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Urgent: exchange pass and make reservation

Joman Chow

Hello, 

My friends and I are traveling around Europe for the summer with eurail pass (10days in 2 months). But after we bought the passes, we realized the seats for pass holders traveling from London to Amsterdam are perhaps sold out (shown as price unavailable). We therefore decided to travel to Amsterdam by flight and exchange the ticket to 7 days in 1 month. I’d like to ask
1. do we have to wait for the completion of exchange process before marking reservations? 
2. some previously shown as “no reservation required” are now “details unavailable”, do we need not to make reservation and hop onto the train as we arrive at the stations? 

Any help would we appreciated. 

Best answer by rvdborgt

Amsterdam to Brussels (29/7, 14:28-17:09): Just stay on the 14:28 train, it arrives at Brussels only a few minutes later. No reservation needed (or even possible).

Brussels to Ypres (2/8, 16:03-17:44): No reservations needed (or even possible). Check the Belgian railways website for the correct timetables. Note that the station in Ypres will show the name in Dutch only, as “Ieper”, and that in the Brussels stations half of the signs are in French and the other half in Dutch.

Ypres to Paris (6/8, 11:15-15:56): no reservations needed or possible.

Carcassonne to Annecy (17/8, 12:20-19:15): that includes 1 TGV with mandatory reservations. If you leave at 10:20, you don't need reservations.

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M
Full steam ahead
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  • mcadv
  • Full steam ahead
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  • July 3, 2022

@1. no -again: RES is completely independent of pass/app-though in some cases you need the pass cover nr-which is not on mobile passes anyway and has to be asked for.

@2, NO its def not that easy! Use OTHer planner-that of bahn.com is far better, moire often updated and does show which trains MUSt/CAN or canNOT be RESeved.

It may also simply mean that the/via app is unable to link on the the site where RES has to be made-which is quite often the case.

PS-think again if it is really worth it-you loose 15% of price for 10 and the diff. between price for 7 or 10 is not that big-plus that 7 is for 1 month- and 0 for 2 month validity-maybe you can rather better put it to good use-also daytrips out are feasible.

Also be aware that about any major airport anywhere in EUR is currently also overlaoaded and has giant Qs for all the checks-some even advise to arr 3-4 hrs before-for a 45 min flite!

seewulf
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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
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  • July 3, 2022
mcadv wrote:

 

PS-think again if it is really worth it-you loose 15% of price for 10 and the diff. between price for 7 or 10 is not that big-plus that 7 is for 1 month- and 0 for 2 month validity-maybe you can rather better put it to good use-also daytrips out are 

Not true.  The fee for an exchange is 15 EUR. The fee for a refund is 15%. If you have bought Plus there is no fee.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
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  • July 3, 2022
Joman Chow wrote:

 

1. do we have to wait for the completion of exchange process before marking reservations? 
 

No. The reservation are separate from your pass.

There will be no changes made to your existing pass. You first have to buy the new pass, then you send both your old pass number and your new pass number to Customer Support. They will then pay you back the price for your first pass less 15 EUR. If you bought Plus you get the whole amount back.

Due to the overload of work for Customer Support you will hsve to be patient and probably wait for weeks to get your money back. 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
Joman Chow
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  • July 3, 2022
mcadv wrote:

@1. no -again: RES is completely independent of pass/app-though in some cases you need the pass cover nr-which is not on mobile passes anyway and has to be asked for.

@2, NO its def not that easy! Use OTHer planner-that of bahn.com is far better, moire often updated and does show which trains MUSt/CAN or canNOT be RESeved.

It may also simply mean that the/via app is unable to link on the the site where RES has to be made-which is quite often the case.

PS-think again if it is really worth it-you loose 15% of price for 10 and the diff. between price for 7 or 10 is not that big-plus that 7 is for 1 month- and 0 for 2 month validity-maybe you can rather better put it to good use-also daytrips out are feasible.

