German railpass validation
Jul 3rd, 2003 | 01:19 PM
#1
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German railpass validation
Question: can the rail office at Amsterdam Schiphol validate my German railpass, and can they do it 3 days before it is first needed?
Or, do I need to approach the Cologne ticket office the first day of use?
And, same question regarding any required seat reservations - can Schiphol issue them for any of the German portions that require reserving, or do I need to get them at my first German stop? (Cologne)
Just trying to reduce the time spent at ticket windows... Thanks (and happy 4th!)
Or, do I need to approach the Cologne ticket office the first day of use?
And, same question regarding any required seat reservations - can Schiphol issue them for any of the German portions that require reserving, or do I need to get them at my first German stop? (Cologne)
Just trying to reduce the time spent at ticket windows... Thanks (and happy 4th!)
Jul 3rd, 2003 | 02:27 PM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
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Hi Trav,
If you go to
http://www.raileurope.com/us/common/...ns.htm#general
your question will be answered.
If you go to
http://www.raileurope.com/us/common/...ns.htm#general
your question will be answered.
Jul 3rd, 2003 | 09:03 PM
#3
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Posts: n/a
Any rail office should be able to validate any railpass regardless of what country you are going to use it in. My experience has been the clerk will generally ask you what date you want the pass to start. However, once when we arrived at CDG and tried to get our Eurailpasses validated to start three days later the clerk would not do so..so we waited the three days and then got it validated on the first day of actual use.
Jul 5th, 2003 | 10:11 AM
#4
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I still got conflicting information by looking at two sites, but additional checking implies I can get them validated at Schiphol rail when I buy my ticket for the Netherlands portion of that day's route (so my actual 1st use is the day we leave Amsterdam; Cologne will be 2nd day).
I think the answer may be dependent on where the pass is first used. Anyway, these were the 2 statements I found:
Per RailEurope:
"To validate your pass present your passport and your pass to a railway official in a railway ticket office (not the conductor) from the country in which it is valid." (probably the right answer if my first use was Cologne)
Per Rick Steves site:
"At any European train station, present your railpass and passport to a railway official at a ticket window . . .You may validate your country pass before arriving in that country, or en route. Let?s say you?re in Munich with a French railpass, you?re heading to Paris, and you want the French portion of your route to be covered by your French railpass. At the Munich train station, buy a ticket to the French border and have the agent validate your French pass at the same time." (I've decided to make my first day the day we pass into Germany; the minimum pass is 4 days so that will "use up" the full amount.)
I know I will overpay about $30-40 pp using the passes instead of all point-to-point, but I'm opting for the convenience. I have zilch comprehension of German, and some of my small towns only use vending machines. It's a bit less stress for me this way.
Thanks for chiming in...
I think the answer may be dependent on where the pass is first used. Anyway, these were the 2 statements I found:
Per RailEurope:
"To validate your pass present your passport and your pass to a railway official in a railway ticket office (not the conductor) from the country in which it is valid." (probably the right answer if my first use was Cologne)
Per Rick Steves site:
"At any European train station, present your railpass and passport to a railway official at a ticket window . . .You may validate your country pass before arriving in that country, or en route. Let?s say you?re in Munich with a French railpass, you?re heading to Paris, and you want the French portion of your route to be covered by your French railpass. At the Munich train station, buy a ticket to the French border and have the agent validate your French pass at the same time." (I've decided to make my first day the day we pass into Germany; the minimum pass is 4 days so that will "use up" the full amount.)
I know I will overpay about $30-40 pp using the passes instead of all point-to-point, but I'm opting for the convenience. I have zilch comprehension of German, and some of my small towns only use vending machines. It's a bit less stress for me this way.
Thanks for chiming in...
Jul 5th, 2003 | 12:25 PM
#5
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If the only pass you have is a Germanrail pass then it will not be valid for the Amsterdam-Emmerich (probably the first German city you will stop in) portion.
Often with these border crossings here is what happens. When the train stops in Arnhem (the last city in The Netherlands) the GermanRail crew will board the train and probably start checking tickets/passes. When you arrive in Emmerich the Dutch crew will get off the train. So you'll need a valid pass to travel beyond Arnhem I suspect.
Here's what I would do: when you get the Schiphol, claim your luggage, etc., go directly to the large plaza area in the main building (follow the sigsn for the railway station) In that area is where you'll find the ticket office. Go to the windwo and explain the situation and ask if they can validate the pass. You'll also need to buy the tickets to cover the non-pass-covered portion in The Netherlands. To use the pass it will either have to be validated before the ticket checker (conductor) on the train checks it..or you can have him/her validate it but that usually requires an additional fee.
I think if you explain the situation to the clerk at Schiphol you'll be OK..they are very helpful. Good Luck!
Often with these border crossings here is what happens. When the train stops in Arnhem (the last city in The Netherlands) the GermanRail crew will board the train and probably start checking tickets/passes. When you arrive in Emmerich the Dutch crew will get off the train. So you'll need a valid pass to travel beyond Arnhem I suspect.
Here's what I would do: when you get the Schiphol, claim your luggage, etc., go directly to the large plaza area in the main building (follow the sigsn for the railway station) In that area is where you'll find the ticket office. Go to the windwo and explain the situation and ask if they can validate the pass. You'll also need to buy the tickets to cover the non-pass-covered portion in The Netherlands. To use the pass it will either have to be validated before the ticket checker (conductor) on the train checks it..or you can have him/her validate it but that usually requires an additional fee.
I think if you explain the situation to the clerk at Schiphol you'll be OK..they are very helpful. Good Luck!
Jul 5th, 2003 | 02:07 PM
#6
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That's it... We're leaving Amsterdam and stopping in Arnhem for the Open-air museum. Then continuing on to Cologne. We'll buy a ticket for Amsterdam-Emmerich, via Arnhem. After we reboard train at Arnhem, we aren't stopping off anywhere else (except if there's a connection). The pass will cover us from Emmerich to Cologne for Day 1.
