Rail Terms and Conditions

Rail Terms & Conditions

	Refunds
	Seating
	Payment
	Timings
	Lost Tickets and Passes

	Advance Booking
	Responsibility and Liability
	General Terms and Conditions for Rail Passes, Flexipasses and Combination Passes
	Rail Protection Plan

Rail Europe Group (REG) reserves the right to change prices without notice whether such changes are related or not to alterations in rates of exchange.

Refunds:

Refunds are limited to completely unused, undated, unvalidated passes, tickets and inclusive packages, hotel and car vouchers and will be granted only where permitted under the terms and conditions set forth below or elsewhere in this site. Passes, tickets and vouchers must be returned for refunds. Companion and Saverpasses, BritRail discounted and Eurail and Eurail Select Pass passes together are considered one document and must be submitted together. No refunds will be granted on partially used passes or tickets, or on unused parts of inclusive packages; documents must bear no evidence of having been tampered with in any way.

Where no other time for refund is specified in this website, refunds on tickets and passes must be applied for within six months of issue date. Refunds on tours must be applied for at least 72 hours before scheduled tour departure.

A cancellation charge will be deducted from all refunds. Where no other cancellation charge is specified in this website, the cancellation charge will be a minimum of 15%. Special cancellation/refund terms apply to all Premier Train products.

Travel within an associate Eurail Select Pass country is only covered when issued in conjunction with a Eurail Select Pass. Certain trains may transit through a country not covered by the pass. In that case an additional ticket must be purchased.

Travelers are responsible for ensuring that they have all necessary visas and appropriate travel documents prior to their departure from North America.

No refunds will be given on reservation/booking fees, on Great British Heritage passes, Paris Visite, Paris Museum Pass or partially used car vouchers. A 50% cancellation fee will apply for couchettes and sleepers if the space is not canceled, and the vouchers were not endorsed with a railway official stamp more than 24 hours before departure of train.

Trip cancellation insurance is highly recommended.

Unused point-to-point tickets are refundable, minus a 15% cancellation penalty. Tickets must be returned to Rail Europe before the first date of validity and stamped "not used" by a railway official at the station of departure. Tickets returned after the first date of validitiy are non-refundable. Refund request must be submitted within 6 months from the last day of validity of the tickets. A complete refund policy is written on the ticket jacket for the benefit of your clients.

Seating:

Most trains offer only nonsmoking accommodations, but some trains offer smoking and non-smoking.

Payment:

American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Visa or MasterCard are accepted.

Timings:

All timings indicated in this website are meant only as a guide and should be reconfirmed at time of booking or at least 48 hours prior to departure.

Lost Tickets and Passes:

REG is not responsible for passes, tickets or vouchers which are lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed. Refunds cannot be authorized in such cases. Therefore, travel insurance is recommended. Learn more about our Rail Protection Plan.

Advance Booking:

Please apply for your passes and other tickets at least 15 days prior to your departure from North America. REG will always try to help if less notice is given, but REG is not responsible for delays in delivery service or otherwise. If a product is ordered at short notice, REG will charge an additional fee for overnight delivery service. When ordering, please include your date of departure from North America.

Responsibility/ Liability:

REG acts only as a booking agent. REG has no control over, and is not responsible for, any of the tours, passes, attractions, hotels and other travel accommodations listed in this site. All bookings are accepted and all tickets, passes, and vouchers are issued on the express condition that, REG is not responsible or liable for any loss (consequential or otherwise); damage (including but not limited to loss of, or damage to passengers' clothes, baggage, or other property whatsoever); death, injury, delay, inconvenience or irregularity caused by, or arising out of, or in connection with, any defect in any vehicle or other, air, land or sea conveyance used, rented or traveled in; or through the negligence, willful misconduct, strikes or other acts, defaults of omissions of any carrier, car rental company, hotel, restaurant or any other provider of goods or services.

Every booking is accepted subject to the conditions, tariffs and regulations imposed by the air, rail, shipping, bus, car rental, car insurance, hotel or other companies, firms or persons concerned.

REG reserves the right to alter, cancel or substitute any component of a package.

All items of a personal nature not specifically mentioned in the tour description, such as phone calls, tips, taxis, etc. are the responsibility of each passenger.

