Interrail Passes

[Paul AC]

I am happy to report that I have very successfully used about 10 mobile InterRail passes with no 'mobile' issues whatsoever (any issues would also have occurred with a paper pass). I always ensure that I have mobile phone roaming in the relevant countries (either by my phone contract, or by use of e-SIMs). Anyway widespread mobile data availability is absolutely essential for me for journey planning, checking on connection times and train delays etc. On one occasion I bought and used a mobile pass at very short notice - something not possible with paper pass.


Many years ago a friend managed to lose his main interrail pass mid-trip, but travelled around for a week just showing the journey record.....

 

[Tester]

Many years ago a friend managed to lose his main interrail pass mid-trip, but travelled around for a week just showing the journey record.....

I bet he kept well clear of Switzerland

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Dec 2025 ==

On a sample of one I can highly recommend Allaboard's customer service.

A friend from Macau is interested in buying a Eurail pass in the current sale, but Macau was not listed in the Country of Residence drop down.

An email to support@allaboard.eu produced a swift response saying that it has now been added (and indeed it has!).

 

[mtmikethom]

As I believe was expected National Rail (myinterrail) are to stop selling interrail passes from February which is a shame if you like saving money as they are frequently cheaper

 

[LittleRedTrain]

As I believe was expected National Rail (myinterrail) are to stop selling interrail passes from February which is a shame if you like saving money as they are frequently cheaper

Does this affect the ability to get a free Companion Pass for Disabled Railcard holders?
Do the other Interrail retailers accept it as adequate proof of disability. Only the National Rail site seems to memtion it explicitly.

 

[MrJeeves]

Does this affect the ability to get a free Companion Pass for Disabled Railcard holders?
Do the other Interrail retailers accept it as adequate proof of disability. Only the National Rail site seems to memtion it explicitly.

Maybe it would be worth contacting them to ask.

 

[rvdborgt]

Does this affect the ability to get a free Companion Pass for Disabled Railcard holders?
Do the other Interrail retailers accept it as adequate proof of disability. Only the National Rail site seems to memtion it explicitly.

Interrail themselves say they need "a copy of your disability card (or equivalent)", so a Disabled Railcard should do it.

 

[tgsh2011]

Does this affect the ability to get a free Companion Pass for Disabled Railcard holders?
Do the other Interrail retailers accept it as adequate proof of disability. Only the National Rail site seems to memtion it explicitly.

Interrail.eu accept the Disabled Railcard.

 

[mad_rich]

Does this affect the ability to get a free Companion Pass for Disabled Railcard holders?
Do the other Interrail retailers accept it as adequate proof of disability. Only the National Rail site seems to memtion it explicitly.

Interrail themselves don't seem to publish the exact criteria for who qualifies for a free Cargiver's Pass - but they say that it is 'if you need to be accompanied'.

Myinterrail, on the other hand, seem(ed) to offer one to anyone holding a Disabled Person's Railcard (which could include people who don't need to be accompanied, whilst possibly excluding some people who do).

In practice, I think Interrail will probably give one to anyone presenting a DPR.

 

[notverydeep]

A tip possibly useful for others gained from a recent trip (to and from Romania) using an Interrail Global. There was no Eurostar Interrail reservation allocation available from Brussels back to St. Pancras for my desired return time (train 9148 from Brussels at 14:51). This is a train from Amsterdam, so I checked whether Interrail reservation was available from Rotterdam and it was - at the same Interrail price as Brussels (€35 per person). I travelled on Sunday 4th January but had booked in early December. I booked this and it was accepted by the ticket gates and staff at Brussels without comment when I checked in, enabling my first choice of return time. The Eurostar terminal was very quite for this train, which was almost full from Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 

[rvdborgt]

That's interesting. I wouldn't expect the Brussels gates to accept reservations from other stations.

 

[kaspertron]

That's interesting. I wouldn't expect the Brussels gates to accept reservations from other stations.

Yes, makes you wonder if a reservation from Paris would have worked just as well....

 

[A S Leib]

Yes, makes you wonder if a reservation from Paris would have worked just as well....

Or one from Lille, although I don't know if they'd ever be available if Brussels reservations are sold out?

 

[canary fan]

Or one from Lille, although I don't know if they'd ever be available if Brussels reservations are sold out?

Doubtful as these stations are later in the journey , in the case of Lille, or on a different route entirely.
I have, however, successfully used a Brussels ticket to board at Lille when going to London.

 

[Angmering1974]

Just in case people didn't see my thread on the topic: do not purchase from MyInterrail.co.uk

There is basically no customer support (they took 4 working days to reply to an email, they just mentioned generic "IT issues" and an aim to action my request "as soon as possible". My comment that I was hoping to travel soon was ignored. Phone lines turned off, can't get through to anyone at all)

I appreciate they probably have a Christmas backlog, plus the extra work of shutting down operations etc - but I'm just offering pragmatic advice.

