who will also require a Pass Cover Number.

@mcadv @EdM 

How long in advance should i be purchasing the interrail mobile pass ? 

Below are my route for the entire trip.

1. London 23th March - Munich, Germany 24th March

Eurostar: London 1104am-> Brussels 405pm (+30/ p)

Eurail: Brussels 225pm-> Cologne 415pm (free)

OEBB: Cologne 956pm-> Bonn 1025pm (free)

Bonn -> Munich 

Nightsleeper 1111pm -> 0711am (+14/p for seat not bed +60-120 euro) will be taking this. 

OR 

ICE 1130pm -> 24th 0603am ($0) - apparently this route is no longer available on website ??? 

OR 

Eurostar: London 1104am -> Amsterdam 411pm (+35/p)

OEBB: ICE221 Amsterdam 638pm-> Düsseldorf 846pm & ICE619 1127pm -> Munich 603am 

2. Munich 928am 27th March->  Ringshiem, Germany 205pm 27th March

please advise if the short connection of 6-7 mins at Mannheim station would be sufficient or possibility of missing the transfer train ? 

3. Ringshiem 28th 632pm - Paris 28th 1005pm  
4. Paris 31st 1010am - Madrid 31st 915pm (via barcelona) 

As your trip’s coming up quite soon, I don’t see that there’s much reason to delay the pass purchase, once you’ve settled on a route. A lot of the time trains can be booked at the last minute, but I think the Eurostar and Renfe-SNCF trains are (I think I heard) still running less frequently than before the pandemic, so this may have an impact as traveller numbers pick up in the spring.

Nightjet trains (you may be able to book these before pass purchase via oebb.at) can also book up early, but looking at your itinerary I’m not sure you’ve yet decided whether you want to use one.

As ever with train reservations, you’ll usually be fine leaving it fairly late if you need more time to decide which route you’re taking, but in doing so you are of course taking a risk.

Delays in booking are riskier in areas where fewer good alternatives to the one you’ve picked exist; as aforementioned, failing to reserve a Eurostar seat in time will mean you have to start looking at ferries, probably via Harwich (though as you plan on reaching Munich by overnight train you probably could still get away with the considerable delay this would generate).

BTW, if you hold off buying your pass just for three more days, Interrail may offer a brief Valentine’s Day discount as they did last year. Of course, they also might not, but it’s worth looking, just in case...

---

As for your other question about connection time at Mannheim - it’s difficult to answer because you haven’t said on which journey it occurs.

If it’s on the way from Munich to Ringsheim it doesn’t matter as such, because Germany is a country in which reservations aren’t required and if you were to miss the connection (you probably wouldn’t but delays are possible), you could hop on the next train. If it were me, and that was my connection on this route, it’s a change time I would certainly be happy with.

However, it’s not long enough to leave if it happens on the Ringsheim-Paris trip, and you’re undertaking a journey which includes obligatory seat reservations which you’ve already paid for. But in any case, if it were a feature of this trip, I’d advise that you don’t go via Mannheim anyway. Instead, go to Offenburg, then take a regional cross-border train to Strasbourg, and from there board a TGV to Paris. This will probably be a quicker route if the timings work for you as it’s much more direct, and if you book early enough to get one of the €10 reservations it might also save you a modest amount of money.

@EdM 

I have decided on the routes taken for this trip. But i will research more for Ringshiem to Paris via Stragsbourg as i’m looking to arrived in Paris on 28th before 1030pm. 

Are you able to tell me what is the last year Valentine’s day discount about?

And how does the reservation seatings work? As my partner & i  both are using different pass (Interrail & Eurail) but i will be making all the reservation together. 

I’d refer you to this answer regarding connecting reservations between pass types:

If you need any more detail I’m sure @Nanja will be able to provide it for you.

As for the Valentine’s Day promotion, I must reiterate that I don’t actually know that there will be one! However, there was one last year, which I bought - on that year it was A 1st Class pass for a 2nd Class Price, but on previous years it’s been other variations i.e. 10% off all passes. All I’m saying is keep an eye out over the next few days, just in case.

