Interrail Pass: Mobile Version

[Tarquin88]

This Q and A was in The Times yesterday. It’s not relevant to my travel plans but it might be a useful warning to others:

"My teenage son and his cousin bought themselves an Interrail Global Pass for £275 each. They were only a few hours into their first journey, from Paris to Zagreb on September 21, when they were told by inspectors that they couldn’t use them. They had to spend about £530 each to complete the journey. They were confused and anxious that the passes didn’t work.

We have tried emailing Eurail and have had no luck with any explanation or compensation. The passes have been blocked because we are disputing the issue with Paypal, which they used to buy them, so the boys can’t use them even if they wanted to. Can you help?

In September Eurail launched a mobile version of the Interrail pass. However, as your son and his cousin discovered, despite a “full-scale” training programme for ticket inspectors and “extensive software testing” for barcode scanning devices, it hasn’t been glitch-free. Eurail has offered a deep apology and agreed to refund the cost of the train tickets they were forced to buy, as well as the cost of both Interrail passes.

A spokeswoman said: “As additional compensation, we would like to offer the boys a complimentary Interrail pass for one month of continuous travel in 2021 when all kinks will hopefully have been worked out.”"

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six...ing-him-500-to-complete-his-journey-lwfk28jzz (behind paywall but full article quoted).

 

[StephenHunter]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'm planning to convert my unused pass from this year to a mobile one, so will bear this in mind.

 

[radamfi]

Out of interest, have the rail staff on here, both in the UK and abroad, had training on mobile Interrail passes?

 

[Alfonso]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'm planning to convert my unused pass from this year to a mobile one, so will bear this in mind.

I think there are far too many opportunities for the mobile pass to go wrong, I'd stick with a paper one until it's clear the mobile one is reliable enough.

 

[Richard Scott]

I think there are far too many opportunities for the mobile pass to go wrong, I'd stick with a paper one until it's clear the mobile one is reliable enough.

Agree, especially as some trains still lack charging points. Did an overnight from Ljubljana to Belgrade and then onwards to Thessaloniki last year, total time away from charging points of more than 48 hours so phone was essential use only, wouldn't want to rely on that. I know can get portable chargers but that's one more thing to take.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Out of interest, have the rail staff on here, both in the UK and abroad, had training on mobile Interrail passes?

I'm fairly sure ATOC issued a brief when they were first introduced, and it's mentioned on Knowledgebase, but there haven't been any subsequent reminders that I'm aware of.