Rail passes
 

My flights were cancelled of course last weekend. I did purchases a railpass from rail Europe. I have tried to call them but cannot get through. Are the passes good for a year? This way I can use them and have to deal with trying to get a partial refund if that is possible.
Thanks,
Mike

No doubt RailEurope is beleagured with such calls - i suggest calling Byron at BETS 800-441-2387 as he knows everything IME about passes after dealing with him for years - i think you have to activate the pass within six months of the issuing date but not sure and have one year in which to refund it minus the 20% (or 15%?) and you may be able to have it re-issued for a slight fee.

What kind of railpass was it? Various railpasses have different conditions regards length of time for refunds - for most i think it is one year to refund and six months from issuance to begin use. did you buy the Pass Protection Plan? I never have been may in the future as i believe it would cover most of the losses on refunds in this situation - or it could always be in the Force Majeure or Act of God exemption.

It was a select pass for 3 countries, plus a seat reservation for the overnight train. I did not buy any pass protection plan.

Ok the overnight train reservation i believe would have been partially refundable if cancelled within 48 hours or so of the actual train - if the date is still in advance e-mail or call RailEurope and cancel it (I am not that versed in current conditions but last i knew that was their policy)

I checked RE site and it does say you can refund you pass within one year of issuance and must activate it, if using it, within six months of issuance. I did not quickly notice anything about re-issuance but i did just that a few years ago after a serious knee injury prevented me from taking my annual trip to Europe.

I am not sure the PPPlan would have covered acts of God - good Q and i will research that for my own and others info.

Good luck.

Thanks so much. I have emailed Rail Europe and have not recieved an answer yet. I did speak to BETS and they are doing some checking for me. If I refund the pass there probably be a 15 or 20% fee. BETS have been very helpfull, Byron and Linda were very nice.