Booking Interrail seat reservations on Eurostar

[Ian99]

I checked the cost of the reservation on the Interrail site before I bought the pass but now I've paid for the pass, I find that the Eurostar train I wanted to take - Monday 18 April 1622hrs London to Paris is now showing as unbookable.

How can this happen?

I've also rechecked the website and - without me logging in to my account - still shows that 1622hrs trip as available..

 

[Bletchleyite]

Only a tiny quota is offered for passholders. Borderline fraudulent in my view, but it's normal SNCF practice.

I remain of the view that SNCF (including E*) should "put up or shut up" and either do Interrail properly or withdraw completely.

Meanwhile my recommendation would be easyJet.

 

[matt]

This is not bookable through the Belgian railways website either but others are. This suggests the interrail allocation has sold out.

 

[dutchflyer]

As above-these quote apply to ANY INTernational TGV/hispeed train to/fro FRance, also for inland TGV, but then you get lower surcharges of 10/20€ for IN/beyond quota.
You are most likely aware this is 2nd Easter day, last day of for many a long 4-day weekend off and hence a major busy travelday, so I do not give you much chance on earlier/later trains too.
In general it simply is a pain to use those hi-speed trains with a pass, even more so in ESpana then FRance/TGV-the pass should be used for slow regional travel to enjoy the sights, experience a lot of local/regional trains and local sights/cuisine etc. Not really for just skipping off a few major cities on anybodies 1st time todo list!
ALT should be obvious: flexible, or use plane or bus-a normal busticket (today its mostly flix or blabla) is often cheaper as the surcharge for €* itself. (30€ usually). If really lucky the bus (coach for british) might even go by train across the tunnel! The ALT of the pedestrian ferry via the classic Dover-Calais route is however fraught with difficulties. See seat61.com for finer detials. If this ALT is no option for you-as it seems to apply for many here- then others will know possible ways around.
Note that if you decide to fly then-the pass is also valid for trip OUT of UK valid to any airport and on same day also for further travel from destination-if there are trains there.

 

[Ian99]

Does anyone know if the seat reservation fees are refundable? I'm trying to work out another way to get to Portugal (not flying) but thinking it might be a good idea to reserve a Eurostar train sooner rather than later....

 

[rvdborgt]

Does anyone know if the seat reservation fees are refundable? I'm trying to work out another way to get to Portugal (not flying) but thinking it might be a good idea to reserve a Eurostar train sooner rather than later....

It seems they're not refundable and can be changed once before departure for a fee of 15 or 20 €. That is, according NMBS/SNCB's t&c (Dutch, French), but I suspect this will be very similar wherever you book.

 

[30907]

Only a tiny quota is offered for passholders. Borderline fraudulent in my view, but it's normal SNCF practice.

It is not generally a tiny quota, but on Easter Monday afternoon it is not entirely surprising that it has sold out a month in advance.

Ian99, IIRC your cunning plan gives you till Friday to reach Pinhal Nova so it is not a crisis. Easter Tuesday might work, or a re-jig.
Are you able to make the 1500-ish to Lille (assuming it is bookable)?
Before you go too far, are you able to get a reservation on the overnight from Paris, because that could be full too (for all-comers).

 

[Grumpy Git]

Only a tiny quota is offered for passholders. Borderline fraudulent in my view, but it's normal SNCF practice.

I remain of the view that SNCF (including E*) should "put up or shut up" and either do Interrail properly or withdraw completely.

Meanwhile my recommendation would be easyJet.

If the E* website has not changed, its also not immediately clear how you make an Interail reservation. Its almost like they use the same methods as Ryanair!

 

[30907]

If the E* website has not changed, its also not immediately clear how you make an Interail reservation.

I assume Ian99 has found out that you have to go via the Interrail site.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I assume Ian99 has found out that you have to go via the Interrail site.

It's probably sensible for it to be a bit hidden otherwise people would try it on and no doubt abuse or even assault staff when they turned up without an InterRail and were refused. Presumably it's made clear to InterRail holders how to find it?

 

[Ian99]

Nope, not a crisis, 30907, but just annoying when one finally makes a decision and commits.... only to be rejected.

 

[rvdborgt]

If the E* website has not changed, its also not immediately clear how you make an Interail reservation. Its almost like they use the same methods as Ryanair!

