Interrail: border stations

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi Danielle,

I'll try to answer your questions:

1) Officially you can only buy the discounted tickets in your country of residence - so you should not be able to get it at a Swiss station. However, I once got a discounted ticket for a short stretch through my home country (St Margrethen - Bregenz - Lindau) at the station in Zürich. But that was back in 2006 so I would not rely on that.

2) I dont think you can book this online - I never saw such an option on [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf[/ux] . If you live far away from a SNCF station I think it would be best to first phone them to check if it is possible to get the ticket via phone or not.

3) In general, you can always make reservations without your IR pass. However, in some countries, eg Spain and Italy I was asked to show my IR pass while purchasing a reservation.
If you use online reservations, you can purchase the reservations anytime you want.


Flo 8)

nltrainer
Traveller
1404 comments

der Flo has already said the basic main things.
1. it is not border stations-but tariff points as such, but in some cases these are also real stations (like Basel/Bale).
2.IF you can get that 50% you must be young=<26 and thus you qualify anyway for -25% for SNCF as tarif jeune-is the difference really that big to make a big problem out of that?-as you say you live close by the border anyway.
The OFFICIAL rule is./was that the discount tickets for your own country must be stocked together with the pass in the cover. But nowadays most people do not use trains in/out, but fly. And the old-style cover has also gone in most countries.
IF you rather live faraway from the border you want to use (say you go Espana) then order online advance SNCF/PREM will be a lot cheaper as paying full fare-25%.
3. now count fingers: If you live more easily to a SBB/CFF gare, then buy pass just there+ start trip also. OR order it from the guys running this site to send home.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

[quote]
The OFFICIAL rule is./was that the discount tickets for your own country must be stocked together with the pass in the cover. But nowadays most people do not use trains in/out, but fly. And the old-style cover has also gone in most countries.
[/quote]

Nah, the discounted ticket does not have to be together with your InterRail pass - would be quite impossible with tickets which you can order online.
And the old-style cover is a must - without it the InterRail pass is not valid!


Flo 8)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure I'm understanding all of this, and I'm not sure why :( I'm going to research more.

If I want to book a night train, for example, I thought it would be better to book in advance. Also, checking websites, I saw that night trains are more expensive than day trains. However, on railcc, it shows prices for some for around 40-50-60EUR. That's a discount because of the Interrail pass or... what? I feel stupid, maybe I'm missing something?? I will be going to France, Italy, and Spain, and I prefer booking all of my long trips and night trains in advance so that I'm more prepared. I'm just like that :os

And buying my pass at a Swiss train station makes no difference...? I am buying in advance an Interrail pass because I am living in France, therefore I'm a resident here. I will buy the pass online, have it mailed to me, and activate it when I leave from Geneva. I understand I can't use my pass in France, because I live here. I can simply get discounted fare. But I can only buy this discounted fare when the pass is valid, therefore I have to wait until July to buy them, meaning the train may be full, and also meaning I probably can't even do it because I will be leaving from Geneva, SWITZERLAND, not in France, meaning I can't buy discounted fare from my own country. Okay... am I complicating it too much?

EDIT:::
But now I read this in the terms of use: Passes cannot be issued to residents of the countries the pass is valid in. Okay, so I can't buy the pass if I'm going to travel in France because I live in France? That sentence makes no sense.

Thanks again for any help 8)

Danielle

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej Danielle,

one cannot generally say night trains are more expensive than day trains. Nowadays, with Global Prices which already include supplements for couchette/sleeper accomodation and cheap tickets that can be bought well in advance night trains are not necessarily more expensive than day trains.
Since railcc is still mainly focused on travellers with rail passes, you will mainly find prices for rail pass holders, for an example have a look here: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/bregenz-vienna-en-247/48[/u]
This are the rates you have to pay for an additional reservation on that night train if you are travelling with InterRail. You can buy these from up to three months in advance until some hours before departure of the train; if space is available you can even get reservations for couchette/sleeper accomodation on board.

So, if you are travelling by InterRail, have a look here where all night trains with reservation costs for InterRailers are listed :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train[/u]

Where you buy an InterRail pass :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-where-to-buy[/u] is irrelevant for the question what your country of residence :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u] is.
You can already buy a ticket with the discounted fare now, however you can only use it on dates on which your InterRail pass is valid.
If you are starting your trip from Geneve, you wont need a discounted fare anyway, since you could use your IR pass straight away.

Where did you find the passes cannot be issued... thing? Link?


Flo 8)

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.

Passes cannot be issued to residents of the countries the pass is valid in. - this is related to an Interrail [b]ONE[/b] Country Passes, not to the Interrail [b]GLOBAL[/b] Pass which you will use.

Peter :)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Hi guys

Thanks for the replies. The passes cannot be issued.. doesn't specify that it is only for One Country Passes. That's why I was confused.

Since I live in France very close to Geneva, I will be starting in Geneva and going to Paris from there. I will obviously activate my pass in Geneva, but wanted to get my discount train fare to Paris. There just is not a train station in France that is closer than 45 minutes away. It's a bit unfortunate I suppose.

I think I understand a bit better now. If I have another issue, I will ask here :)

Thank you!
Danielle

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi Danielle,

if you are going to Paris first, it makes no sense to activate your IR pass in Geneve yet! As you cannot use it in your country of residence and therefore would lose days of validity of your pass. Instead, get a regular SNCF ticket prem ( [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf[/ux] ) to Paris and then to the border and activate your IR pass then. :)

Flo 8)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Hello,

I'm feeling even more confused now :/

My route will be Geneva - Paris, then Paris - Barcelona <---by night train. I don't know when I'm supposed to activate my pass or when I should buy a normal ticket. It's getting frustrating.

