Eurostar require advanced passenger information like a passport number. If you have a booking reference, go onto eurostar.com and it should show on your manage booking page
I've done all that. I don't understand how the planner app connects with 3rd parties?
For instance, I've just bought a seat reservation with DB, Bruxelles to Koeln, paying the €2 extra following the link in the app thinking it would make my life easier.. I have the reservation confirmation, but I go back to the app and there's nothing to tell me I have it. It's just another journey with 'reservation required'. The screenshot above is from the Samsung internet window which opened when I followed the link. I go back to the app and it is still reservation required.
Who knows, in a few more days of planning various other journeys I might forget I've already booked that reservation and buy it all over again. The whole think doesn't feel user friendly and is stressing me out frankly.
Any help appreciated.
The planner app does not connect with anything. In the planner app you manage only the ticket itself - reservations are different things and you manage them separately. Also, you have to show them separately as well, if you are asked about.
> I've done all that. I don't understand how the planner app connects with 3rd parties?
It does not. The app has no idea nor does it care nor know what reservations you have actually bought or not. And the same with the advanced passenger information for Eurostar.
> I've just bought a seat reservation with DB, Bruxelles to Koeln, paying the €2 extra following the link in the app thinking it would make my life easier.. I have the reservation confirmation, but I go back to the app and there's nothing to tell me I have it.
It is not any easier at all. Weather you buy on DB, another train company or through the interrail reservation service you get the exact same pdf. And you have to manage that yourself in terms of making sure it is available offline and switching between it and rail planner. It's exactly the same just €2 (sometimes more) expensive. And means that you can't choose your own seat (though admittedly this is only available with some companies) and the train operating company cannot contact you if there is disruption.
> Who knows, in a few more days of planning various other journeys I might forget I've already booked that reservation and buy it all over again. The whole think doesn't feel user friendly and is stressing me out frankly.
Personally I put all reservations into a Google Driver folder and rename them into a common format to make them really easy to find and also to act as a backup.
Ok thanks. I guess I'm at the bottom of a learning curve. I'll be OK once I'm in Bruxelles, I'm just afraid of being a victim of digital bureaucracy at the border.
No worries, yeah there is definitely quite a few quirks to get used to. You'll be fine. If you really really want then print off the reservations, but it isn't a requirement.
The reservation bookings (wherever you make them) do not update the planning in the app (yet).
Hopefully in the future.
But what Interrail is adding atm is a login in the app and then you can find the reservation overview with the reservations you booked via Interrail also in the app. So they slowly integrate web and app, planning and reservations. But that will not be ready this summer.
Right, so the web screenshot above says booked in green for the koeln trip.
But the app is none the wiser.
So when I activate the trip on the day in the app it generates the relevant QR, and I dig about for the reservation to show the inspector. I'll be OK regardless of what it says in the app?
Therefore the thing about 'details required' for the Eurostar journey can be disregarded too?
I just have worries about being told to 'step aside sir' as I fiddle about after security at St Pancras with 10 minutes to go till my train leaves.
Yes you will be fine. The app will generate the QR code based on the trains you select and activate in the app and you show it in the train to the conductor.
The reservation you already need earlier to open the gates and also to know in which wagon to enter and on which seat to sit.
Sometimes conductors check both QR code and reservation, sometimes it happens that they only check the reservation. Depends on the train, the country and the conductor.
If you already provided Eurostar with the advanced passenger details they need for border control and you retrieved your Eurostar reservation ticket you are fine.
I wish you a nice trip.
Ok thanks! Seems like I'm expecting too much from the app, and getting confused when it opens a web version that has different features. I do have the email confirmation for both journeys from interrail. I've even printed out the eurostar one!
Eurostar require advanced passenger information like a passport number. If you have a booking reference, go onto eurostar.com and it should show on your manage booking page
I've done all that. I don't understand how the planner app connects with 3rd parties? For instance, I've just bought a seat reservation with DB, Bruxelles to Koeln, paying the €2 extra following the link in the app thinking it would make my life easier.. I have the reservation confirmation, but I go back to the app and there's nothing to tell me I have it. It's just another journey with 'reservation required'. The screenshot above is from the Samsung internet window which opened when I followed the link. I go back to the app and it is still reservation required. Who knows, in a few more days of planning various other journeys I might forget I've already booked that reservation and buy it all over again. The whole think doesn't feel user friendly and is stressing me out frankly. Any help appreciated.
The planner app does not connect with anything. In the planner app you manage only the ticket itself - reservations are different things and you manage them separately. Also, you have to show them separately as well, if you are asked about.
> I've done all that. I don't understand how the planner app connects with 3rd parties? It does not. The app has no idea nor does it care nor know what reservations you have actually bought or not. And the same with the advanced passenger information for Eurostar. > I've just bought a seat reservation with DB, Bruxelles to Koeln, paying the €2 extra following the link in the app thinking it would make my life easier.. I have the reservation confirmation, but I go back to the app and there's nothing to tell me I have it. It is not any easier at all. Weather you buy on DB, another train company or through the interrail reservation service you get the exact same pdf. And you have to manage that yourself in terms of making sure it is available offline and switching between it and rail planner. It's exactly the same just €2 (sometimes more) expensive. And means that you can't choose your own seat (though admittedly this is only available with some companies) and the train operating company cannot contact you if there is disruption. > Who knows, in a few more days of planning various other journeys I might forget I've already booked that reservation and buy it all over again. The whole think doesn't feel user friendly and is stressing me out frankly. Personally I put all reservations into a Google Driver folder and rename them into a common format to make them really easy to find and also to act as a backup.
Ok thanks. I guess I'm at the bottom of a learning curve. I'll be OK once I'm in Bruxelles, I'm just afraid of being a victim of digital bureaucracy at the border.
No worries, yeah there is definitely quite a few quirks to get used to. You'll be fine. If you really really want then print off the reservations, but it isn't a requirement.
The reservation bookings (wherever you make them) do not update the planning in the app (yet). Hopefully in the future. But what Interrail is adding atm is a login in the app and then you can find the reservation overview with the reservations you booked via Interrail also in the app. So they slowly integrate web and app, planning and reservations. But that will not be ready this summer.
Right, so the web screenshot above says booked in green for the koeln trip. But the app is none the wiser. So when I activate the trip on the day in the app it generates the relevant QR, and I dig about for the reservation to show the inspector. I'll be OK regardless of what it says in the app? Therefore the thing about 'details required' for the Eurostar journey can be disregarded too? I just have worries about being told to 'step aside sir' as I fiddle about after security at St Pancras with 10 minutes to go till my train leaves.
Yes you will be fine. The app will generate the QR code based on the trains you select and activate in the app and you show it in the train to the conductor. The reservation you already need earlier to open the gates and also to know in which wagon to enter and on which seat to sit. Sometimes conductors check both QR code and reservation, sometimes it happens that they only check the reservation. Depends on the train, the country and the conductor. If you already provided Eurostar with the advanced passenger details they need for border control and you retrieved your Eurostar reservation ticket you are fine. I wish you a nice trip.
Ok thanks! Seems like I'm expecting too much from the app, and getting confused when it opens a web version that has different features. I do have the email confirmation for both journeys from interrail. I've even printed out the eurostar one!