Eurostar removed the possibility to make Interrail reservations from their website.
I had saved the direct URL but when I use it, it first gives the correct pass fare and then later in the ordering process, the fare changes to a normal fare

 

[37201xoIM]

Credit where it's due: Seat 61 is helpful on this...

How to use an InterRail or Eurail pass on Eurostar

How to make an InterRail or Eurail passholder reservation on Eurostar. Eurostar passholder fares for InterRail & Eurail users explained. How does availability work for InterRail/Eurail passholder places on Eurostar?

www.seat61.com

 

[Ian99]

Well, I took the plunge and bought a Eurostar reservation so I'll be in Paris at 1400hrs. There's a train to Montpelier that I'd like to take but the interrail site says, "Prices temporarily unavailable. There is no result from the bookingsystem. Check back in a few hours to see prices and book this seat reservation."

I can book it at www.travel.b-europe.com but then it won't accept my pass cover number.

Things aren't going as well as I'd hoped...

 

[rvdborgt]

Well, I took the plunge and bought a Eurostar reservation so I'll be in Paris at 1400hrs. There's a train to Montpelier that I'd like to take but the interrail site says, "Prices temporarily unavailable. There is no result from the bookingsystem. Check back in a few hours to see prices and book this seat reservation."

I can book it at www.travel.b-europe.com but then it won't accept my pass cover number.

I11111111 wil also work... it is not printed on the reservation.

 

[37201xoIM]

I11111111 wil also work... it is not printed on the reservation.

Ooh, good tip - I wanted to 'synthesise' a number when I didn't have my pass to hand, but got the format wrong. Thanks!

 

[Ian99]

I tried that tip, rvdborgt, and it worked fine thank you - it doesn't seem to appear on any of the subsequent paperwork.

I also notice that - aside from the 4 Euro booking fee - the reservation is, "100% refundable before departure".

 

[rvdborgt]

I also notice that - aside from the 4 Euro booking fee - the reservation is, "100% refundable before departure".

Thanks, interesting. I must say I'm not surprised NMBS/SNCB's pages are not up to date. It's not the first (or second) time I've noticed that.

 

[Ian99]

Is there an equivalent site but to buy an interrail Montpelier to Madrid reservation? I can't find, "Madrid" on https://travel.b-europe.com. I can find the journey on the interrail site but in addition to the 2 Euro booking fee, it wants 9 Euros to deliver a paper ticket....

 

[Peterthegreat]

Is there an equivalent site but to buy an interrail Montpelier to Madrid reservation? I can't find, "Madrid" on https://travel.b-europe.com. I can find the journey on the interrail site but in addition to the 2 Euro booking fee, it wants 9 Euros to deliver a paper ticket....

I don't think it is possible to buy interrail reservations on line for journeys between France and Spain.

 

[Ian99]

I can buy it at https://www.interrail.eu/en/book-reservations/book-your-reservations-online but they want to charge an extra 9 Euros to post it to me.

 

[rvdborgt]

Is there an equivalent site but to buy an interrail Montpelier to Madrid reservation? I can't find, "Madrid" on https://travel.b-europe.com. I can find the journey on the interrail site but in addition to the 2 Euro booking fee, it wants 9 Euros to deliver a paper ticket....

The only way to buy reservations France - Spain online is via the Interrail website. Deutsche Bahn also sell it but only via their ticket offices, ticket agents and via phone (+49 30 2970). It's only available on paper, so you'll have to pick it up from a DB ticket machine ("Bahn-Tix") or have it sent via the post (for € 5.90 - still less than € 2+9). DB also sell domestic reservations in Spain, so if you need some of those too, you could order them in one go.
You sometimes need to insist a bit though, because RENFE and DB don't make it easy. DB staff need to go via direct reservation (Direktreservierung / manuelle Eingabe), enter the train number, tariff code 44 (TC44) and the class as T, C or P (not as 1 or 2). T is equivalent to 2nd class. For domestic reservations in Spain, get the train number from the RENFE website because RENFE only send very little timetable information to MERITS and anyone else's timetable (including DB's) is therefore very incomplete for Spain.

 

[Ian99]

Thanks for that input, rvdborgt.

So far I've not been that impressed with interrail - they seem to say one thing and then when one gets into the process, they add something or make something unavailable.

