A friend of mine said she got her train pass for traveling thruout Italy & it has her maiden name on it, rather than her married name. Her passport has her married name.

Anyone know if it matters? Will the conductor check just the ticket or the passport & the ticket?

They leave on Sunday!

Thanks, Julie

They do usually check your passport, in my experience. They are supposed to, as it is unique to a person. Now I haven't gotten a pass in Italy, that's true, just other countries. Does she have a driver's license with her maiden name on it still? She could show that as ID, if so. What's wrong with this person that she doesn't know her own name.

A travel agent helped arrange the trip (1st time to Europe). Don't know how the mixup occured. She was advised to fedex her birth cert & it would be fedexed back to her with ticket name change. she is concerned with doing that (&trusting the agent!) & then not having her birth cert and ticket by sunday & then nothing can be done about it!

Julie

One stupid travel agent for sure. How did the TA get your friend's maiden name?

FedEx the birth certificate if that is what they want, but I am in doubt. The pass MUST have your passport number on it, not a birth certificate number. How did she ever get a rail pass without providing her passport number?

Conductors sometimes ask for your passport and sometimes not. If one did and the names do not match your friend is in for a €100 fine and forfeiture of the pass, plus paying for the train she is on probably with a penalty since she is evidently attempting to travel fraudulently. Do not mess around with train conductors.

Anyone ? - Do you think that once she gets to Italy, she can go to a train ticket office with her train pass, birth cert, marriage cert, & passport & just get the train ticket changed?

Julie

Is it a train *ticket* or a train *pass* ? It might be easier to deal with a ticket change in Italy, if one is actually necessary. We aren't always asked for id when the conductor checks tickets - sometimes they just make sure your ticket is valid for that train. But if it's a *pass* then the rules will be stricter and it's most likely that a passport will be requested by the conductor. AND you cannot change out train passes in Europe.

Well, she referred to it as my "Europass". But then that could mean a ticket for a "EuroStar" train?

I don't know. I'll ask her that when she calls me after she gets off work tonite.

I just thought if I could get some info for her before she calls & get her a head start.

Julie

Hi J,

Bring a copy of birth cert and marriage license.

Oops, correction to my earlier post.

I just looked at my Eurailpass from last year. From the handwriting it is evident that my passport number was written in by the NS when I validated the pass in Amsterdam Centraal station. However my name was printed in by the Eurail folks here in the USA.

I don't see why the travel agent can't call whoever she ordered the pass from and get a replacement for your friend with her correct name on it. The worst case is a 15% cancellation fee for an unused pass according to the small print on the back of my pass.

My Eurail Traveler's Guide which came with the pass has an "Assistance" section, saying: "Should your pass be improperly issued or validated, do not use it. Have it exchanged at a Eurail Aid Office in one of the countries where your pass is valid. You will find a Eurail Aid Office in the following railway stationsquot; For Italy the stations are: Bari, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, and Venice.

Post back if you want office hours and a phone number for one of these.

Why is this the fault of the travel agent? It seems to me your friend must have provided the travel agent with her maiden name. Otherwise, how would the travel agent have known it?

Hopscotch - I've gotten railpasses without providing a passport number. Is this providing of a passport number something that's started being a requirement in the last few years?

crinkle,

As I corrected myself, the passport number was entered on my pass by the Dutch train authorities after I landed in Amsterdam.

As for how the TA learned the maiden name of said passenger there can be no question. As for why the TA gave a name to the pass organization that was not on passenger's passport we might ask.

Thanks so much everyone for your help. It appears the "what to do about this problem" decision has been made.

I asked her/Brandi about the "maiden name" mixup & here's what she said. The travel agent who helped her obtain the Eurailpass is her husband's cousin (female). Brandi does not really know this cousin-in-law. The cousin travel agent did not see Brandi's passport or other docs. Brandi's email address is in her maiden name. The cousin travel agent "assumed" from the email address that Brandi kept her maiden name rather than taking her husband's last name - which is not true - passport is in Brandi's married name. OK, clear as mud....and.....sorry....but to me, stupid! Anyway, guess we have all flubbed at times.

Brandi was advised the only way to fix the problem before leaving the US is to overnite the Eurailpass with birth & marriage certs (& maybe passport, I don't remember) to the US issuing office in NY & that office would overnite it back. Brandi & her husband leave on Sunday & Brandi does not choose to risk that the NY office will be that efficient.

So, I read her hopscotch's post (8/14, 5:34pm) about what the Eurail Traveler's Guide said about fixing the problem in Rome (their arrival point). Brandi feels more comfortable with that. They will have 3 days in Rome to fix the problem before using the train. She is taking her birth cert, marriage cert, driver's license with married name, & passport with married name. So, I hope it all works out OK for them. They are young (unlike me!) & this is their first trip to Europe. Sad they must begin this way. But....I bet they have a good time anyway.

Thanks so much to everyone who answered. This forum is so great.

Julie

I hope that everything goes well for Brandi from here out.

In case you don't have the Eurail Traveler's Guide the Rome Eurail Office is at Stazione Termini, the main station. Telephone 06.8740.6024. Hours 07.30-21.00.

If she can't get it fixed the worst case now is to buy another pass in Rome and then return the unused pass when she gets home. Usually the passes cost more in Europe but she might find a local pass for less.

Buon viaggio!