General Terms and Conditions for Rail
Passes, Flexipasses and Combination Passes:

NOTE: The following terms and conditions apply to all Rail passes, Combination passes that include rail and car. Carefully reading these terms and conditions is recommended for all Combination passes.

To Purchase:

Passes cannot be issued to residents of the participating countries and in the case of Eurail Global Passes, Eurail Select Passes and France Railpasses, residents of the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union), Turkey, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia. Citizens of United Kingdom are not eligible to purchase BritRail Passes or Eurail Passes.

How to Validate and Use Your Pass:

Passes are to be validated within 6 months from the date of issue and prior to the first day of use. 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. The railway official will enter the first and last date of validity on the pass. This must be done before boarding a train, bus, boat or renting a car for the first time. In most cases validity runs from midnight to midnight for the period shown on the pass but check individual passes/countries for variations. All services, rail, rental car, air travel and travel bonuses must he used within the validity of the accompanying rail pass.

Under no circumstances is the holder allowed to validate his or her own pass, nor should pass holders enter their own passport number. Tampering with or altering a pass renders the pass void and authorizes train staff to confiscate the pass and subjects passenger to a fine payable in local currency.

Passes are strictly nontransferable and are only valid for those whose name appears on the pass. Use by anyone other than those named will invalidate the pass and will result in a heavy fine in local currency and confiscation of the pass. It is compulsory to present passports to railway officials on request.

Passes are not valid on hotel trains, private or specialty trains unless otherwise stated.

On Flexipasses, before boarding the first train or ship of the day, you must enter the date in ink, in the appropriate calendar box on your pass. Exception: Use of travel day is not required for ship crossing on the BritRail Pass + Ireland. Failure to comply with validation and date of use regulations is considered traveling without a ticket and will result in a fine collected on board the train. Train personnel are authorized to confiscate the pass in addition to levying the fine.

Passes are available in first and second class unless stated otherwise. Passengers holding first class passes are also permitted to travel in standard/ second class. Passengers holding standard/second class passes are permitted to travel in first class only if they pay the difference between the two fares as applicable locally.

Refunds are limited to completely unused undated, unvalidated passes, ticket and inclusive packages, hotel and car vouchers and will be granted only where permitted under the terms and conditions set forth below or elsewhere in this site. Passes, tickets and vouchers must be returned for refunds. Companion and Saverpasses, BritRail discounted and Eurail and Eurail Select Pass, passes together are considered one document and must be submitted together. No refunds will be granted on partially used passes or tickets, or on unused parts of inclusive packages; documents must bear no evidence of having been tampered with in any way.

7pm Rule: If a traveler boards a direct overnight train that departs after 7:00pm, traveler is required to use only one day of their pass. If the overnight trip requires a train change before midnight, traveler will use 2 travel days.

Reservations for Seats, Sleepers and Couchettes:

A pass does not guarantee a seat on a train, bus, plane or boat. Seat reservations should be made in advance and are compulsory on some trains (all TGV, Thalys, Cisalpino, AVE, Eurostar and certain EC and IC trains), buses, and boats. Reservations are also compulsory for all sleepers and couchettes, and should be made in advance.

Additional Charges:

Seat reservations, sleepers and couchettes, travel on certain Premier Trains (such as Eurostar, Italian Day trains in Italy, AVE, Talgo, Elipsos, Thalys and Cisalpino) luggage checking, and port taxes, are all subject to additional charges which are not covered by the passes. These, including meals and refreshments, are all to be paid separately. Luggage checking, port taxes, meals and refreshments as well as seat reservations, sleepers and couchettes reserved locally must be paid abroad in local currency.

Governing Rules:

All transportation covered by those passes where use is intended for more than one country is subject to the Uniform Rules concerning the Contract for International Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Rail (CIV.) National and/or single-country passes are subject to rules and regulations of their specific countries. Neither the British nor European railroads nor REG assume any responsibility for damages resulting from a strike.

