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Thalys train cancelled

R

Hi people, I am new here,

I am going away with my daughter, I live in the UK, so through my interrail pass I have booked us to Paris, for a couple of days ,a day trip to Belgium then back to Paris, then on the Friday of the 6 day trip a trip to Amsterdam staying at a hotel and returning to Paris on the Saturday 29th July  Eurostar back to the UK on Sunday  all accommodation booked all seat reservations made all arrangements made However Thalys have cancelled the part of the return journey from Amsterdam on the Saturday, the part that is cancelled is the Brussels to Paris part, I have tried and tried there are only 2 other trains that evening from Brussels (after we arrive at Brussels from Amsterdam)  no availability to book seat reservations with our interrail passes. Even tried looking to see if I could take different train from Amsterdam, but again no availability to book with our interrail passes.

Is my only option to pay the nearly 200 euros for the full fares now ? which makes getting the passes a complete waste, I already had to compromise journey times etc to be able to use the pass so this seems absolutely terrible to me with the passes and all the seat reservations and accommodation this already turned into such an expensive break now this. the extra 2 hundred euros is putting everything at risk and I don't have the option of waiting a day or so because of our Eurostar to the UK on the Sunday ! It's devastating.and if I don't act fast the trains could sell out then we are stuffed!

Does anyone have any advice or ideas ?

Sorry for the long post

 

Thanks 

 

 

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Best answer by SC2005 12 July 2023, 20:12

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T
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Go to thalys.com, look for your booking (number on the ticket) and you should be able to exchange tickets for another available train free of charge and regardless of quota.

As Thalys have cancelled the train, you won't have to pay a penny in any case.

What was mentionned in the cancellation email ?

Unfortunately like last year they have technical issues and no extra trains to back up so it leads to cancellations...

S

Hi redtoppaul. I’m in the same position and feel just the same way you do! I can’t seem to exchange the ticket reservation on the Thalys.com website as it says that I need to contact my ticket provider, which I’m guessing is Eurail. I’ve contacted them but haven’t heard back yet. 

Have you managed to resolve it? If so, please let me know what you did! Many thanks.

R

Hi I have managed to resolve it, but I did it the hard way, you are correct you cannot do it on the website, I spent over an hour and a half on the phone to Thalys , waiting for someone to answer and this is a premium rate phone number ! Eventually they answered and said I needed to call another number Belgian railways , they gave me the number, the conversation took less than a minute but I waited so long and at considerable cost ! The Belgian railway number answered in about 20 minutes and they exchanged my tickets free of charge.

There was an easier way, if you email support@interrail.eu they will respond within 24 hours and will do this for you once only.

In my panic I emailed them and just as I managed to get my tickets exchanged they got back to me asking for train details and passenger names, if you can that would be the way to go. 

They also asked me how I exchanged my tickets for their own info, whether it was by phone or was it possible on Thalys website (No it is not because we bought through a 3rd party, even when you call and speak to Thalys they cannot exchange them for you because you bought from a 3rd party, in my case because my cancelled train was from Belgium I needed to speak with Belgian railways who done it very smoothly, It just took me so long to get the correct number from Thalys.

The easiest and cheapest way will be through interrail/Eurail

if you have the time

Reach out if I can help anymore,hope this helps you, Good luck

 

 

S

Hi. Thanks for that information, that is very reassuring that it got sorted. I’ve just emailed that email address but it got bounced back, so have raised a support request through their website. However if I’ve not heard by tomorrow lunchtime I will try Belgian Railways. Have you got the number you used? Thanks Sophie

R
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Hi. Thanks for that information, that is very reassuring that it got sorted. I’ve just emailed that email address but it got bounced back, so have raised a support request through their website. However if I’ve not heard by tomorrow lunchtime I will try Belgian Railways. Have you got the number you used?

For Belgian Railways aftersales, call +32 2 801 90 10 (regular rate, not a premium number).

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.
R

customerservice@interrail.eu

Sorry was the above email,

and the phone number was (from the UK)

0032 28019010

R

That's the same number, so you are doing way better than I did ! 

S

Thanks fingers crossed for tomorrow. 

S

I just want to say a huge thank you to you @redtoppaul! I emailed Eurail/Interrail, but no luck with them. Eurail said that the only train they could get me on was 6 hours later which would have meant I’d miss my connection and then not get to my destination until the following day. So I rang the Belgian Railways after sales number and they sorted it out immediately. What a relief, thank you so much for passing on all the valuable information you found out!

I hope you have a lovely trip.

R
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I just want to say a huge thank you to you @redtoppaul! I emailed Eurail/Interrail, but no luck with them. Eurail said that the only train they could get me on was 6 hours later which would have meant I’d miss my connection and then not get to my destination until the following day. So I rang the Belgian Railways after sales number and they sorted it out immediately.

Sounds like Interrail did not look at free seats but rather at free pass holder seats, which they're not allowed to do when rebooking because of a cancellation.

Were Belgian railways able to book you much earlier?

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.
S

Yes they were. They booked me on a train around the same time as the original train. I conversed with 2 different people at EURail with no luck.

R
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@Mukhammad @Camilo. This not how it should be. If you rebook someone because of a cancellation, then pass holder seats may not be taken into account. You're then required to offer any available seat. How is Eurail's process for such cases?

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.
R

Really pleased I could help, this was a learning curve for me too,  Thank you for you message of thanks, means a lot as I was wondering and hoping you got sorted, hopefully it can help people with the issue in the future having the same issue seeing the post and the phone number. Hope you have a great trip as well 

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