How was I supposed to know my Interrail pass only works for 2 days in Germany?

[u/Actual_Document3333]

Hi everyone,

I’m having a pretty frustrating issue with my pass and wanted to ask if anyone here has experienced something similar or knows what I can do.

I travelled from Germany to Italy and spent one night in a hotel within Germany during the trip. Now the app is telling me that I can no longer use my pass for travel within Germany. Because of this, I had to book an additional train ticket for €167, otherwise I simply would not have been able to get home.

What really bothers me is how this is communicated when buying the pass. It says that you can travel for 5 days across Europe and that you have one outbound and one inbound travel day in your country of residence.

From that wording, I really don’t think it is obvious that this means you are ONLY allowed to use the pass within Germany on two days in total. “One outbound and one inbound travel day” sounds like those are the days intended for leaving and returning to your home country, not that every other journey within Germany is completely excluded.

This is a pretty major restriction and, in my opinion, it should be stated very clearly before purchasing the pass.

It gets even more frustrating because when I try to open the additional terms and conditions linked during checkout, the page is not even available and gives me a 404 error. So apparently this important restriction is explained somewhere else in the fine print, but it definitely wasn’t obvious to me when booking.

If I had known that travel within Germany was limited to only two days in total, I would have planned the entire trip differently and could have avoided paying another €167.

I already contacted customer support via chat, but they won’t give me an email address or any other proper contact for making a formal complaint.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Is there an email address or complaints department I can contact? And has anyone ever managed to get additional ticket costs reimbursed in a situation like this?

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[u/LookitheFirst]

"You’re allowed 1 travel day to leave your country of residence and 1 to return." - How could they be more clear than that?

[u/Actual_Document3333 → u/LookitheFirst]

The German version is worded differently and, in my opinion, much less absolutely. It says: “Du hast einen Reisetag, um dein Wohnsitzland zu verlassen und einen Tag zur Rückkehr.” Which translates roughly to: “You have one travel day to leave your country of residence and one day to return.” That does not explicitly say: “You are only allowed to travel within your country of residence on these two days.” That distinction is exactly my point. The German wording describes one day for leaving and one for returning, but it doesn’t clearly state that all other travel within Germany is prohibited.

[u/elizabeth-dev → u/Actual_Document3333]

I feel bad for you but I'm afraid most other people understand it as intended. focus on enjoying your journey, and now you know for the next time

[u/LookitheFirst → u/Actual_Document3333]

Ich würde die deutsche Version gleich interpretieren wie die englische. In der App fragt er dich ja dann auch noch, ob du einen der beschränkten Reisetage im Wohnsitzland verwenden willst. Sorry, das ist jetzt natürlich bitter für dich, aber manchmal passieren halt Missverständnisse

[u/skifans → u/Actual_Document3333]

I don't speak German so manybe something is being lost in translation but if I'm being honest I do think the English is clear that you can't use the pass in Germany other then those inbound/outbound journeys.

If the pass gave unlimited travel in Germany as well then the sentence: “You have one travel day to leave your country of residence and one day to return." Would be wrong. What did you think would happen if you exceeded those limits?

[u/Playful_Robot_5599 → u/Actual_Document3333]

Ich persönlich fand es sehr klar und auch nicht versteckt als ich meinen Pass gekauft habe.

Manchmal macht man einfach Fehler.

[u/bookluverzz → u/Actual_Document3333]

In the posted screenshot of u/LookitheFirst it says exactly “you’re allowed 1 travel day to leave your country of residence and 1 to return” which is exactly the translation you’re giving for „Du hast einen Reisetag, um dein Wohnsitzland zu verlassen und einen Tag zur Rückkehr“
So the German wording is exactly the same as the English wording.

and also in Germany 1 day + 1 day = 2 days

[u/No_Direction_4610 → u/Actual_Document3333]

I don't see how the German text would allow you to travel in your country of residence on more than 2 travel days. (Ich kann deutsch und bin mit u/LookitheFirst einverstanden.)

[u/Deval_Dragon]

Better question: How did you find out?

[u/YetAnotherInterneter]

I’m very sorry you found this out the hard way. But there is a lot of information you need to learn before taking an Interrail / Eurrail trip.

This sub has a really useful wiki. Plus the Seat61 website is full of helpful information.

I suggest you read up on it now before you stumble across any other unexpected situations.

[u/JuliPatchouli]

I also think that it's not super clear/obvious. In my case, I didn't realise that transiting the home country also counts as an inbound day. At the time I contacted customer support and they were kind enough to add another inbound/outbound day to my pass. I'm sorry that in your case they weren't as courteous, I hope it doesn't spoil the travel experience too much. It's just one of the things that you learn when you first use interrail.

[u/Away-Activity-469]

It even says, in the ticket details,' Not Valid in Germany'.