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NEED HELP with Global Pass use and Mobile App

  • 18 December 2022
  • 25 replies
  • 726 views

Hello,

 

I am completely new to Eurail.com, traveling on train through Europe and even more the the Mobile App Rail Planner. I am traveling with my wife and daughter from December 26th to January 06th (London - Paris - Chamonix - Milan - Venice - Florence), and I got the 7 days Global Pass through the website. I have been buying the different tickets for each route, so I already got them and even printed each of them.

 

I see there is the Mobile App, which I already downloaded, and I have my account active. I saw today that our Passes are not yet Active. So, I proceeded and I activated mine, but then I do not see any of the tickets (for the Seat Reservations) that I have bought in the Mobile App, and I cannot find a way to add them there. I need to validate if I have to (must) use the Mobile App, or if I could just take my printed at home tickets (which have the barcode) and use those to board the trains? This is specifically for those where I need Seat Reservations, but what about those trains where there is no seat reservation, how do I board them, and/or what do i show the train operator/guard to board….I am very confused about this whole process.

 

Our first train from London to Paris on December 26th has been Cancelled, so that has already generated a lot of stress and extra costs to figure out how to get to Paris on time to continue our trip (we will miss a full day of Paris because of this strikes in UK).

 

So, I would REALLY appreciate any help/guidance on how all this works, how to board the trains with our Pass (not sure if  have to use the Mobile Pass or my papers...or else).

 

I decided to use the Trains during this trip because I thought it would be different and would be fun, but has turned into a complete nightmare , very difficult to coordinate and very confusing.

 

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nuncio

25 replies

A
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Firstly, The pass is your ticket. As you have mobile passes it is the app that is the ticket for all your journeys.

You need to have it activated for your travel days (this does not need to be done in advance) and input every train you take.

 

This video gives instruction on how the mobile pass works.

 

Reservations are separate, they do not appear on or get linked to the pass. You show them either as printed or as PDF on your phone.

There are 3 different train types regarding reservations;

Trains with mandatory reservations that you must have a specific seat reserved for each person.

Trains with reservations available but not required, these you can reserve and get assigned seat but also just turn up and board where you can take any available seat. In most cases the seats reserved will have paper labels or electronic displays showing the reservations.

Trains where no reservations are possible, these you just board and take any seat.

 

R
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Please do not activate anything in advance. Please cancel the pass activation for now and only activate it shortly before you start travelling. You never know what happens and you can only cancel the activation or a travel day until midnight CET before they become valid.

Reservations and the app are completely separate. Reservations are not visible in the app.

When you write that you have bought tickets, I hope you mean reservations for your pass, because your pass is your ticket. With the pass alone, you can use any train for which a reservation is not mandatory, You add that train to your pass and then you can board. For some of those trains, you can make an  optional reservation.

For trains with mandatory reservations (e.g. Eurostar), you need both your pass and the reservation. So you still add the train to your pass to have a valid ticket but you also need to show the reservation.

Also see this page:

https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/eurail-mobile-pass/getting-started

As to the extra costs: Eurostar is obliged to provide accommodation for the extra night in London and put you on the first available train at no extra cost. You can claim back from them. The fact that they cancelled because of a strike is of no relevance for those rights. What did they offer you? This is what they write on their website:

https://help.eurostar.com/faq/uk-en/question/What-happens-if-Eurostar-cancels-my-train

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.
A
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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 and create the ticket (QR code), 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.
A
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You need to have it activated for your travel days (this does not need to be done in advance) and input every train you take.

Actually, this should never be done in advance as you never know what will happen. Something unexpected might occur in the last minute which prevents you from travelling as planned. If your travel day is activated in advance you can't cancel it.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
C
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I am so sorry to read of your problems. If you reserved seats on Eurostar you will have received an e-mail from Eurostar giving you the options.

In respect of London to Paris how are you now going to travel? Without a confirmed reservation on another Eurostar you won’t be able to travel. Eurostar is just like a flight - you can’t just turn up without a reservation. Your pass is NOT a reservation as explained in the earlier posts. Deactivate your pass immediately as advised above.

