Seat Reservation Booking Conditions

1.1. Definitions

1.1.1. In these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions, the following terms have the meaning given to them by this Clause, both in singular and plural form:

• Eurail, we, us, our, ourselves: Eurail B.V., registered with the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce under number 3026952 and with a registered office at Leidseveer 10, 3511 HB, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
• you, your, yourself: Any person, natural or legal, who or that purchases or orders, or proposes to purchase or order, a Seat Reservation pursuant to the Seat Reservation Offer.
• Account: Your personal Interrail account.
• Contract of Carriage: An ancillary contract between you and us (as an intermediary for the Participating Company operating the service concerned) for the provision of passenger transport services.
  
• Customer Service: Our customer service team who can be contacted via this link.
• E-Ticket: A digital PDF version of the Seat Reservation Ticket.
• Participating Company: A company providing passenger transport services which can be used, subject to the conclusion of a Contract of Carriage, by a Pass Holder.
• Paper Ticket: A physical paper version of the Seat Reservation Ticket printed on special security value paper.
• Pass: A Eurail or Interrail travel Pass (of several variations based on age, class of travel, number of travel days, validity period and geographical validity) available to purchase through the Website which, subject to the conclusion of a Contract of Carriage, enables a Pass Holder to use the passenger transport services operated by the respective Participating Companies.
• Pass Holder: A natural person who is nominated to use a Pass.
• Seat Reservation: The arrangement whereby a seat or sleeping place on a passenger transport service operated by a Participating Company is reserved through our Website. You will be issued a Seat Reservation Ticket as proof of your Seat Reservation. 
• Seat Reservation Booking Conditions: All of the conditions set out herein. 
• Seat Reservation Booking Agreement: The concluded agreement between you and us (as an intermediary) whereby you have accepted the Seat Reservation Offer to purchase or order a Seat Reservation. 
• Seat Reservation Offer: Where we offer to sell or provide you a Seat Reservation on the conditions set out in the Seat Reservation Booking Conditions and in exchange for your payment of the Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs. DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits are accepted in lieu of payment. 
• Seat Reservation Portal: The portal on our Website where you can purchase a Seat Reservation. 
• Seat Reservation Ticket: The proof of purchase (in either E-Ticket or Paper format) of a Seat Reservation. 
• Ticket Distributor: A party or company that has contracted with a Participating Company to distribute train tickets.
• Website: The website of interrail.eu or eurail.com and any of their subdomains.
  

1.2. Actions carried out by Eurail

1.2.1. Any reference to an action taken by us in these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions includes any action carried out by one of our employees.

3.1. Eurail as an intermediary

3.1.1. Our Website is used by a select group of Participating Companies and Ticket Distributors to distribute Seat Reservations to be used in combination with a Pass.

3.1.2. At all times where we sell Seat Reservations through our Website, we are acting as an intermediary only on behalf of the Participating Companies and Ticket Distributors.

3.2. Eurail is not a railway undertaking

3.2.1. We are not a railway undertaking and do not provide or operate any passenger transport services ourselves nor do we have any control or influence over the operations of each of the Participating Companies. Instead, we work closely with the Participating Companies to enable Pass Holders to use their Pass on passenger transport services operated by the Participating Companies.

4.1. Amount required to purchase a Seat Reservation

4.1.1. To purchase a Seat Reservation through our Website, you must pay the Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs.

• All prices, fees and costs communicated by the Seat Reservation Portal are inclusive of local taxes and are communicated to you prior to the conclusion of the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement.
• Payment can be made using any of the currencies available through the Seat Reservation Portal.
• The Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs are not included in the purchase of your Pass (which is the subject of another agreement between you and us).
• If there is a conflict between any price, fee or cost as communicated by the Seat Reservation Portal and any other location, the price communicated by the Seat Reservation Portal shall prevail.

