As part of my upcoming trip, I booked a reservation on a Eurocity train between Zurich HB and Milano through the Eurail website. Listed under “conditions of use” on the ticket it says “This ticket is valid only when printed with a laserjet or inkjet printer on a white A4 sheet of paper, blank on both sides, in portrait format (vertical) and in the original, unchanged font size. Under no circumstances may it be presented on other media (electronic, screen, etc.).” I live in the United States and do not have easy access to A4 paper. Can I get away with 8.5”x11” paper as is commonly found here, since they are very similar? Can they print it for me at the Zurich train station? Is there a way to add this to my apple wallet with every other reservation I have instead? Thanks in advance.
Mandatory printing for SNCB tickets?
Best answer by Camilo.
UPDATE
Hi everyone,
We checked this internally.
We’re aware that, in practice, many travellers use the PDF on their phone without issues and that this is often accepted during ticket checks. However, we still advise travellers to follow the Conditions of Use printed on the ticket, as we cannot guarantee there won’t be issues if the ticket is not printed.
We’ve also shared this feedback with the carriers to see whether the wording and setup can be improved in the future.
There's no need to print the reservation. You just show the reservation on your phone if you need to show it.
Why do you still have a text saying that reservations must be printed, when you can show the reservation on the phone?
They have over-engineered or over-specified the requirement . . . “a laserjet or inkjet printer on a white A4 sheet of paper” basically just means printed on normal paper. A4 happens to be the standard here, but rest assured that the inspector is *not* going to be getting out his measuring tape to check the paper. Now, if you printed it on the back of a postage stamp that would be a different story.
Can you link to the bit you quoted from above? It sounds like eurail need to update their text to match reality (which is that you can present an electronic version).
Can you link to the bit you quoted from above? It sounds like eurail need to update their text to match reality (which is that you can present an electronic version).
Some of the reservations booked via Eurail are actually sourced from Belgian railways (NMBS/SNCB) and this sounds like one of the conditions they mention on it. Although the current Dutch version just says it should be printed clearly and legibly on plain white A4 paper without any alterations. I had a look at my ticket archive and I had to go back to 2018(!) to see the Dutch version that still specifies the type of printer to use, so I fear they haven't been updated for quite some time.
They have over-engineered or over-specified the requirement . . . “a laserjet or inkjet printer on a white A4 sheet of paper” basically just means printed on normal paper. A4 happens to be the standard here, but rest assured that the inspector is *not* going to be getting out his measuring tape to check the paper. Now, if you printed it on the back of a postage stamp that would be a different story.
ÖBB also have such strict requirements on tickets/reservations bought through them, but every time, train staff was happy by just showing the PDF on my mobile.
Can you link to the bit you quoted from above? It sounds like eurail need to update their text to match reality (which is that you can present an electronic version).
Every other reservation I’ve gotten (Trenitalia, TGV Lyria and Eurostar) I’ve been able to add (or has been auto added in the Eurostar’s case) to that respective company’s app and thus my apple wallet, but it doesn’t work for this one.
Another thing that is incorrect in the English version is the aftersales phone number. That is not the mentioned number that costs €0.30/minute but rather a normal landline (+32 2 607 30 07) with normal, much lower costs, that they also mention on their web page and in their confirmation mails if you book through them directly. I'm not even sure they're legally allowed to mention the much more expensive booking phone number instead.
+3- Eurail Moderator
Hello!
Thank you for tagging us. I will check this internally and let you know.
+3- Eurail Moderator
- Answer
UPDATE
Hi everyone,
We checked this internally.
We’re aware that, in practice, many travellers use the PDF on their phone without issues and that this is often accepted during ticket checks. However, we still advise travellers to follow the Conditions of Use printed on the ticket, as we cannot guarantee there won’t be issues if the ticket is not printed.
We’ve also shared this feedback with the carriers to see whether the wording and setup can be improved in the future.
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