As I mention above, there's a €9 charge to get a paper ticket and there is no other option apart from a paper ticket. But when you go through the process it says something like, "book this train from €30". €30 is €28 + €2 booking charge which is fair enough. BUT when you try to buy it, it's only then that it's revealed that the only option to get the ticket is by paying €9 for them to post it.

I'm trying to get a feel for if I've been unlucky or if it's always like this.

 

[Watershed]

Thanks for that input, rvdborgt.

So far I've not been that impressed with interrail - they seem to say one thing and then when one gets into the process, they add something or make something unavailable.

As I mention above, there's a €9 charge to get a paper ticket and there is no other option apart from a paper ticket. But when you go through the process it says something like, "book this train from €30". €30 is €28 + €2 booking charge which is fair enough. BUT when you try to buy it, it's only then that it's revealed that the only option to get the ticket is by paying €9 for them to post it.

I'm trying to get a feel for if I've been unlucky or if it's always like this.

No, Interrail do have a habit of nickle and diming. With a pass as flexible and good value as Interrail, I guess you can't complain. But it's still frustrating that they can't just be upfront about costs and illustrate that the very least you'll be spending is the cost of your ticket plus postage.

Oh and then there's the travel diary, which I've never got my head around. Why on earth do they force you to complete it given there's no way to compel you to send it in? Absolutely bizarre and even more frustrating that they've kept it for the mobile tickets.

 

[rvdborgt]

So far I've not been that impressed with interrail - they seem to say one thing and then when one gets into the process, they add something or make something unavailable.

As I mention above, there's a €9 charge to get a paper ticket and there is no other option apart from a paper ticket. But when you go through the process it says something like, "book this train from €30". €30 is €28 + €2 booking charge which is fair enough. BUT when you try to buy it, it's only then that it's revealed that the only option to get the ticket is by paying €9 for them to post it.

Agreed they should make it clearer up front that there will be a 9€ extra charge for paper tickets (AFAIK that's per order, not per seat). The root cause though that reservations France-Spain are only on paper are the very customer-friendly <cough> RENFE and SNCF.

Oh and then there's the travel diary, which I've never got my head around. Why on earth do they force you to complete it given there's no way to compel you to send it in? Absolutely bizarre and even more frustrating that they've kept it for the mobile tickets.

I suspect they now use the mobile travel diary (i.e. the trains that people have added to My Pass; anonymised I should think) to attribute the money to the participating operators. That's quite essential to keep Interrail/Eurail alive and to integrate also smaller operators.

 

[morrisobrien]

Oh and then there's the travel diary, which I've never got my head around. Why on earth do they force you to complete it given there's no way to compel you to send it in? Absolutely bizarre and even more frustrating that they've kept it for the mobile tickets.

Are you suggesting just to fill in the main body of the Pass ie.the date of travel only?
I have never done this however, as I thought the travel diary was to help the conductor
to know where you have travelled from and going to.
Surely sending it to HQ is merely secondary.

 

[rvdborgt]

Are you suggesting just to fill in the main body of the Pass ie.the date of travel only?

Some conductors still look at it. If you haven't filled it in, most of them will then ask you to do it. But I've also read stories of people being fined for not having filled in the travel diary, although I'm sure that's an exception.

 

[CyrusWuff]

As an aside, Knowledgebase says the following re: the travel diary:

If the customer has not filled in the journey details before starting the journey, ask them to do so and help them if necessary. Not filling in the journey details is not an irregularity. Sample tickets are used by the UIC for marketing and revenue allocation purposes.

 

[rg177]

Some conductors still look at it. If you haven't filled it in, most of them will then ask you to do it. But I've also read stories of people being fined for not having filled in the travel diary, although I'm sure that's an exception.

Yes, I've been penalty fared in Belgium for being "too slow" to do so.

By that I mean I was part way through filling it in when the conductor came storming in, snatched it off me and having ignored the six pages of journeys I'd religiously filled in (this was the final day of a fortnight's pass) started demanding money.

SNCB/NMBS customer service agreed with me that while I'd technically fallen foul of 'the rules' it was incredibly poor customer service to behave like he had.

Thankfully said penalty fare was about €15 and was more like an on board fare with a supplement than an actual penalty. Still, I was not amused.

 

[Ian99]

Am I correct in saying that this travel diary question is not relevant as I will be using the online interrail app that will go on my phone?