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Eurail website’s timing and Eurail app planner timing is different

  • 20 January 2023
  • 7 replies
  • 526 views
J

Hi all, 

Recently I’ve bought the global pass to travel between London, Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam. It was nice buying the pass and through the app, I’ve selected the timing that’s desired and saved it. However, it stated that seats reservations are required but I’m not able to buy the seats reservations in the app. So i’ve headed over to Eurail website to try and book the seats reservations. But I couldn’t find the timing that i wanted on the website and when i choose another timing from the website and head back to the app, i can’t find the timing. So if i want the seats reservations, i’ve to book from the website but if i do, i can’t show the QR code as it’s a mobile pass and i can’t find the same timing on the web and the app. 

 

Will appreciate if someone can tell me: 

  1. Can i make my seats reservations only on the website?
  2. What happens if i can’t select the same timing on my app as the website as i’ll need the QR code to scan on the app so i assume that app timing and web timing should be the same if not how do i tally it to scan on board. 

EG: Reservation on website: 726am-1226pm

Reservation on app 701am- 1201pm 

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Best answer by AnnaB 20 January 2023, 07:53

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A
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The app has accuracy issues, especially further in the future. It only receives occasional timetable updates and only when you update the entire app through google play or apple app store.

 

In short the eurail app cannot be relied upon to be accurate.

 

In the event that a train you wish to take is not correctly listed on the app on the day you are travelling then you always have the option to add the journey manually.

 

For reservations it will be the train number and time listed on your reservation that you should rely on.

 

It is strongly recommended that you don’t activate your pass or travel days in advance, once the day begins (00.01 CET) you then cannot remove that day’s travel if your plans change.

J

Ok noted, so does it mean that I should book it online for my seats reservations and print it out, then further look in the app when it is nearer to my traveling dates to see if I can find the same one? In the event of me being unable to find the same one, how do I show the person my QR code from mobile pass and the QR code show won't be the same as the one I did my seat reservation on?

M
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Hi Singy. In this case it also applies: they should fine them, it is not smart!

Just wait a little more hrs till anna b fra Sverige comes and links to a long list of ´goodtoknow´ incl on howtodo RES on your own, not via app, cheaper too. F.e. that to go from BE to NL you can also take the hourly BeNeLux trains that do not even need/can be RES. JUst a little slower as the Thalys with high suplmt to pay. Only this €* to/fro LON-can be very hard- and IN FR for the hi-speed TGV you must RES. PLus that these trains also have quota for passholders, far less as the total nr of seats.

So yes, you can RES certainly also via other means, these depend on what train/country and also pass and RES are separate and not interlinked.

Selamat jalan, lah!

A
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Here is the information that @mcadv is referring to. 

 

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 you choose the start day of the validity of the pass. Once the validity has started it can't be changed even if you haven't travelled. The advice is therefore to wait with activating the pass and starting the validity until the first day of your travel as you only can deactivate the pass no later than 23.59 CET on the day before the validity starts. If your travel plans change in the last moment you can't deactivate the pass and change the validity. 

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.
R
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Userlevel 7
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Neither the rail planner app nor the Eurail website is reliable; the app is the most inaccurate. The operator's own timetable is likely to be most accurate.

I usually plan using the DB planner and only add journeys to the app shortly before boarding a train. By that time, the app usually has been updated with the correct timetable.

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.
Y
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Just for confirmation - if you acquire a reservation then you can be confident that the time and date are correct and you should be contacted if there is any timetable changes. As the other posts have said the best source of forward timings is the operator’s own timetables as per their website.

BrendanDB
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BTW, some tips:

Avoid Thalys if travelling between Amsterdam and Brussels (or the other way around). Choose the hourly ordinary IC train. No seat reservations needed, very flexible and only half an hour slower than the Thalys. So no drama if you miss your connection accidentally, just pick a train an hour later.

Thaly’s reservation fee is extortionate. Pass + reservation almost always costs more than most simple advance tickets with Thalys on Brussels-Amsterdam. And the reservations often sell out waaaay in advance.

Alternatives without seat reservations also exist between Brussels and Paris, via Charleroi and Maubeuge (quite slow) or can be done with cheaper seat reservations by going to Lille via regional trains from Belgium and take an ordinary TGV to Paris from there, with much cheaper reservation cost, and a bit of extra travel time.

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