The more details you give us the more accurate advice we can give. Screenshots will be helpful if you are not sure what you have. 

 

ndimare
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Hello, thanks for the feedback provided. I have done already several of the Not-To-Do. For example, I activated my Pass in the mobile app yesterday night to test the process, so I cannot Deactivate it, right?  I included the whole route of the journey to understand how it all worked,  did that today. So, i activated days of travel and included the Journeys for the whole route (i thought it would be better to plan in advanced). 

 

So, (please help me confirm) should I remove the Journeys I have included, and deactivate any QR that I activated already?

 

Is it safe to activate travel date and add journeys so close to travel date/time? Should I add journeys the day before I travel? I was worried about train availability, for example, that is why I thought about doing in advanced (but for those that do not need a Seat Reservation, there is no point).

 

What about my Pass that I already activated yesterday night? Should. leave my wife’s and daughter’s passes Not Activated?

 

Another topic that I need to clarify, in the Mobile App, I have in MyTrip, (3) separate trips for each of us. Is that right? Do I have to have a separate trip in the app for each of the passengers/travelers, and add for each of them their Days of Travel and the Journeys?

 

Regarding the question about what we did with the LON-PAR route, a relative of mine will drive us to Dover, and we will take a ferry to Calais (France) spend the night there and then early morning taking train from Calais to Paris. 

 

I hope there are not many changes in train schedules, as our itinerary is quite tight.

 

Many thanks for all the feedback really appreciated.

 

Nuncio

ndimare
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Hi, another update, I was able to Deactivate my Pass. So, none of the passes are Active yet in the mobile apps. I do have all the tickets (Seats Reservations) for each of the routes where a Reservation was needed, and. printed each of them, to use when boarding.

 

At least now I understand how the app. works. Considering that we now start our Trip on December 27th night (first train to be taken in Paris) - when do you recommend I activate the 3 passes, and start adding the journeys? I understand the recommendation is “not” to add all the journeys of the. different days of travel at once,  right? But instead add each journey by the date?

 

The last concern is what if I do not get proper coverage at any point of the journey and cannot add the Journey, etc...I am planning in getting a Prepaid SIM Card in London that I can use during the whole trip - what do you think?

 

Many thanks,

 

Nuncio

R
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It's generally best to activate the pass on the morning of the first travel day, when you know your train is running and you are going to take it. For a new travel day, do the same: only activate it a few minutes before boarding the first train of the day. Adding additional journeys to your pass on an active travel day doesn't make a difference.

You can already add all planned journeys in My Trip, but just don't add them to your pass until a few minutes before boarding (with the yellow slider). When you add the first train of a ravel day to your pass, then the app will warn you that a new travel day will be activated.

Also verify the timetables using the national or operators' own websites or apps.

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.
C
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The only ferry company that takes foot passengers is P&O. You must reserve places on the boat in advance as only a small number of sailings take foot passengers. You need to check in a minimum of 90 mins before the boat sails. You can’t buy tickets at Dover. The port of Calais is 3.5km from the town and at this time of year you may not be able to get a taxi.Otherwise it’s a long walk! Your safest option is to arrange for your hotel to send someone to pick you up. Your very best option is get your friends to put their car on the ferry and you all stay in Calais together!

ndimare
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Hi @cdwatkins19, we already got our P&O tickets, and we are staying at a Holiday Inn close by the port. I will follow your advice to schedule a taxi from the hotel to pick us up at the port. thanks.

 

In regards to @rvdborgt comment, how can I add my planned journeys to MyTrip without associating them to my Pass in the Mobile App?

 

Cheers,

 

Nuncio

seewulf
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gards to @rvdborgt comment, how can I add my planned journeys to MyTrip without associating them to my Pass in the Mobile App?

You can save Journey´s on your Trips :) Just create a “Trip” with name of your choice and add all your planned Journey´s 
When you activate the passes you have to connect them to trip. 

