Another Interrail related thread as I conclude my trip across Europe as I was seriously caught out this morning.
I boarded the 8:54 Blankenberge to Genk train at its terminus. First train of the day and I'd just been staying at the Mercure over the road so I wasnt quite awake yet. Sat down, wrote in the journey and that was that.
Then I realised my physical ticket didn't have the date on yet so I started writing that in as the conductor come down. He saw me doing this, stopped me, and snatched the ticket out of my hands.
He clearly thought he was onto something as I was subjected to a load of patronising nonsense about how I was trying to get away with not writing in a day (how I was going to achieve that, considering the hawk-like nature of SNCB/NMBS staff, I do not know), and then stung me for €11 for a journey to Brugge.
I suppose this is rather similar to the Carnet situation in the UK where the slightest thing being amiss leads to RPIs getting rather penalty fare happy.
No amount of offering him my Eurostar ticket to prove that I wasn't trying to diddle him and was genuinely just not fully awake yet and had been attempting to rectify my omission would work and he started to become rather threatening so for fear of him trying to cancel the day on the ticket altogether, I paid up and was given a "regularisation" electronic card. I believe I was charged the full fare then a surcharge?
I know this was technically the "correct" application of the rules in the most draconian sense, but not how I wanted to start my day considering that the ticket had cost €505 in the first place.
Also rather annoying as I've been religiously completing the travel diary that's now on its sixth page!
Has anyone else been charged for this kind of thing before?
I boarded the 8:54 Blankenberge to Genk train at its terminus. First train of the day and I'd just been staying at the Mercure over the road so I wasnt quite awake yet. Sat down, wrote in the journey and that was that.
Then I realised my physical ticket didn't have the date on yet so I started writing that in as the conductor come down. He saw me doing this, stopped me, and snatched the ticket out of my hands.
He clearly thought he was onto something as I was subjected to a load of patronising nonsense about how I was trying to get away with not writing in a day (how I was going to achieve that, considering the hawk-like nature of SNCB/NMBS staff, I do not know), and then stung me for €11 for a journey to Brugge.
I suppose this is rather similar to the Carnet situation in the UK where the slightest thing being amiss leads to RPIs getting rather penalty fare happy.
No amount of offering him my Eurostar ticket to prove that I wasn't trying to diddle him and was genuinely just not fully awake yet and had been attempting to rectify my omission would work and he started to become rather threatening so for fear of him trying to cancel the day on the ticket altogether, I paid up and was given a "regularisation" electronic card. I believe I was charged the full fare then a surcharge?
I know this was technically the "correct" application of the rules in the most draconian sense, but not how I wanted to start my day considering that the ticket had cost €505 in the first place.
Also rather annoying as I've been religiously completing the travel diary that's now on its sixth page!
Has anyone else been charged for this kind of thing before?