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Global interrail pass

nicolaboo

nicolaboo

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I've bought a Global pass for a trip in July, and I'm using it to get from Manchester down to London (for free), to catch the Eurostar the following morning.
Am I right to assume that I can travel anywhere in the UK for the day using my pass, rather than buy a 1-6 local rail pass, which I usually do when in the capital.
There won't be some kind of limit to how many trips I make on this single day, that'll somehow total up and then refuse to allow travel, is there?
 
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RailUK Forums

AlbertBeale

AlbertBeale

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nicolaboo said:
I've bought a Global pass for a trip in July, and I'm using it to get from Manchester down to London (for free), to catch the Eurostar the following morning.
Am I right to assume that I can travel anywhere in the UK for the day using my pass, rather than buy a 1-6 local rail pass, which I usually do when in the capital.
There won't be some kind of limit to how many trips I make on this single day, that'll somehow total up and then refuse to allow travel, is there?
Click to expand...

I think it has to be (plausibly) en route to where you leave the country. If you zig-zag all over the place there might be questions asked I guess.
 
Flying Snail

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The rules are not explicit beyond the in/out days being provided to allow travel abroad, nowhere is there any written requirement for that to be only a single direct journey.

Assuming it is a mobile pass you are free to add and remove individual journeys as and when you like so you need not display a long list of trains at any one time.

You must always have your current train logged to the pass for it to be valid.

Interrail is not equivalent to a London Zone travelcard as it is not valid on Underground, DLR, Tram or buses, nor is it valid on Heathrow Express. Only National Rail services.
 
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dutchflyer

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Currently myself in the 7th week of a global 2-MO pass, having spent a week in the UK-now in FRance:
yes, as such one has to register all trips via ´MY Trip´ and activate these to get daily ´tickets´ to show via ´MyPass´.
I have never been asked to show (in some other countries conductors even know how check the trip-and do that) the Trip as such in the UK during 5 days of travel in some 7-8 different companies. The major hassle on that island is the need to pass entry/exit gates via staff checks-quite often they will then ask to show ID/Passpt. I linked my pass to ID, as that is enough for us continentals anywhere else and much easier.
So to me it seems like again a difference between the theory as it should be done and the practice as its done. I accept a lot of interested staff working for the trains also follow this forum and will state the official rules.
 
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rvdborgt

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nicolaboo said:
I've bought a Global pass for a trip in July, and I'm using it to get from Manchester down to London (for free), to catch the Eurostar the following morning.
Click to expand...
You can do that but then you can't go back to the UK on your pass, since you will have already used both your in/out days.
 
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peteb

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rvdborgt said:
You can do that but then you can't go back to the UK on your pass, since you will have already used both your in/out days.
Click to expand...
Not sure how the departure from UK next day counts as an "in" day?

But in any case I thought you had to have evidence of a continuing journey on your "out" day? EG ferry, plane or Eurostar ticket? Otherwise people could buy a 4 day global pass, use it as a one day national rover, then have two odd days travel abroad (eg having got there by plane) and then use it as a day rover on another day after they've returned?

As I use a paper ticket all the individual trains are listed so it's obvious I'm on an outward or return journey and there are two additional places you must write the date, first the date of travel, them the out and in dates.

But no-one has ever queried my (sometimes) very circuitous routes out and back home. Mainly because they don't know actually where I'm headed, you just write each train in.

Most staff are busy but if they're not they sometimes comment on where I've been abroad, particularly if they're rail enthusiasts.
 
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DeverseSam

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peteb said:
Not sure how the departure from UK next day counts as an "in" day?
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Effectively two out days, which is accepted without problem on the app.

If the OP wants to go to the mainland on day 2 from London, they should probably should fly/ferry instead
 
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rg177

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Indeed, Eurostar counts as a day of use in your home country so that'll be two days used at once. I've never had staff query things like onward travel same day - just the odd request for ID.

As for travelling on a zig-zag route, staff aren't going to care unless you're blatantly taking the mick.

Obviously, it's extremely unwise to exploit the pass and use it as some cheap All Line Rover for GB when you're not entitled to.
 
