Interrail one country pass

[oldtrvller]

I purchased today passes for Germany. The cover they have been stapled into included a Travel Report form.
When I used the German pass last year there was no need to fill these in. Have the rules changed and do I now have to fill in each journey?
To me this negates the whole point of using a pass.
Thanks in anticipation of replies

Chris

 

[317666]

The InterRail website still states that it's only the global pass which requires a Travel Report to be filled in - they've probably made a mistake with yours. I did a German one last October and I didn't have to fill one in.

 

[Seaeagle]

This subject has been debated on another forum the last few days, this is the reply from Voyages.sncf

"With regards to your interrail one country pass, all you will be required to fill in will be the dates of travel that you wish to use the pass. For instance if you have a 4 days in 1 month pass, you would need to fill in the four days you would like to use your pass.

You can make as many journeys as you wish within the days of travel that you use"

In other words don't worry about the travel report form.

 

[Capybara]

I hadn't realised that. I came back from using one last week and filled it in. I find it quite useful anyway. I guess they are not interested in seeing your completed report then? I was about to send mine off.

When using the Global Pass I've rarely had it checked.

 

[33056]

Having done a number of global Interrails in the past, the only country I went though whose conductors were dead keen on checking that the travel report has been filled in was Slovenia; in fact we nearly had a problem with one guard who was looking for a travel report on a one country pass that was actually bought in Ljubljana on one occasion!

 

[Jordy]

I suspect it's just a mistake as others have mentioned, I've never needed one for a one country pass before and have used a German one multiple times. Having recently used a global Interrail for the first time I was quite surprised how keen some of the grippers were to make sure the travel report had been filled in - at one point in Austria we were checked before we'd decided what our move was and had to quote a random shack for him to fill in! In other cases they seemed to just want to see where we'd been and had no interest in stamping the report...

 

[317666]

Whilst InterRailing in Belgium last year, I was sharing a coach with some other British people who were on a global pass - the guard seemed very confused as to why my BeNeLux one didn't have a travel report attached, until I explained!

 

[dutchflyer]

Those travel reports on global passes are used to split/estimate the % of the total paid input over the various countries-the system still believes in national state railways. In UK ATOC will get the pot-and they have to decide which TOC gets what. Same-same for Britrail etc.
Tipically most IR are sold in North Europe, whereas the most use is South-Europe (I think Roma-Firenze is the sector most populair, or at least it was some years ago when I last saw the statistics).
THus there is no need to analyse those data for 1 country (that used to be called EuroDomino) as it all lands in 1 receiving pot. As would the portion for DE be for multi-country INTernational tickets.
The seller retains a certain % of the receipts and DB will get the rest. There is currently a promotion where extra days are added to a Deutschlandpass-the equivalent for sale out of Europe.

 

[eastwestdivide]

How would they allocate the income from the "one-country" Benelux pass? Presumably just a set proportion to each country with no data from actual usage?
I've got one on order, so when it arrivevs, I'll let you know if there's a travel report with it.

 

[laird]

Travelling using a Balkan Rail Pass one of my fellow rail passengers had printed their own version of an InterRail Travel Report forms, this home made travel report seemed to make the ticket inspectors far happier than my pass without a travel report.

 

[oldtrvller]

Thank you all for your replies - I will try to avoid having to fill in the planner - I don't always know my final destination!!
With regard to the Benelux Interrail ticket this is just an extension of what used to be called "Benelux Tourrail" which was certainly available in the 1970's.

Chris

 

[eastwestdivide]

Benelux pass just arrived, with a travel report attached as part of the wraparound card cover.

Has anyone sent in the travel report for the gift that they advertise? What sort of gift?

 

[Capybara]

Benelux pass just arrived, with a travel report attached as part of the wraparound card cover.

Has anyone sent in the travel report for the gift that they advertise? What sort of gift?

First time I got a notebook and since then I've had two USB drives. I'm just about ready for another notebook.

 

[33056]

I had a 2015 desk calendar last time; have previously had USB drives and have heard of somebody getting a towel.

