Hi @Jan2024
You don’t need to “book” a train in the Rail Planner app in advance, you can take every train during the day of validity and last minute changes are always possible.
If the pass is not activated, you cannot activate a journey and cannot see the ticket with the QR code. Make it only shortly before your departure.
Thanks, I understand now. That is why seat booking if required should work smoothly in the app. I did not manage during several days (the turning yellow wheel ...) and I had to resort to alternatives.
But I still would like to test whether the app generates the QR code. I could not find a guide which explains this (and mentions the things you should be aware of).
I have an activated pass with validity period 17 April-17 May. I already decided to travel on 17+18 April and have selected the trains I want to take. On 18 April I did not book my seats through the app and I am curious whether this obstructs the making of a QR code.
@Jan2024
You will never see seat reservations in the Rail Planner app, even if you book them on the Eurail/Interrail website. If they are mandatory, you must show them separately to the ticket inspector. Otherwise they are usually not checked in the train.
I don’t think that the QR codes are generated in the app, they are downloaded for all possible days when you activate the pass, probably due to security reasons. But you can show them only if you travel on a specific day.
Clear about the seat tickets. Btw I understood that the seating system of the interrail app assigns a random seat. That is not optimal for bikers, who tend to sit close to their bikes.
Now again the QR codes. So
- for all trips in My trip there are QR codes
Still I think you can (or should be possible) see them before the actual trip, just as a check. I am not so keen on issues during travel days. For example, what happens in Germany/Switzerland when I cannot show a QR code. I think for Italy the info in My trip is sufficient (with the required seat and possible bike ticket).
So what steps should I take (and not screw up my planned trip) to accomplish this?
@Jan2024
I’m not sure if you can see the QR codes before the first day a validity. The reason may be that you can cancel the pass and obtain a refund. After the first day of validity, you can activate journeys in the future and see the QR codes in advance.
I don’t think that QR codes are valid as screenshot, you must have the app to show them. Sometimes the ticket inspectors ask to scroll down and also check that you defined the right journey. It can also happen that they don’t have the software to scan the codes and they check visually the validity of the pass.
It is a problem because you must always be sure that your smartphone is working and not forget to load the battery. Please note that it is not only in Germany/Switzerland, you are not entitle to travel only with a seat reservation, you must always also show the QR code or the ticket in the Rail Planner.
You can see QR codes for future travel days if you want. For a flexipass, however, that would require you to activate your pass and/or travel days in advance, which we strongly advise against.