@EdM

Thank you for referring the article !! 

Wow last year was a good deal year. Hmm, now I am kinda stuck between purchasing the interrail now or on 14th itself…… 

And any suggestion for my current route which are some that are good to make reservation prior to the pass? I have just purchased my own eurail pass in my country with some discount. 

@EdM

One more question 

How do i know if my reservation on a train is successful? 

The above photo mean? 

And what does open plan zone means ?

I think it just wants advance notice of the details on your ID (probably passport), which may also be checked in order to confirm you are the legitimate Interrail passholder.

“Open Plan Zone” relates to your preferred seating area - it means an open carriage filled with seats, like on a bus or plane. The alternative, if it is offered, will be something like “Compartment Seating” - which is the more traditional, 20th century style of seating where you’ll find typically six seats facing each other in closed-off compartments, each accessible via a corridor that runs down the side of the carriage. If you’re travelling only in seated accommodation on a night train and are lucky enough not to be seated opposite another occupied seat, a compartment is probably better as you’ll be able to pull the seats on both sides out into a configuration you can lie on.

I’d imagine the reservation is successful once you pay and have received a confirmation email.

Thanks to the pandemic delaying my own travel I don’t have any recent experience with the later stages of the OEBB booking process, hopefully someone else can help you here?

@EdM 

Ah i see! Thanks for the detailed explanation of the seating ! 

I just checked that my route from Bonn to Munich on 23th 1111 on NJ is unavable to book on OEBB stated to book at train station. Does this mean likely hood of this train is fully booked for pass holder and can my partner try to book this train in Spain train station? 

I have also realized that there are price discrepancy between Rail Planner and DB / OEBB. 

Example will be Rail planner shows zero fee for route from Dusseldorf to Munich but DB & OEBB is showing 2 different prices too. 

Which operator would u recommend? Quite confused 

@Angeline Poh 

Some explanations

DB charge 4€ per Person & Journey for reservations (Means doesn´t matter if one train or 6trains on the Route the price is 4€ )

ÖBB charge 3€ per seat per train means in your case for 2Persons 6€ if you have 3 Trains on the route the fee would be 2Persons x 3€ x 3Trains = 18€ (with DB still 8€ )

In your case i suggest to reserve via oebb.at (as it´s cheaper)

Iam able to reserve the Bonn - Munich Nightjet 14€ for a seat or 70€ for a Berth in a 4pers shared couchette or for 100€ per berth in the sleeper :)

@EdM

One more question 

How do i know if my reservation on a train is successful? 

The above photo mean? 

And what does open plan zone means ?

The photo means you have to write your Name as on your Passport or ID-Card as Online Tickets are usually sold personally  (otherwise companies would always buy the cheap fares in advance and sell it later higher to earn money)

open Plan zone means it´s not a compartment coach (own room for 6 seats) Open Coach means one big room with all seats ;)

Here the trainconfiguration of your ICE619 to Munich (last year) with examples pictures and layout https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=DB&kategorie=ICE&cislo=619&rok=2021

@Angeline Poh 
If booking via oebb.at you get after the payment a booking confirmation (this is not the reservation) with this booking confirmation you can decide if you wanna recive the reservation at the station (pick up from Ticketmachine or Ticket office works mostly just in Austria), online as PDF (that´s what i usually use and suggest) or via their own ÖBB App .


Easiest Route from Ringsheim to Paris is via Offenburg & Strassburg as @EdM  already said. With luck you even catch one of the two reservation free TER trains from Strassbourg to Paris (but they need more than the double times as the TGV)

@seewulf Thanks so much for helping out here!

@seewulf 

Pls help to see am i doing the reservation with the different operator correctly? 

Previously, wanted to go via cologne route but upon searching even for short distance between cologne & bonn seat reservation is required which the total cost of the route to be on the higher end. Hence, decided to go for the Amsterdam route though i would love to stop at Cologne for a good 5 hours. 