4.2. The Seat Reservation purchase price

4.2.1. The Seat Reservation purchase price is variable depending on the type of train, the level of service to be provided, availability, time of day and year, the Participating Company and the Ticket Distributor.

4.3. The Booking Fee

4.3.1. The Booking Fee is a non-refundable fixed fee charged on a per-traveller basis for each Seat Reservation made.

4.3.2. The Booking Fee is the fee that we charge to help us cover integration of our systems with that of the Participating Companies and Ticket Distributors, technical fees and our own system costs.

4.4. Delivery Costs

4.4.1. There are no costs to you for the delivery of an E-Ticket.

4.4.2. There is a cost for delivery of a Paper Ticket which is variable and calculated with reference to your nominated shipping address.

4.5. Binding Seat Reservation Offer

4.5.1. The Seat Reservation Offer is binding, except in circumstances where there is a manifest error or mistake in the offer.

4.5.2. The Seat Reservation Offer may be changed or withdrawn at any time prior to your acceptance of the same.

4.6. Acceptance of the Seat Reservation Offer

4.6.1. You may accept the Seat Reservation Offer exclusively through the Seat Reservation Portal by making payment of the Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs.

4.6.2. Your acceptance of the Seat Reservation Offer will be deemed to have occurred where:

• you have made payment of the Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs; and
• we have received payment of the Seat Reservation purchase price, Booking Fee and any applicable delivery costs.

4.6.3. When the conditions set out in clause 4.6.2. directly above have been satisfied, the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement will be concluded. You will then be deemed to have accepted these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions unamended.

4.7. Delivery of your Seat Reservation Ticket(s)

4.7.1. Following the conclusion of the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement, the Seat Reservation Ticket(s) will be delivered to you in accordance with Clause 8 below.

4.8. Changes to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement

4.8.1. No change can be made to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement, except as permitted by these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions.

5.1. About the DiscoverEU Programme

5.1.1. The DiscoverEU Programme is a programme which was initiated and is funded by the European Commission. The programme aims to give young adults an opportunity to explore Europe. As a part of the programme, participants awarded a Pass from June 2024 onwards are granted credits which can be used to order Seat Reservations via our Interrail Website.

5.2. Using your Seat Reservation credits

5.2.1. DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits may be used in lieu of payment.

5.2.2. If you have exhausted your DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits, you may purchase a Seat Reservation by making the payment referred to under Clause 4.1.1. above.

5.3. Acceptance of the Seat Reservation Offer

5.3.1. When using your Seat Reservation credits, you may accept the Seat Reservation Offer exclusively through the Seat Reservation Portal.

5.3.2. Your acceptance of the Seat Reservation Offer will be deemed to have occurred where:

• you have submitted your order to us; and
• we have processed your order and sent you an order confirmation.

5.3.3. When the conditions set out in clause 5.3.2. directly above have been satisfied, the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement will become concluded.

5.4. Delivery of your Seat Reservation Ticket(s)

5.4.1. Following the conclusion of the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement, the Seat Reservation Ticket(s) will be delivered to you in accordance with Clause 8 below.

5.5. Changes to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement

5.5.1. No change can be made to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement, except as otherwise permitted by these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions.

6.1. Eligibility requirements to purchase or order a Seat Reservation

6.1.1. You are eligible to purchase or order a Seat Reservation through our Website if you:

• have made an Account; and
• have purchased a Pass or are a Pass Holder; and
• created a trip and added travellers to that trip in the ‘Trips and travellers’ section of your Account; and
• can use any of the payment methods available in the Seat Reservation Portal or, if applicable, your DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits.

6.2. Group purchase or order

6.2.1. You may purchase or order a Seat Reservation on behalf of another Pass Holder, so long as that Pass Holder has been added as a traveller in the trip referred to in 6.1.1. above.