Finally when you useing a train you slide the grey slider to the right to add the trains to your pass which is finally your Ticket. (I recommend to do this just shortly before boarding when you are sure you catch the train) 

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
ndimare
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Hi @seewulf / @rvdborgt and Community,

 

Is it possible to use only the app in my Mobile Phone to keep under “one single Trip” the Passes for the 3 of us (me, my wife and my daughter)?  Right now, I have 3 Trips created in the app, but I am not sure if I can keep just one Trip (with its Journeys associated) and associate the three passes to that one Trip.

 

Many thanks,

 

Nuncio

A
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Each pass needs its own Trip. 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
seewulf
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Hi @seewulf / @rvdborgt and Community,

 

Is it possible to use only the app in my Mobile Phone to keep under “one single Trip” the Passes for the 3 of us (me, my wife and my daughter)?  Right now, I have 3 Trips created in the app, but I am not sure if I can keep just one Trip (with its Journeys associated) and associate the three passes to that one Trip.

 

Matny thanks,

 

Nuncio

Each pass needs a own Trip :) you can create one trip with all your “planned” journey´s and  then  dublicate them :) and finally add then the 3 trips to your pass :) 

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
R
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You can also add a journey to multiple trips at the same time.

Remember the rail planner app should not be used to plan any journeys. It does not get enough updates to be reliable. Only use it to record the trains you use.

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.
seewulf
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Remember the rail planner app should not be used to plan any journeys. It does not get enough updates to be reliable. Only use it to record the trains you use.

Exactly :) 
As an ofline Railplanner i recommend the Muj Vlak App of Ceske Drahy as this app works offline if you download the timetable packages within the App

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
ndimare
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Hello,

 

I got a different smartphone in UK, with a Prepaid SIM but now I noticed that my Mobile Pass is associated to my US Phone Number. I tried changing it in my profile, but I couldn’t. Does anybody knows how I can transfer my pass to other phone (with different phone number) under my name (my same iCloud account), so I can use the other smartphone in UK and Europe without roaming issues?

 

Many thanks.

A
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This is a question for Customer Support. Only the can disconnect you pass from your US phone. Please use the form below to contact them. You must add your pass number to the request. 

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

It is important that you write the date when you plan to start your travel so that Customer Support can prioritise the request correctly.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
A
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Please be aware that the pre paid UK SIM might not work, or might have a high charge, in the rest of Europe since the UK no longer is a part of the European Union. But I hope you checked that when buying the phone and SIM.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
ndimare
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Hi @AnnaB yes I got a SIM Card from Three after validating with several service providers and they guaranteed I will get 12GB of roaming in Europe.

 

I hope that works.

 

Many thanks.

A
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Great. I hope that you will have a nice trip here in Europe.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
R
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I got a different smartphone in UK, with a Prepaid SIM but now I noticed that my Mobile Pass is associated to my US Phone Number.

Please note that your pass is not linked to a phone number but to a device (IMEI number).

It should be possible to change your SIM card and still be able to use your pass on the same device.

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.
A
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Userlevel 7
Badge +9

I got a different smartphone in UK, with a Prepaid SIM but now I noticed that my Mobile Pass is associated to my US Phone Number.

Please note that your pass is not linked to a phone number but to a device (IMEI number).

It should be possible to change your SIM card and still be able to use your pass on the same device.

@rvdborgt The US phone is locked to the US mobile provider so the UK sim can't be used in the US phone. The passes are working on the UK phone now.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
ndimare
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Thanks for all the tips @AnnaB / @rvdborgt / @seewulf and the rest of the community.

 

We got the passes activated on the UK Phone right on time. We already passed thru Paris and on our way to Chamonix now. We barely made it to our connection in Paris as we got distracted having a coffee after a long walking day in Paris.


Happy New Year!

 

Cheers,

 

Nuncio

 

A
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Thank’s for the update. It’s always nice to hear how things are going. I hope that you will have a nice time in Europe. 

Happy New Year!

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

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