Are Eurail and Interrail Confusing?

I think the fact that Eurail is the name of the company, but also the name of one of its products, sometimes confuses people.

Also, with so many ‘Eur’ brands out there (Rail Europe, Eurostar, Eurocity, even 'Eurorail’ which was previously a Eurail brand I think?) people don't always pick the right brand.

Some questions:

Why are Eurail and Interrail separate brands? Why not a single product, which could still have County of Residence restrictions?

Why is the Global Pass called that, and not the Europe Pass?

There's also some confusion about the exact residency & citizenship rules for deciding between Eurail and Interrail. It's not always clear (to me, at least!).

Oh, and one more.

A surprising number of people think that Europe = EU, and/ or that the pass is only valid in the EU.

Some people in the UK think that they need to buy Eurail since Brexit(and also don't realise it's valid at home).

And of course many people think there are special Eurail trains!

In my opinion the name “Europe-Interrail” would be better, with a reference to the whole continent and not only EU. I think that Interrail is a well-known brand and should be kept.

Interrail is indeed well established, most people have ever heard of it.

If I talk to some colleagues or other random people about it, most people know it. (Although a lot still seem to think that you can only use it in your youth, but that was a thing in the early years only if I’m not mistaken).

When talking, chatting, replying on the community about the passes, I always resort to my standard “Interrail”, even to non-Europeans. Guess I’m a source of confusion myself? 😅 I notice a lot of (non European) people write it as EU-rail too, assuming there’s one railway company all over Europe/the EU.

Currently I think it’s the most confusing for Brits and other non-EU citizens. That there’s a distinction between Eurail for non-Europeans and interrail for Europeans is quite logical for me and that should reflect in the name of the product as well. Maybe an extra r solves this? Eurrail. Or Interrail, Outerrail? Or just add an obvious extra disclaimer page on the website for Brits and other European-NON EU citizens who get confused.

Eurail was much lesser known, even to me it felt a bit “off”, the weird one out. I got to know it via the product interrail, not the other way around.

Lot’s of other EU, -eur, -euro-brands exist indeed, like ​@ralderton said. But after the years, I got used to it. Guess habit will grow? I’m usually not pro changing names, just let it get to sink in, and get a bit more patina.Changing names confuses people a lot more.

(Like Thalys changing to Eurostar, it’s really unforgivable. It should have been the other way around. A nice elegant smooth name, referring for to a sea goddess (Thalys, thalassa), ideal for a undersea train, exchanged for the rather cheap sounding “Eurostar” because it’s more recognisable for non-European tourists, dreadful).

Nice insights! and you’re totally right, the Eurail/Interrail distinction can be a bit confusing, especially for first-timers

It’s surely a common mix-up, and we’re hoping to make that more obvious for everyone!

Nice thought! A name that covers all of Europe could totally work. Naming’s a bit tricky, but we really appreciate your input

We also hear you on the naming debate. Changing names can definitely cause more confusion, so it’s a tricky balance. Sometimes habits just need time to grow on people, like you said

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 😊

I actually quite like the usage of both brands as it appears on the logo on interrail.eu. I however think it is confusing to keep operating two separate products, especially since they're now nearly the same (only difference I know is the later activation of paper passes). Removing the distinction where non-European customers have to go to also clears it up for passholders from the UK, Turkey and even Morocco if they ever rejoin the pass, and avoids for instance in this community having to post separate links to the eurail and interrail reservations portal.

I think if you'd use two different names but offer the same product, the confusion would be a lot less. Just as Unilever's Ola ice cream has 40 different names but the same logo across the world.

However, considering the 50-year history and the many nostalgic memories many people have about the Interrail pass, please don't drop the Interrail name :)

It was around 1970, I was About 14 years old, when I heard the first time about Eurail. An adult told jealously that his brother, who lived in Canada could travel one month through Europe by train using an Eurail pass. As far as I know his brother never travelled Europe by train, but I know since that Eurail is only available for non-European residents.  In 1972 Interrail was introduced for European residents, originally only for young people under 21. Since then it was clear to me that Interrail is for European and Eurail for non-European residents. When I started interrailing myself together with some friends in 1977 (the age limit in the meantime was changed to under 23, later to under 26). During that trip everyone was clear that European backpackers we met on trains or in hostels were Interrailers and the American and the Canadian girl we met in Finland were traveling with an Eurail pass. I think for my generation of now Interrail senior pass users there was never any confusion at all.

I personally don’t have a problem with Eurail/Interrail, but the name “Global Pass” confuses me, because it is most definitely not global.