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What I understood so far about the interrail pass

  • 27 February 2023
  • 14 replies
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Hi community!

We plan to go to Switzerland and Italy next week. We have a 2month pass. I’ve read a lot of the comments in the forum and I would like to ask someone to look over my shoulder to see if I making any thinking errors.

I get on the train in Germany and leave Germany on the same day. When the conductor comes I show him the Interrail app with QR code. My wife shows her own app. Correct?

On every day I travel I add a trip. If I hop off the train, I can continue the same day and just add a new trip. Correct?

If I make a trip in Italy, I add a trip in the Rail planner and I make a seat reservation in the ÖBB app. I pay the reservation with paypall. If the conductor comes, I show the Interrail app and then I open  the ÖBB app for the reservation. Correct?

On our way back to Germany, I plan the night train from Innsbruck. It’s important to travel this last piece in Germany on one day. Correct?

If I go to the Netherlands, I plan to go accross the border on my own costs ( I live only 10 miles from the border)  an then continue the trip. I can open the gates on the railway stations in the Netherlands with my QR Code. Correct?

Last question. This bothers me most. What happens when I loose my mobile? Is there anything that I can print out to show I’m not a blind passenger?

thanks in advance

H U U B

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Best answer by rvdborgt 28 February 2023, 11:10

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Most of your thoughts are correct.

Just so you fully understand the Country of Residence rule (assuming you have set Germany as your COR).

You can use a mobile pass on up to 2 travel days in your own country as if you were in any of the other countries. These can be used however and whenever you wish, but any travel in your COR on a journey covered by your pass will trigger one of these days, even if you do not disembark. For example If you went from Brussels to Amsterdam on a service passing through Cologne that would trigger a COR (In/Out) day. You can cross as many borders in any direction during a COR (In/Out) travel day so the example above would only take one COR day, even if you cross the border in an IN direction and an Out direction.

You are correct that each passenger requires a separate pass and Trip on a device, but that can be on the same device or separate devices. If you load them on one device you add both to the single Rail Planner app.

Make sure you have the contact e-mail for customer services if you lose your device as they can then remove it from the lost device and you can reload it on a replacement device. Others will post that for you.

Userlevel 7
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Each pass can only have one Trip connected. To this trip you connect each train as a journey. 

Thank you for the answers. Question for good understanding. If I loose my mobile I should contact the customerservice so they can remove it from the lost device and I can reload the pass on another device. But am  I right: I don’t have to buy a new mobile with SIM but I can also reload it on my wife’s mobile?

 

Another question about the night train from Inssbruck. The train will cross the border before midnight and will arrive at about 9 AM in Düsseldorf. Is that a problem?

H U U B

Userlevel 7
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  1. It should now also be possible to move a mobile pass to another phone yourself. You can indeed move it to someone else's phone, such as your wife's.
  2. You can use an inbound journey with a night train. If Düsseldorf is your destination, then it's one travel day and you can enter the journey into the app normally; you will also use only one inbound/outbound journey. If Düsseldorf is not your destination, then it's 2 travel days. You would need 2 inbound/outbound journeys because the night train crosses the border before midnight. You can of course also buy a normal ticket for any connecting train.

Oops, that triggers another question: Actually Düsseldorf isn’t my destination for that day, but Kleve, not far away from Düsseldorf. Do I have to buy a normal ticket for the connecting train?

Userlevel 7
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Oops, that triggers another question: Actually Düsseldorf isn’t my destination for that day, but Kleve, not far away from Düsseldorf. Do I have to buy a normal ticket for the connecting train?

If you have a two months pass, with continuous validity, you just need to activate another travel day.

If you have a pass with limited travel days (Flexi pass, like e.g. 10 travel days in two months), it’s sometimes interesting to buy a seperate ticket for a short distance. But Düsseldorf-Kleve seems quite the distance, so possibly worth the pass day.

But I presume you have a continuous pass?

Userlevel 7
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Oops, that triggers another question: Actually Düsseldorf isn’t my destination for that day, but Kleve, not far away from Düsseldorf. Do I have to buy a normal ticket for the connecting train?

If you have a two months pass, with continuous validity, you just need to activate another travel day.

If you live in Germany, then that will also trigger the second inbound/outbound day.

Sorry I’m not clear. Germany is my COR. I leave Germany at 8th March. That’s one in/out day. I travel through Switzerland, Italy and Austria and I return to Germany with the night train from Inssbruck at let’s say 29th March 10PM . Before midnight I cross the border, which triggers my second in/out day. My question is: when it will be midnight do I trigger a third day? The train goes further to Düsseldorf and then I have to change to Kleve. Do I have to pay a ticket from the moment I cross the border? Or from the moment I arrive in Dusseldorf and take the train the Kleve? Or is this all one journey and triggers only one in/out day?

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If your journey started before midnight, you can finish it. As soon as you take another train the following day, you need a new travel day. So you every night train, leaving before midnight CET, only consumes one travel day.

But you will have used up all your inbound/outbound days, as Germany is your COR. So you need an ordinary ticket Düsseldorf-Kleve

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In the Netherlands, your QR code might not work easily on the barriers if you use an iPhone. Mine kept trying to activate Apple Pay (and I guess there’s a chance the barriers might try to take contactless payment instead of scanning the QR code!).

Solution is to put your phone into Airplane mode before approaching NL gates.

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In the Netherlands, your QR code might not work easily on the barriers if you use an iPhone. Mine kept trying to activate Apple Pay (and I guess there’s a chance the barriers might try to take contactless payment instead of scanning the QR code!).

Have you updated your app recently? The rail planner app is supposed to suppress NFC when showing the barcode:

https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001/articles/8811425058077-OVpay-at-NS-

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Ah good. Sounds like this bug has been fixed!

Userlevel 7
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Ah good. Sounds like this bug has been fixed!

Well, it's rather a workaround to deal with bad gate design: having the NFC and the barcode reader at the same location is asking for trouble. All apps showing a barcode to open a gate will have this problem. However, NS can’t expect others to prioritise implementing a workaround for their own bad design. DB still haven't done anything about it in the DB Navigator app and they might never do it.

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