Hi Everyone, thanks so much for replying - special thanks to those who gave me guidance on the difference between buying the pass and making reservations, so helpful. I have now purchased my Interrail pass, but only after a lot of stress and actually having to open a new bank account in order to do so. I think that I can put the ultimate blame (as with so many issues in the UK...) on Brexit. It seems that there IS a new UK law to force vendors to provide information to banks in a specific way, and if they don’t the payment is rejected.I called the customer service helpline at my bank (Triodos UK) and asked why (anecdotally) only they seem to be refusing payment on this basis. In what might have been an off-the-record comment (though she didn’t say so), the assistant said that the bigger banks have multiple methods and resources to confirm or bypass this step, but they don’t and have to comply with the law to its full effect. In the official message, my bank sent the same message as pas
Thanks everyone, I’m oddly reassured that no-one else has experienced this with their bank - I tried telling them that it’s not normal for a bank to do this to customers but they’re adamant that this is only legal compliance.I hadn’t found https://www.internationalrail.com/ so thanks for that link, but they don’t seem to do mobile tickets - I’d be nervous about it only being a physical ticket that I’d have to wait for home delivery of - so many services are suspended in the UK at the moment. @rvdborgt you said that “Further, you can perfectly buy Eurostar and other reservations before buying a pass” - really? You mean that you can buy tickets with the benefit of the pass, without having bought it yet? I just want to clarify that point as of course I could buy a ticket, but I want the pass for the cost savings (and flexibility). I raised a support ticket already, but @Nanja‘s help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks @mcadv I did google it but all the first level info points only to the 2 sites I’d already tried, including Seat61’s info https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-an-interrail-pass.htm#buy-a-pass-onlineI hadn’t heard of Ffestiniog Travel before. They only accept email communication and this is a bad day and bad time to try to get anything done in the UK… I suspect also that agency fees will make it not financially viable for me - the point of getting the pass is to stick to a tight budget. But I will try them, thanks for the suggestion. Good to know also about the banking issue, that it hasn’t come up before. I will pass this on to Triodos
Thanks for replying @Al_G, but I tried booking through this site too. It had the same result and that was the telephone helpline that does not take calls. Thanks for the b-europe link though. Yes, I can see that the train I was hoping for, which was still showing availability on the Eurorail site, is now sold out. I now have to re-arrange my whole trip. It is incredibly frustrating but yes, good to know before I was able to buy the pass. I would still appreciate feedback from anyone else who has had this experience with their bank though.
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