Saver Pass question
 

Panic time! We're due to leave in 6 days and just when I thought everything was in order and there were no more arrangements to be made, I find out that one of my travel companions might not be able to go (VERY long story)! My dilemma is that I bought an Italy/France saver pass with all of our names on it. Everything I've read on the railEurope web site says that all named passengers must be present to validate the pass. Does anyone know of any exceptions to this? Is my pass completely invalid if one of us is unable to travel? Do I have any recourse??

Help me, Fodorites! This is ruining my pre-trip buzz!

Melissa

All four passengers on the pass do not have to travel on the train for the pass to be valid but the pass must be validated by showing the passports of all four (if this last part is enforced)

Your remedy would be to return the pass to the issuer by express mail and have them pre-validate the pass so you don't have to do it in Europe - it will already be validated - and then the fourth person won't have to ride.

You could also rush the pass back to the issuer and have it refunded minus 15% and then have it re-issued in a three person saverpass - if your pass is worth $300 you cancel it and pay 15% or $45, getting $255 back and then you buy a new three-person Saverpass at $300 less than the original four-person pass. Even with paying for express mail service you'd save a ton of money so call them and rush it back today! That's my advice - forget about pre-validating the pass as this will be more costly.
Passes can be pre-validated - we had a long discussion on this recently here and the aussie who had a kid who would have turned 16 before they started using a Swiss Pass could get one free (Swiss Family Pass) if the pass was pre-validated before the kid's 16th birthday; they were able to pre-validate it in Australia same as you could in the U.S.
But better refund and re-buy in my calculations.

Sorry for my brain fart - to cancel and refund the four-person saverpass would mean a refund - 15% of the 4-person pass price - or on a $300 p.p. pass 15% of $1,200 or $180 - still would save money it seems but not as much as i figured on a refund of the $300 minus 15% as you have to refund the whole pass. Sorry.

For three, are you sure a SaverPass still makes sense? Go to RailSaver.com and plug in your train itinerary, to compare point-to-point tickets vs. a pass.

A three-person saverpass would be exactly the same as a four-person in terms of $ per person, it won't make the pass less or more viable per person, but if you didn't do the calculations before then yes take MaureenB's helpful advice about railsaver.com

PalQ and MaureenB,
Thanks for your quick responses. Given our travel schedule, the pass was slightly more economical than individual tickets. I've contacted the issuer and they've given me instructions on how to get the new pass before I leave.

I commented to a colleague just a couple of days ago that with all the researching, planning, booking, purchasing, and reserving, and EVERYTHING falling into place perfectly, something still didn't feel quite right. Guess I was right to be concerned. Oh well, just one more hurdle to jump, right? :)

Melissa

Melissa, sounds like you've got it all together. Have fun. All your planning will be worth it!