 

[NCT]

Is there any advantage of using Myinterrail.co.uk over Interrail.eu?

 

[Peterthegreat]

Is there any advantage of using Myinterrail.co.uk over Interrail.eu?

Myinterrail charged only in GBP.
Sometimes this was cheaper than on interrail.eu.

 

[Watershed]

Is there any advantage of using Myinterrail.co.uk over Interrail.eu?

The cost in GBP was often more favourable than what Interrail.eu charged, and you could get cashback and latterly Avios.

Still, Allaboard.eu is a reasonable alternative since the GBP exchange rates are similarly generous and they offer 100% fee-free refunds.

 

[Angmering1974]

Is there any advantage of using Myinterrail.co.uk over Interrail.eu?

As we were hoping to depart soon, I thought they would be able to issue the carer's pass more easily (eg just snowing a disabled Railcard). And yeh a few quid cheaper

edit: Finally got it sorted today... 2 were issued in fact ! More IT issues LOL

 

[185143]

Suspect the answer to this is "no".

But I've got a 4 day within a month Benelux Interrail for this month. One of the days was heavily disrupted by the poor weather and an IT outage so trains didn't start until around 11:00, and I never managed to travel to where I originally intended.

The following day, the day I was coming home, no trains were running at all in Rotterdam barring a couple of local sprinters. So I decided to head to Hook of Holland and jump on a ferry rather than risking train disruption and getting stranded, without using a travel day at all. NS were advising to avoid travel for at least those two days if not more. Have I any case for trying to claim a refund of the unused 4th day?

 

[signed]

Deleted

 

[mad_rich]

It wouldn’t hurt to contact customer services. Anecdotally, they tend to be more helpful than you might expect.

Frame it as ‘my holiday was over, and I didn’t get to use all my travel days because of disruption’ and they might offer to extend the validity or something. I don’t they’d offer a partial refund though.

 

[rvdborgt]

Frame it as ‘my holiday was over, and I didn’t get to use all my travel days because of disruption’ and they might offer to extend the validity or something. I don’t they’d offer a partial refund though.

They do (and have to) offer a partial refund if you can show that disruption prevented you from using the pass and you had to give up on your plans. In fact, expecting a delay of at least 1 hour at your destination is enough. This is a requirement following EU Regulation 2021/782, article 18(1) option (a).

 

[Usual-Commuter]

It wouldn’t hurt to contact customer services. Anecdotally, they tend to be more helpful than you might expect.

Frame it as ‘my holiday was over, and I didn’t get to use all my travel days because of disruption’ and they might offer to extend the validity or something. I don’t they’d offer a partial refund though.

Probably doesn’t help in the example above but I’ve been able to have additional travel days added to my pass in the app during disruption.

Both times I’ve tried to get Night Trains these have been cancelled (maybe 3rd time lucky this year!). I’ve found the Interrail support relatively helpful and added an extra travel day into the app for me. Been useful when I’d have run out to days to make it back.

 

[Capybara]

I have a query that isn't purely an Interrail one but it relates to a possible Interrail journey I might make so here is as good a place to put it as any.

I'm an experienced Interrail traveller but one country I've hardly touched, mainly because of the reservation issue, is France. However, there's a possibility I might want to use a couple of days of an upcoming Interrail ticket to travel in France. I've looked at using trains that don't require reservations. It's difficult, generally, but practically impossible on the journeys I want to make, though I would use trains that don't need reservations as much as possible. So, the question is, what happens if I have a reservation for a TGV (say) and I miss it because of a delay to an earlier train? And, would it be any different if I was travelling on a standard SNCF ticket?

 

[Flying Snail]

I have a query that isn't purely an Interrail one but it relates to a possible Interrail journey I might make so here is as good a place to put it as any.

I'm an experienced Interrail traveller but one country I've hardly touched, mainly because of the reservation issue, is France. However, there's a possibility I might want to use a couple of days of an upcoming Interrail ticket to travel in France. I've looked at using trains that don't require reservations. It's difficult, generally, but practically impossible on the journeys I want to make, though I would use trains that don't need reservations as much as possible. So, the question is, what happens if I have a reservation for a TGV (say) and I miss it because of a delay to an earlier train? And, would it be any different if I was travelling on a standard SNCF ticket?

You have a few options:

You can try and get transferred to a later TGV in person with SNCF staff at a station.

TGV passholder reservations are fully flexible, refundable/exchangable up to 30 mns after departure. Easier to do this yourself than dealing with staff, as long as there is availability and the price for the next train is the same.

You can alter reservations (and change your allocated seat if in 1st class) by entering your booking reference on the TGV Inoui app.

Book seats on www.raileurope.com not from Interrail.

 

[rvdborgt]

You can try and get transferred to a later TGV in person with SNCF staff at a station.