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rvdborgt

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peteb said:
But in any case I thought you had to have evidence of a continuing journey on your "out" day? EG ferry, plane or Eurostar ticket?
Click to expand...
The pass conditions don't say you have to have evidence. In practice, nobody ever questions your journey, as long as you have a valid travel day.
peteb said:
But no-one has ever queried my (sometimes) very circuitous routes out and back home. Mainly because they don't know actually where I'm headed, you just write each train in.
Click to expand...
There are no rules that you need to take the shortest or fastest route inbound or outbound. You can travel however you like.
 
30907

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Friends were sold a trip (on a paper pass) with an overnight stay in London, AIUI by a specialist company, and had no trouble on that count - I suspect ES check the Passholder coupon but not the pass itself, but I wouldn't want to rely on it.
(They were using an ordinary day of their pass for onward travel.)
 
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Ian99

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in my experience, sometimes Eurostar check the pass, sometimes they don't...
 
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trei2k

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30907 said:
Friends were sold a trip (on a paper pass) with an overnight stay in London, AIUI by a specialist company, and had no trouble on that count - I suspect ES check the Passholder coupon but not the pass itself, but I wouldn't want to rely on it.
(They were using an ordinary day of their pass for onward travel.)
Click to expand...

They only got away with this as it was a paper pass and is technically against the rules. My understanding is that travel on Eurostar for those in GB needs to be included as part of your UK days.

I wouldn't want to risk it - although saying that I have never had my pass checked on the UK side (departing St Pancras). However, it is always checked when going Paris to London, as the gates reject the pass and someone manually checks it.
 
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scragend

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DeverseSam said:
Once you’ve been accepted into Schengen at St P, it could be argued that you’re no longer travelling in UK anymore?!
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It's an argument that would be easily debunked.

Regardless of the passport controls you've gone through, you are physically in the UK. St. Pancras station isn't French territory, it just has juxtaposed border controls. Eurostar is a journey in the UK for InterRail purposes, whether you argue otherwise or not.
 
Watershed

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If you forget to activate a domestic Interrail when using the Eurostar, the worst that could happen is that you're required to activate it. You won't be denied boarding or otherwise penalised. IMHO it's ridiculous to classify the Eurostar as 'domestic' given the requirement for (expensive) passholder reservations, limited availability and fact that it can only be used to make interntional journeys. The latter point in particular means that you're not circumventing domestic fares by using an Interrail.

The other option here would be to buy a domestic ticket to London International CIV. This can be done online through certain sites or at ticket offices. Originating from Manchester, the key advantage is that the restrictions on the "Euro High Saver" fare are much less onerous than those on an Off-Peak ticket; you can arrive into Euston from 09:40 instead of 11:30. However, for a return journey the fares work out at more than the equivalent Off-Peak Return (there is no Euro High Saver Return unfortunately). I suspect this may be an error dating to when Avanti reduced singles to 70% of the equivalent return.
 
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rvdborgt

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Watershed said:
IMHO it's ridiculous to classify the Eurostar as 'domestic' given the requirement for (expensive) passholder reservations, limited availability and fact that it can only be used to make interntional journeys. The latter point in particular means that you're not circumventing domestic fares by using an Interrail.
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It's not classified as "domestic", it just travels partly through the UK, like you would expect from any international train. It's the same as Eurostar from Amsterdam to Paris: that will also use an in/out day if you live in the Netherlands. What's really missing is a fare for passengers who have a valid pass for only 1 country. Thalys used to have those but did away with them with some excuse.
 
nicolaboo

nicolaboo

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My Eurostar ticket is separate from my Global pass, as the reservation prices practically equalled the ticket price onwards to Cologne.
So it's just a single day outbound (circuitous), and then my return to Manchester on a more direct route, as I'd be later on in the day.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I won't go to St Pancras via Aberdeen, but I'll likely head to the capital and then some long distance services around the south/south east.
 
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yorkie

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Once both days are used, while you can't use the pass to get back to the UK, given Eurostar reservations still have to be paid for, the pass effectively isn't valid by itself to get back to the UK without an additional purchase anyway.

Therefore, I usually go by plane these days, as it is (sadly) the most economical way to do it, in terms of time and money, and I would definitely look into that.

It's also worth bearing in mind the "out"/"rtn" portions do not have to be used in any given order.

Do also heed @Flying Snail 's advice earlier about ensuring the train you are currently on is activated.
 
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