7.1. Restriction on transferring Seat Reservations

7.1.1. A Seat Reservation cannot be transferred from one Pass Holder to another or to any other natural person.

8.1. E-Tickets (Except for Eurostar trains departing to or from London)

8.1.1. We will send the E-Ticket to your nominated email address.

8.1.2. If the E-Ticket indicates that it must be printed, it is your responsibility to do so.

8.1.3. You may also retrieve a copy of the E-Ticket from the Reservations Overview section of your Account or via the Rail Planner app if you have logged in to your Account.

8.2. Eurostar London (for services operating to and from London only)

8.2.1. We will send an order confirmation email to your nominated email address. You must then retrieve your Seat Reservation E-Ticket by going to the Eurostar website and entering the requested personal details of each traveller.

8.2.2. Your E-Ticket for the Eurostar train travelling to and from London will not appear in the Reservations Overview section of your Website Account.

8.2.3. All other Eurostar trains not travelling to and from London will be delivered to you using the same method set out in Clause 8.1.

8.3. Paper Tickets

8.3.1. Delivery of your Paper Ticket will be done in two (2) steps. In the first step, we will send you an order confirmation email to the email address attached to your Account. In the second step, we will send your Paper Ticket to your nominated shipping address under the following conditions:

• The Paper Ticket will be sent as a track and trace package using the services of PostNL and its partners.
• You must nominate a correct and complete shipping address.
  • You may nominate a third party to take delivery of your Paper Ticket. If you do nominate a third party, the Paper Ticket package must be addressed to that third party.
  • If we identify an error in the nominated shipping address, we will contact you by way of email to rectify the error. You must then rectify the error by confirming the correct and complete shipping address by return email.
  • If you do not respond to our email within a reasonable timeframe, we reserve the right to suspend the carrying out of all obligations under the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement until the error is rectified. In addition, or alternatively, we reserve the right to terminate the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement.
  • In any event, it remains your responsibility to provide us with a correct and complete shipping address. We do not guarantee that we will identify all errors in the nominated shipping address.
  • If you have not nominated a correct and complete shipping address and the Paper Ticket is returned to our office, the delivery costs of the failed delivery will not be refunded to you.
• You must make yourself available to take delivery of your Paper Ticket or, if applicable, collect the Paper Ticket from a collection point within the time required by the relevant postal service. If you have nominated a third party to take delivery of your Paper Ticket, you must ensure that the nominated third party is available to take delivery.
  • If you or your nominated third party fail to be available to take delivery of the Paper Ticket, or you fail to collect your Paper Ticket from a collection point, and the package is returned to our office, the Seat Reservation purchase price (unless a refund or exchange is permissible under our Refund and Exchange Policy), Booking Fee and delivery costs will not be refunded to you. 
• Once your Paper Ticket has been shipped, we will send you an email confirmation which contains a track and trace number. You are solely responsible for tracking your Paper Ticket package and for responding to any problem(s) with delivery. 
• The delivery date
  • The estimated delivery date shown to you at the time you accept the Seat Reservation Offer is an estimate only. Although we will take all reasonable action to deliver your Paper Ticket by the estimated delivery date, we do not guarantee delivery by that date. 
  • If we are required to rectify an error in the nominated shipping address, delivery by the estimated delivery date will not be possible.
• Despite the above, if the Paper Ticket has not been delivered by the estimated delivery date and the delay in delivery was not caused by a change to the nominated shipping address, you must get in contact with Customer Service as soon as possible. We will then look to provide a reasonable solution on a case-by-case basis. 
• Liability for the Paper Ticket package
  • We are not liable, nor will we accept any liability, for 
    • any loss or damage arising from or in connection with the failure of the Paper ticket to be delivered by the estimated delivery date.
    • the loss or late delivery of a Paper Ticket which is caused by your failure to make yourself available to take delivery or collect the same from a collection point.
    • a failure of your nominated third party to be available to take delivery.
    • an incorrect and/or incomplete shipping address.
    • the operations of PostNL (and any of its partners).
    • a delay in customs of any respective country.
    • or any other cause outside of our control.