Rail Protection Plan:

If your pass is lost or stolen while traveling in Europe, the rail networks will not cover you-but we will. Our plan will compensate you for the unused portion of your lost/stolen rail pass/ticket or the value of the replacement rail pass/tickets, whichever is lower. The plan ranges from $10 to $17 depending on the pass. The exact amount is shown in each specific pass price list. The plan must be purchased at the same time you purchase your rail pass/tickets. To add the Protection Plan to your pass/ticket, you may do so when adding a pass/ticket to your Shopping Cart

Rail Europe's Rail Protection Plan is available with all rail passes/tickets issued through Rail Europe including: Eurail Passes, Eurail Select Pass, National, Regional, Rail 'n Drive and BritRail Passes. Tourpasses are not covered under the Rail Protection Plan.

Under the Rail Protection Plan, if your pass is lost or stolen while traveling in Europe, upon your return to North America you will be reimbursed for the unused portion of their original Rail Pass/ticket or the value of the replacement rail pass/ticket(s), whichever is lower. Please read the actual description of coverage below for this program as well as the instructions for filing a claim.

The Rail Protection Plan fee is not refundable.

Description of Coverage:

Agreements: The provider of this program will by payment, reimburse the pass/ticket holder(s) named on the Rail Pass/ticket issued by Rail Europe for theft or accidental loss of Rail Pass/ticket, subject to Exclusions, Conditions and Limitations contained below.

Loss: Loss means the theft or accidental loss of the Rail Pass while traveling in Europe.

Effective period: Effective Period means the period from 12:01 am on the date of issue of the Pass by Rail Europe to 11:59 PM on the last day the Rail Pass is valid.

Program Agreements apply only to loss sustained during the effective period of this form.

Exclusions: This program does not apply to any loss caused by:

(a)	Delay or detention or confiscation by Customs Officers or Officials or Police or other Security Officers.
(b)	Rail Pass not in your actual possession at the time of loss.
(c)	War, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection or military or usurped power.
(d)	Any dishonest, fraudulent or criminal act by the Passholder.
(e)	Damage due to wear and tear, gradual deterioration, vermin or inherent vice.

Limits of liability: The limit of the Program Providers Liability shall be the value of the unused portion of the pass/ticket (s) purchased through REG or the value of the replacement pass/ticket (s), whichever is lower.

The loss date shall be the date on which the pass holder first became aware of the loss of the Rail Pass /ticket or the date 24 hours prior to the reporting of the loss to the police, whichever is later.

Conditions:

(a)

Rail Protection program is strictly limited to the loss or theft occurring in Europe.

(b)

The pass holder must file a police report within 24 hours of the loss.

(c)

The pass holder must purchase either a replacement railpass or point-to-point rail tickets. In the case of loss/theft of premier train/point-to-point tickets, the ticket holder must purchase ticket/s for the same city pairs. (Air and bus tickets do not apply.)

(d)

Notice of any claim must be given to Rail Europe within 30 days of your return from Europe. Submit a written report with the claim that includes the pass/ticket holder's name, the date of validation, a copy of the police report and your airline tickets (US/CAN-Europe.)

(e)

All original receipts showing amounts paid for Rail Pass/ticket issued by Rail Europe, including the original replacement pass/ train ticket(s) must be submitted to validate claim.

(f)

If any claims made under this program are covered by any other valid and collectable insurance or indemnity, Rail Europe will only pay the difference between the amount paid under the other policy and the total amount which would otherwise be payable under this program.

(g)

No change to this program will be valid unless in writing and signed by Rail Europe.

(h)

No legal action may be brought to recover on this program within 60 days after a claim has been submitted as required herein, and no such legal action may be brought after one year from the time that a claim is required to be filed.

(i)

Any provision of this program that is in conflict with applicable law is hereby amended to conform to minimum requirements of such law.

To file a claim: To file a claim: Submit a written account of events and supporting documentation to Rail Europe Group, Customer Relations Department, Westchester One, 44 South Broadway, White Plains, NY 10601. All claims must be accompanied by the appropriate documentation listed in the conditions above. For information call (800) 848-7245 select option 4 followed by 2.

This program is administered by Rail Europe Group and can be cancelled at anytime. Passes issued prior to cancellation date will still be covered by the program.

Note: All prices in this guide are correct at time of printing. Rail Europe Group (REG) reserves the right to change prices without notice whether such changes are related or not to alterations in rates of exchange.

Travelers are responsible for ensuring that they have all necessary visas and appropriate travel documents prior to their departure from North America.