Thanks,
Danielle

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej Danielle,

well it's rather simple: InterRail is not valid in your country of residence! :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]

You cannot use IR in France, if it is your current country of residence! For Geneve - Paris and Paris - Barcelona I'd thus recommend to have a look for regular tickets at the SNCF website, follow the link here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train-tickets/france/fr[/u]

Where else do you want to go apart from the two trips mentioned above?


Flo 8)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Can I get discounted train fare for the night train from Barcelona to Paris? I know I'll have to go to a train station in France to buy the ticket. But it's expensive :|

Thanks again for explaining.

Paris - Barcelona night train
Barcelona - Milan night train
Milan - Rome
Rome - Nice
and then home to Geneva

What do you think?

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Again, can I use my train pass 50% discount on the night train fare within France?

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej,

the direct night train BCN - Paris is operated by Elipsos, not SNCF - I think it could be difficult to get the discounted fare, but you will have to ask directly at the station. Anyway, I guess it will be difficult to impossible to get a discounted ticket for Geneve - Paris - BCN as it is not the direct route and there is a Zürich - Geneve - Barcelona Elipsos which you could use.
The problem with the Elipsos trains is that the tariff is not exactly clear about whether you could use the trains with only the compulsory reservation as a resident of France or if you would need a ticket for the part you travel in France. I'll ask them regarding that special case.

Anyway you might think about travelling with regular tickets instead of an IR pass which could prove less expensive.


Flo 8)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi,

I was in contact with Elipsos and they told me that you [b]can[/b] use Elipsos trains with an InterRail pass with country of residence France. :) You only need the regular additional reservation.


Flo 8)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Thanks for asking for me :) What is the regular additional reservation? Is that what would be listed on railcc's night train stuff?

I also changed my travel plans to

Leaving from Geneva to:
Paris to
Barcelona to
Nice to
Rome to
Geneva for home.

Without the pass, I figured out I'd be spending 405EUR, so with the pass I'd use, plus the additional money I'd end up spending on the 50% France discount, etc, I may not save more that 30EUR. It could be easier just to go without the pass, like you said :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

No problem it was interesting for me as well. :)

The reservation prices for passholders are at the railcc night train section, yes.

Since France is your country of residence I still think that you will be better of with regular tickets, yes.

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Okay great, thanks again :D

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Hello :)

Okay, I have another question.

I will be just purchasing regular tickets, but my boyfriend from the U.S. has a Eurail pass. In order for us to be sure we can travel in the same trains together, and sit/sleep together, I want to buy the tickets together. So I will be doing the purchasing online, and I have his Eurail pass ID# incase I need it. I would really like to just purchase them online together, I'd like to try to avoid calling the railcc customer service (I just prefer doing it myself :) ). Also, it's complicated because I don't have a pass, but he does. So when I purchase online on railcc, I have book mine on a separate website, therefore maybe not reserving seats side by side.

Also, for the Paris - Barcelona night train, when trying to reserve that on the railcc website, it says the price is 240EUR. However, it shows on your Night Train information that there are prices way lower than that. Again, everything is getting incredibly complicated again.

Question is: What can I do? :) Thanks!

Danielle

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi Danielle.

For Spanish and French trains it is not possible to book your reservations together online.
As point to point tickets include already a reservation in the high speed trains - and for Eurail you need reservation online. So if you want to sit/sleep together, you will have to buy it at a station.

The Paris - Barcelona night train is one of the most expensive ones in Europe.
It depends on the category you book. Try for example as well the sncf or elipsos websites.
I recommend on this connection first an inexpensive night train to the Spanish border and then continue by normal day train to Barcelona. Information:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/paris-to-barcelona[/u]
Reservation fees for rail pass travellers for the expensive Paris-Barcelona night train are here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/paris-barcelona-elipsos-477/86[/u]

Peter :)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Thanks for the reply. I've heard the train is pretty expensive!

So can I purchase train reservations at a train station for the both of us if I have a copy of his Eurail pass? Or if he mails it to me? Or will he have to be there with me? Because that's a real hassle, seeing as he won't be coming here for another 5 weeks, and I need to book now before the trains fill up. Or if I buy them separately online, can I take the tickets to my nearest train station and get the seats moved to side-by-side?

I will be reserving all trains in advance, and I'd like to be able to get all of our seats together. So this question is not just for night trains, it's for all trains. I will be buying the tickets tomorrow probably, if possible.

Thanks,
Danielle

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
The direct night train is expensive. Simply follow the link I gave you in the posting above.
If you want to sit together, you have to book it together. So go to the railway station. Tell one reservation for Eurail and one point to point ticket + reservation.
Peter :)

dangelica679
Traveller
10 comments

Thank you :) However, again, I'm asking do I need to have the Eurrail pass with me at the time of purchase? And I can purchase all my tickets together like this at the train station tomorrow, yes?

Danielle

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi,

it can happen that the ER pass is required, or not. In Austria I dont need it, in Italy I was asked to show the pass as well as in Spain. In France I think they want the pass as well but I'm not sure.

I think it could be as well problematic to get two reservations together, as your regular ticket is sold as global ticket which includes the reservation. I dont know if they are able to make a reservation adjacent to yours for your friend at the station. You have to try it yourself. :|


Flo 8)