9.1. Compliance with the Pass Conditions of Use

9.1.1. You and all Pass Holders must use your and their Seat Reservation in strict compliance with the Pass Conditions of Use.

9.1.2. You and all Pass Holders that you purchase a Seat Reservation on behalf of expressly acknowledge the following:

• The purchase and possession of a Seat Reservation alone does not constitute a Contract of Carriage.
• Without a Contract of Carriage in place, the Pass Holder does not have a valid ticket to board the service to which the Seat Reservation relates. 
• To ensure that a Contract of Carriage is in place, the Pass Holder must take the additional steps set out in the Pass Conditions of Use.

10.1. Source of the departure and arrival times

10.1.1. The departure and arrival times shown in our Seat Reservation Portal and all Seat Reservation Tickets are provided to us by the Participating Companies and/or Ticket Distributors.

10.2. Change to departure and arrival times

10.2.1. You expressly acknowledge that the departure and arrival times as shown on the Seat Reservation Ticket may be changed unilaterally by the relevant Participating Company after the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement is concluded.

10.2.2. You must check with the relevant Participating Company to see if the departure and arrival times, as shown on the Seat Reservation Ticket, have changed.

10.2.3. If your departure and arrival times have changed, the Seat Reservation is still valid, unless otherwise indicated by the Participating Company.

11.1. Refund and exchange policy

11.1.1. The refund and exchange conditions applicable to your Seat Reservation are set out in our Refund and Exchange Policy and on our Exchange and refund conditions for reservations webpage.

• The applicable refund and exchange policy is variable depending on the Participating Company operating the service concerned, Ticket Distributor and level of service to be provided.
• As we act as an intermediary, the refund and exchange conditions are set by the relevant Participating Company and/or Ticket Distributors.

11.1.2. If applicable, you must submit any refund or exchange request via our Website or through our Customer Service team via this link. If you submit your request via another channel, we will not be able to refund or exchange your Seat Reservation, unless it is refundable and/or exchangeable under our Refund and Exchange Policy.

11.2. DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits

11.2.1. All Seat Reservations booked using DiscoverEU Seat Reservation credits are non-exchangeable and non-refundable. This condition applies despite any condition to the contrary found in the Refund and Exchange Policy or the Exchange and refund conditions for reservations referred to under Clause 12.1 above.

11.3. Cancelled trains

11.3.1. Where a train is cancelled by a Participating Company, the Refund and Exchange Policy does not apply. Instead, please contact our Customer Service team via this link for further assistance.

11.4. Inconsistency of refund and exchange conditions

11.4.1. To the extent of any inconsistency between the refund and exchange conditions shown on our Exchange and refund conditions for reservations webpage and any other location (including third-party websites), the refund and exchange conditions shown on our Exchange and refund conditions for reservations webpage shall prevail.

11.5. The Right of Withdrawal

11.5.1. The statutory Right of Withdrawal does not apply to the purchase of Seat Reservations.

12.1. Communicating with us

12.1.1. Your point of contact with us is our Customer Service team via this link. You may contact our Customer Service team with any question, query or complaint that you may have in relation to Seat Reservations and your Seat Reservation Booking Agreement. Our Customer Service team will then strive to respond to your query within two (2) working days.

12.2. The European Online Dispute Resolution Platform

12.2.1. If you are not satisfied with our response to your question, query or complaint, you may submit a complaint to the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform via this link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

13.1. Suspension or termination of the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement

13.1.1. If, for whatever reason, a Seat Reservation has not been created despite a Seat Reservation Booking Agreement between you and us being concluded, we reserve the right to suspend the carrying out of all obligations under the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement until the issue is resolved and/or to terminate the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement.

13.2. Consequences of termination

13.2.1. If we elect to terminate the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement under Clause 13.1, we will refund the full amount paid under the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement back to you using the same method used to make payment. We then invite you to purchase a Seat Reservation again. 