Questions:

1. for the message highlighted in yellow, is this a concern for me taking on this route? 

Questions: 

1. Technically, this route on both DB and OEBB shows that I can only book it at train station but Eurail has reservation for it??? Can reservation be done at Spain train station or what is the free TER trains from Strassbourg to Paris train number? 

 

@seewulf

Pls help to see am i doing the reservation with the different operator correctly? 

correct :) or Brussels - Düsseldorf - Munich as seen on the route below for your desired stop in Cologne :D

Previously, wanted to go via cologne route but upon searching even for short distance between cologne & bonn seat reservation is required which the total cost of the route to be on the higher end. Hence, decided to go for the Amsterdam route though i would love to stop at Cologne for a good 5 hours. 

Here a one travelday route with 5hrs in Cologne :) Brussels - Munich can be reserved via DB aswell :)

Questions:

1. for the message highlighted in yellow, is this a concern for me taking on this route?
   
   Düsseldorf is after Mannheim means it doesnt affect you München Pasing is a secondary stop in Munich but if you start from HBF (Hauptbahnhof/ Main station) it should be no problem for you

Questions: 

1. Technically, this route on both DB and OEBB shows that I can only book it at train station but Eurail has reservation for it??? Can reservation be done at Spain train station or what is the free TER trains from Strassbourg to Paris train number? Yeah DB and OEBB says when they can´t reserve it online to go the train station as they assume you are not a Eurailer (they assume you are a normal “standard” Passenger) Eurail have reservations for the TGV  picture below you can find a reservation free Route Ringsheim - Paris

   

    

Sorry for the mess but i highlighted my answers with red as it was for me so easier to anwer directly under your questions :D

@seewulf 

truly appreciated your help in answering my questions!!! 

Are you able to show me how did you manage to find the route for both Brussels - Dusseldorf - Munich & Ringshiem - Paris on DB? Cause for both of this route I’m unable to find the exact route that you posted:(

Also for Paris - Barcelona, the extra 10-15 euro is not stated on the Eurail reservation page so who will collect this fee? 

And to sum the total fee for Paris - Barcelona would be 72 + 15 (assuming the highest fee charged) = 87 euro for two pax. this is soo expensive…. I would ask my partner to try booking this route at the Spain train station but I’m still awaiting for @Nanja reply on my pass cover number via pm. 

@Angeline Poh 
 

@seewulf 

wow didn’t know there are so much more to selecting the route for trains. this is totally new ball game. 

Kudos to you for helping me out and everyone else !! 

Is the highlighted in yellow message something to be worried about? Cause i remember someone mentioned in my previous post about switching train at Bonn instead.

Unfortunately, the free ride from Ringshiem to Paris leaving at 2pm is not in our favor to leave the theme this early…. i will have to pay extra euro to take the 432pm train…. And can i try to book it at spain train station or ideally just get it from eurail website? 

oh my gosh, i didn’t realised paris was till barcelona….. 

alright here is the paris to madrid. so for the 2nd part from barcelona to madrid i’m unable to book, so i would assume that i need to proceed to spain train station to book the seat with my pass cover number?

Am I right in thinking you are in Spain currently? If so, definitely do make the most of the opportunity to book this at your local station already. Interrail reservations for domestic Spanish trains are unneccessarily difficult for anyone who isn’t currently inside the country (i.e. almost all Interrail travellers before they arrive... )

@EdM 

HAHAHA I’m not in Spain currently but my partner is! But the second option is that he can call which operator to get this reservation done? 

And I guess for Ringshiem to Paris no choice to call the operator too ? 

Sorry, my prediction has not at all come good 

It would appear romance hasn’t taken hold of Interrail’s promotions department this year...

@seewulf 

omg can’t be more than grateful that you helped me to found the cologne train and thank you thank you for helping me so much on these long list of questions !! :) 

Last question do i need to activate my pass first before making reservation on any of the operator? Is a 4 days 1 month pass starting to travel on 23rd march. 

@EdM 

HAHAHAH is alright. I purchased it prior to 14th !