This should normally work if there's enough time and there are seats available. I noticed SNCF usually have a few spare seats that can be booked by the staff for such purposes, also when you can't book a seat anymore via the normal channels.
What often also works is speaking with the staff of the train you'd like to take instead. Of course, you must then first get onto the platform, which is made increasingly difficult. The staff at the gates isn't so easy to deal with. If your reservation barcode doesn't do "beep", then they normally just refuse access.

 

[signed]

In that case, if the previous train is also a TGV, the easiest is just speak with the staff in the delayed train, they are very likely to be able to call ahead or arrange something as they are usually very helpful. Especially in case you need to invoke HOTNAT for Eurostar as they are the only ones that who will be able to stamp your ticket for that purpose.

TMs have their space in car 3/13 upper level but may roam the train, if you can't find them, ask at the cafe for the chef de train and they'll get them for you.

You'll also find station staff on arrival on the platform around cars 3/13 (as this is where they meet with the TM) and/or in the middle of the consist if doubles.

 

[Capybara]

You have a few options:

You can try and get transferred to a later TGV in person with SNCF staff at a station.

TGV passholder reservations are fully flexible, refundable/exchangable up to 30 mns after departure. Easier to do this yourself than dealing with staff, as long as there is availability and the price for the next train is the same.

You can alter reservations (and change your allocated seat if in 1st class) by entering your booking reference on the TGV Inoui app.

Book seats on www.raileurope.com not from Interrail.

So, I can change my reservation after the train I should have been on has left? Is that right?

This should normally work if there's enough time and there are seats available. I noticed SNCF usually have a few spare seats that can be booked by the staff for such purposes, also when you can't book a seat anymore via the normal channels.
What often also works is speaking with the staff of the train you'd like to take instead. Of course, you must then first get onto the platform, which is made increasingly difficult. The staff at the gates isn't so easy to deal with. If your reservation barcode doesn't do "beep", then they normally just refuse access.

If I'd arrived on a late-running earlier train then I'd already be on the station, no? The only large French station I have any experience of is Strasbourg and I don't think there are gates there. Are most large stations gated?

In that case, if the previous train is also a TGV, the easiest is just speak with the staff in the delayed train, they are very likely to be able to call ahead or arrange something as they are usually very helpful. Especially in case you need to invoke HOTNAT for Eurostar as they are the only ones that who will be able to stamp your ticket for that purpose.

TMs have their space in car 3/13 upper level but may roam the train, if you can't find them, ask at the cafe for the chef de train and they'll get them for you.

You'll also find station staff on arrival on the platform around cars 3/13 (as this is where they meet with the TM) and/or in the middle of the consist if doubles.

The previous train would likely be a TER. I'd only be using TGV where absolutely necessary.

Anyway, thanks for the assistance. Two other questions. Firstly, why use Rail Europe for reservations. Secondly, any ideas on general reliability of TER trains (and French trains generally).

 

[rvdborgt]

So, I can change my reservation after the train I should have been on has left? Is that right?

You can do that until 30 minutes after departure time. If the new reservation is more expensive (domestic seat reservations have 2 fare levels: €10 (limited) and €20), then it's better to have it rebooked free of charge by the staff.

If I'd arrived on a late-running earlier train then I'd already be on the station, no? The only large French station I have any experience of is Strasbourg and I don't think there are gates there. Are most large stations gated?

Most TGV departure platforms are now gated, including in Strasbourg.

Two other questions. Firstly, why use Rail Europe for reservations.

It's the only website where you can book SNCF pass reservations without any extra booking and payment fees, provided you pay in euro. Other currencies have a mark-up of about 5%. You can also book by phone or at an SNCF ticket office. Not anymore at the SNCF ticket machines. Rail Europe reservations also come straight out of the SNCF system and can be changed by SNCF. I once did that on a ticket machine, although I'm not sure changing is still possible on a ticket machine. Cancellation needs to be done via Rail Europe; that works well in their app and website.

Secondly, any ideas on general reliability of TER trains (and French trains generally).

There's no general answer. It depends a lot on the region and the specific line.

 

[185143]

You have a few options:

You can try and get transferred to a later TGV in person with SNCF staff at a station.

TGV passholder reservations are fully flexible, refundable/exchangable up to 30 mns after departure. Easier to do this yourself than dealing with staff, as long as there is availability and the price for the next train is the same.

You can alter reservations (and change your allocated seat if in 1st class) by entering your booking reference on the TGV Inoui app.

Book seats on www.raileurope.com not from Interrail.

This can be overriden by staff, FWIW.

Had a shambles on Eurostar in the summer, long missed my connection to Bordeaux. Tried to change the reservation myself by Rail Europe wanted me to pay the difference in fees which I was certainly not willing to do.

Got a HOTNAT from the Eurostar TM and went to the ticket office at Paris Montparnasse with it, about 2 hours after departure. They took my original reservation details and the HOTNAT, gave me a new one no problem.