Benelux Pass

• Q. What is a Rail Pass?

  A. A rail pass is a travel document that entitles you to travel on European trains in a specific geographic area (country/countries), for a specific number of days.

  Be mindful that having a rail pass doesn’t necessarily mean that you can hop on any train at will, within the geographical area covered by your rail pass. Depending on the country, the type of train and the route, you may need to purchase seat reservations at an additional cost.

  Lastly, rail passes are packed with additional benefits, also known as rail pass bonuses which can range from discounted shopping in retail stores, to preferential rates on other modes of transportation like ferry or bus, to rebates on hotel nights, reduced admission at museums attractions, and more.

• Q. I’m leaving for Europe within 3 days and need to buy train tickets or rail passes. What are my options?

  A. Some European train operators now offer electronic ticketing. If the train you’re interested in offers this, you can buy a train ticket up until its day of travel and retrieve it locally at the station using your unique e-ticket confirmation code or by printing it at home before you leave.

  Currently, e-tickets are only offered on Eurostar, Thalys, Renfe, Talgo, Italo & Trenitalia along with select German, French (including international TGVs), and British trains. This type of ticketing will be available on other routes in the near future. At this time, the only rail passes available as e-passes are the Renfe Spain Pass and Swiss Travel Pass.

  All other trains, certain activity vouchers, and rail passes must be issued as a paper document and mailed to you prior to your departure. If you’re leaving within three days, you should contact us via our Contact Us page and we’ll be able to advise whether there’s enough time for you to get your train ticket or rail pass prior to your leaving for Europe.

• Q. Are the train tickets you send me the actual tickets, or do I need to exchange them at the station?

  A. If you selected the paper delivery option, then yes – the travel documents you receive from us in the mail are your actual train tickets. Do not lose them, because we cannot replace them.

  Only the original paper ticket will be accepted onboard the train. No other document such as a print out of the email invoice can be used in lieu of the original paper train ticket.

• Q. I’ve bought a print at the station e ticket. What do I need to do before getting on the train?

  A. When you book a print at the station e-ticket you will receive a 6 or 8 alpha-numeric e-ticket confirmation code (also known as a PNR or Passenger Name Record) in your Rail Europe confirmation email. Simply print the actual paper ticket from a self-service kiosk at the train station prior to your train’s departure.

  For all print at the station e-tickets, you’ll need to print the tickets before boarding your train. Your Rail Europe confirmation email is not a train ticket.

  For certain routes where this ticketing method is offered, it’s possible that the kiosk to print out the ticket can only be found in the station of origin but not in the station of arrival. For instance, if you have purchased a roundtrip journey as a print at the station e-ticket, you need to make sure to print out both your outbound and inbound train tickets in the station of origin - as you will not be able to retrieve your inbound ticket (return ticket) in the station of arrival. An example of this is a trip originating in France and going into Italy, or a trip from Paris to Amsterdam.

• Q. Can I get the address and phone number for the train station?

  A. We offer specific train station information and maps with approximate locations of many of the most popular train stations in Europe.

  In general, you’ll find that stations are centrally located and conveniently reached via public transportation and most airport-to-city links.

• Q. Does my train ticket include a seat reservation?

  A. Rail Europe tickets include a reservation whenever possible. To tell if you have a reservation, see if you received one or two travel documents for your trip. If you received two travel documents, you probably received an open ticket and a reservation. The reservation portion will show a train number, car number and seat number assigned to you personally.

  If you received only one document, you should also see if it indicates a seat number and car number. If so, your ticket includes a reservation.

  The only case where you may not have a reservation with your ticket is if you received an open ticket. With these tickets, you can simply hop on any non- reservable train that travels on the route for which you bought your ticket.

• Q. What if I have a group of 10 or more purchasing rail passes?

  A. Please contact our Groups Department who can arrange customized travel solutions perfect for your travellers.

• Q. Where can I see the exchange and refund conditions of my train ticket?

  A. When browsing fares on our website, you can read a brief description of each fare flexibility level, and then see the full exchange and refund conditions for each fare.

  Once you have booked a train ticket with us, its exchange and refund rules will be indicated in your Rail Europe booking confirmation email, as well as printed with your train ticket and/or on the ticket jacket in the case of paper tickets. Please note that train tickets must be received for exchange or refund within the allowed time frame mentioned in the exchange and refund conditions.

• Q. How do I use a promo code?

  A. Simply enter your valid promo code on the page where you enter your delivery information for your booking during checkout.

• Q. How fast can I receive my travel documents?

  A. Reservation is compulsory on Italo. When you buy a ticket for Italo, the reservation is included. Please note that if have even if you have a Rail Pass which includes Italy, you need a separate ticket to travel on board the Italo. Passholder fares do not apply to Italo.

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