Also be aware that about any major airport anywhere in EUR is currently also overlaoaded and has giant Qs for all the checks-some even advise to arr 3-4 hrs before-for a 45 min flite!

Thank you so much for the prompt reply

The exchange process is now well understood. We will definitely think about taking day trips. Where do you recommend us to visit? We will be travelling to Amsterdam → Belgium → France. 

I’ve looked into the website you cited. Some of the train we plan on taking are listed as “reservation is not possiblereservation is not possible “. and places like ypres (Belgium) could not be found in the website. 

A
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  • AnnaB
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  • July 3, 2022

Maybe a trip through Switzerland on the way from Belgium to France. No reservation are needed in Switzerland, the trains run often and the scenery is beautiful.  

 

Here is some useful information from the experienced travellers in the Community regarding both planning, reservations and activation of pass and travel days. You will find information about trains in Italy in the link further down.

 

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 ticket 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, 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.
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AnnaB wrote:

Maybe a trip through Switzerland on the way from Belgium to France. No reservation are needed in Switzerland, the trains run often and the scenery is beautiful.  

 

Here is some useful information from the experienced travellers in the Community regarding both planning, reservations and activation of pass and travel days. You will find information about trains in Italy in the link further down.

 

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 ticket 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, 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.

 

Thanks for the recommendation!!

I’ve dug into the thread you shared and found the websites. However, I don’t seem to be able to find the ways to reserve seats for trips that were previously shown as “no reservation required” on the eurail website.

Amsterdam to Brussels (29/7, 14:28-17:09)

Brussels to Ypres (2/8, 16:03-17:44)

Ypres to Paris (6/8, 11:15-15:56) 

Carcassonne to Annecy (17/8, 12:20-19:15)

Any help would be much appreciated. 

Joman Chow
  • Joman Chow
  • Author
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  • 4 replies
  • July 3, 2022

Thanks for the recommendation!!

I’ve dug into the thread you shared and found the websites. However, I don’t seem to be able to find ways to reserve seats for trips that were previously shown as “no reservation required” on the eurail website.

Amsterdam to Brussels (29/7, 14:28-17:09)

Brussels to Ypres (2/8, 16:03-17:44)

Ypres to Paris (6/8, 11:15-15:56) 

Carcassonne to Annecy (17/8, 12:20-19:15)

Any help would be much appreciated. 

R
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
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  • July 5, 2022

Amsterdam to Brussels (29/7, 14:28-17:09): Just stay on the 14:28 train, it arrives at Brussels only a few minutes later. No reservation needed (or even possible).

Brussels to Ypres (2/8, 16:03-17:44): No reservations needed (or even possible). Check the Belgian railways website for the correct timetables. Note that the station in Ypres will show the name in Dutch only, as “Ieper”, and that in the Brussels stations half of the signs are in French and the other half in Dutch.

Ypres to Paris (6/8, 11:15-15:56): no reservations needed or possible.

Carcassonne to Annecy (17/8, 12:20-19:15): that includes 1 TGV with mandatory reservations. If you leave at 10:20, you don't need reservations.

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.
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  • July 6, 2022
rvdborgt wrote:

Amsterdam to Brussels (29/7, 14:28-17:09): Just stay on the 14:28 train, it arrives at Brussels only a few minutes later. No reservation needed (or even possible).

Brussels to Ypres (2/8, 16:03-17:44): No reservations needed (or even possible). Check the Belgian railways website for the correct timetables. Note that the station in Ypres will show the name in Dutch only, as “Ieper”, and that in the Brussels stations half of the signs are in French and the other half in Dutch.

Ypres to Paris (6/8, 11:15-15:56): no reservations needed or possible.

Carcassonne to Annecy (17/8, 12:20-19:15): that includes 1 TGV with mandatory reservations. If you leave at 10:20, you don't need reservations.

Thank you so much!!! 

This community forum helps out a tons!! 
 

 

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