 

[eastwestdivide]

A towel! Perfect for the galactic hitchhiker/backpacker.

 

[oldtrvller]

I sent an e-mail to the interrail site this morning asking whether it was necessary to use the Travel Report for single country tickets. They have now replied that as from 1st January it is necessary to use the Travel Report for all tickets.
This annoys me. In my opinion the whole point of a rail pass is to be able to get on and off wherever you want to.
In my case in Germany I enjoy travelling down the Rhine and enjoy visiting the small towns along the river. I am never sure which one I want to visit until arriving there so it is impossible in such a case to fill the TR before travel!
I am seriously now thinking about cancelling!

Chris

 

[Greenback]

Chris, don;t worry too much about it. I had a Swiss Inter-rail pass and used it exactly as you intend to use your pass. I didn't fill in the journey details until I got on the train, and after a day or two I didn't even bother with that, since no one wanted to see it.

Despite what you've been told, I don't think that you'll need to complete the trip report in practice.

 

[NicholasNCE]

I sent an e-mail to the interrail site this morning asking whether it was necessary to use the Travel Report for single country tickets. They have now replied that as from 1st January it is necessary to use the Travel Report for all tickets.
This annoys me. In my opinion the whole point of a rail pass is to be able to get on and off wherever you want to.
In my case in Germany I enjoy travelling down the Rhine and enjoy visiting the small towns along the river. I am never sure which one I want to visit until arriving there so it is impossible in such a case to fill the TR before travel!
I am seriously now thinking about cancelling!

Chris

I don't see what it changes honestly, just write-down end destination of the train you are boarding, you can always jump of early if you wish to.
As long as you stay within the validity of the pass I don't see how you could be bothered by staff.
If your pass is of the flexi-type, just don't forget to write the date on the actual interrail ticket.

 

[Capybara]

What others have said. I think I have only once had the travel report checked and never in Germany. I've only ever three times had a passport check as well which they are supposed to do, once each in France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

 

[Greenback]

Like the Travel Report, I had my passport ready in my hand on my first few journeys with my three day pass. No one wanted to see my passport either, and I soon left it in my pocket. even then no one asked for it.

 

[lemonic]

It appears to vary a lot by country regarding whether they care about the Travel Report or not. For example, I have found that in Slovenia and Poland they are keen on checking the Travel Report. You are very unlikely to be penalised for not filling in the travel report, but you could get a stern telling off from a conductor (as happened to me once!)

 

[pne]

It appears to vary a lot by country regarding whether they care about the Travel Report or not. For example, I have found that in Slovenia and Poland they are keen on checking the Travel Report. You are very unlikely to be penalised for not filling in the travel report, but you could get a stern telling off from a conductor (as happened to me once!)

I remember on a trip from Berlin to the Czech Republic/Slovakia/Hungary there was a family from Central America who got on; when the conductor checked their tickets, he gave them a pen and waited till they had filled in the travel report for that portion.

Not sure whether that was German staff or Czech (probably German still) but he seemed to place some stock on things' being done by the rules.

 

[D6975]

A towel! Perfect for the galactic hitchhiker/backpacker.

Almost as useful as a small leech like fish....

 

[eastwestdivide]

Almost as useful as a small leech like fish....

No need for that, JUST SPEAK ENGLISH LOUDER. Or draw a picture.

On the travel reports, I once had a Swiss inspector actually fill in the train service number for me - I had already filled in the date/time/departure/destination, but hadn't noticed what the train number was, so I'd just put IC. He then added the number. Made the Germans look inefficient.

 

[TCDD]

I've never found the travel report too much of a hassle - although I would usually wait until I was on the train before filling it in, as it is easier to do there than in the middle of a busy railway station. I've often changed my destination after completing the journey details, or even changed my mind and jumped off and got on a completely different train - but I've never had any qualms about amending or crossing out entries - and no one has ever seemed to mind!

 

[oldtrvller]

Decision made - I will continue with the holiday!
Thank you all for your replies.

Chris