14.1. Our reservation of rights

14.1.1. We reserve the right to suspend and/or terminate the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement and/or block you from purchasing a Seat Reservation through our Website in the future if you:

• breach or violate any of the conditions set out in these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions; and/or
• engage, or seek to engage, in any kind of illegal or fraudulent activity in relation to a Seat Reservation; and/or
• deceive or defraud, or seek to deceive or defraud, us or any of the Participating Companies or Ticket Distributors in any way; and/or
• pay using a bank account and/or payment method for which you did not have authorisation; and/or
• engage in any kind of activity which compromises, or may compromise, our ability to comply with our legal and contractual obligations with you, or one or several of the Participating Companies, Ticket Distributors or any other partner.

14.1.2. If we take any of the actions set out in Clause 14.1, we will not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may arise from or in connection with those actions.

15.1. Disclaimer of liability

15.1.1. As we act only as an intermediary on behalf of the Participating Companies and Ticket Distributors, we cannot be held liable, nor will we accept any liability, for any loss (consequential or otherwise) or damage arising out of, or in connection to, any of the following:

• the operations of any Participating Company or Ticket Distributor;
• the carriage provided to you and/or a Pass Holder by the Participating Company operating the service to which your Seat Reservation(s) relates; 
• delays, cancellations, missed connections, train defects and strikes or industrial action which impact your Seat Reservation, except for as provided by our Delay Compensation Policy;
• the loss, theft or damage to clothing, luggage or property of you and/or a Pass Holder (or any other individual);
• the death of, personal injury to, or any other physical or mental harm to, you and/or a Pass Holder caused by, or in connection to, the operations of a Participating Company operating the service to which your Seat Reservation(s) relates;
• the wilful misconduct, omission or negligence of a Participating Company or Ticket Distributor or any other person employed by or representing a Participating Company or Ticket Distributor;
• any action carried out by a third-party which compromises the operations of a Participating Company or a Ticket Distributor or the railway infrastructure used by a Participating Company;
• armed conflict, terrorism, social unrest, epidemic, pandemic or any other force majeure event impacting the operations of the Participating Companies or Ticket Distributors.

15.2. Limitation of liability

15.2.1. If we are found to be liable for any loss or damage arising out of, or in connection to, the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement, then that liability is limited to the amount paid under that Seat Reservation Booking Agreement for the Seat Reservation concerned.

16.1. How we handle your personal data

16.1.1. All personal data collected in relation to or in any way connected to a Seat Reservation Booking Agreement will be handled in accordance with the following:

• our Privacy and Cookie Statement; and
• clause 16.2 directly below which applies in addition to section d) of our Privacy and Cookie Statement.

16.2. Sharing your personal data

16.2.1. In order to make your Seat Reservation, we may share the personal data collected in relation to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement with one or several of the following third parties:

• BeNe Rail International
• Silverrail
• Trenitalia
• Renfe

17.1. Governing law

17.1.1. To the extent permitted by law:

• the interpretation of these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions and the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement are to be governed and construed by the law of the Netherlands; and
• the competent court is the District Court for Central Netherlands (the Netherlands).

17.2. Survival of conditions

17.2.1. If any of the conditions set out in these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions are found to be unenforceable or contrary to law or otherwise invalid, the remaining conditions shall remain enforceable.

17.3. Prevailing of the English version

17.3.1. To the extent of an inconsistency between the English language version of these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions and any other language version, the English language version shall prevail.

17.4. Changes to the Seat Reservation Booking Conditions

17.4.1. We may change these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions at any time and without prior notice.

17.4.2. Where a condition is changed, we will create a new version of these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions. The version applicable to the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement is the version published on our Website at the time the Seat Reservation Booking Agreement was concluded.

17.4.3. Previous versions of these Seat Reservation Booking Conditions may be requested from our Customer Service team.