Product News Quarter #1-2014 W elcome to our first quarter product news for 2014. An eventful first quarter indeed, with lots of promotions, new products, new ticketing time limits and last but not least, France returning to the Eurail Select Pass! Below you will find all the latest news from the carriers, as well as a re-cap of existing promotions, new products, processes and tips to help you through the peak selling period. Enjoy! I. Current Promotions The following promotions will finish on the 30 th of April, please make sure you print all promotional bookings prior to the 30 th. German Rail Pass Promotion Promotion concept: 20% off the 10-day Pass and 10% off the 5-day Pass Validities: 5 days or 10 days of travel within 1 month Class: 1 st & 2 nd Class Traveller categories: All (Adult, Child & Youth // Regular and Saver) Sales Dates: 1 st February - 30 th April Eurail Italy Pass Promotion Promotion concept: One extra day of travel for free Validities: All (from 3 to 10 days within 2 months) Class: 1 st & 2 nd Class Traveller categories: All (Adult, Child & Youth // Regular and Saver) Sales dates: 15 th March - 30 th April Eurail France-Italy Pass, France-Spain Pass, Italy-Spain Pass Promotions Promotion concept: One extra day of travel for free Validities: All (from 4 to 10 days within 2 months) Class: 1 st & 2 nd Class Traveller categories: All (Adult, Child & Youth // Regular and Saver) Sales dates: 15 th March - 30 th April II. New Products Please find a re-cap of new products introduced since the beginning of 2014 Renfe Spain Pass The Renfe Spain Pass is a new rail pass on sale now that has three main features: it gives you access to a set number of journeys, not days of travel the cost of the reservations is already included in the price of the Pass it is only available as e-ticket Travel Date: First journey must start within 6 months Validities: 4, 8, 10 or 12 journeys within 1 month Trains allowed: Domestic Long Distance & Medium Distance DAY trains ONLY Class: 1 st Class (Club/Preferente) or 2 nd Class (Turista) Traveller types: Adult & Child (4-13 years inclusive) Seat reservation : mandatory but included in the cost of the pass After-Sales Conditions: 15% cancellation penalty, within 6 months of issue date Ticketing option: P@H only
The Gornergrat Matterhorn Railway The perfect add-on for those taking the Glacier Express to Zermatt, the Gornergrat mountain top excursion is an easy half day trip to the top of the Alps and offers excellent views of the famous Matterhorn. Sale Date: Available from 1 st March 2014 Travel Date: Vouchers must be exchanged within 6 months of the issue date Class & reservation: One class on this train, free seating, no reservation required Traveller types: Adult & Child (6-15 years inclusive) Discounts: 50% for children and Swiss Pass/Swiss Card/Swiss Half Fare Card holders After-Sales Conditions: 15% cancellation penalty, within 12 months of issue date Ticketing option: E2 Paper only, vouchers are to be exchanged locally for the real tickets III. Passes Eurail Select Pass The much publicised changes to the Eurail select pass came into effect from April 1 st. For those who missed it, France will be available as a country for travel on the Eurail Select Pass. The 3 & 5 country passes have been discontinued and only the Eurail Select Pass 4 countries is available now. Validities: 5, 6, 8 or 10 days within 2 months Class: 1 st & 2 nd Class Traveller categories: All (Adult, Child & Youth // Regular and Saver) Price: Prices are available in Euronet or on Extranet Sales dates: France available as an option from April 1 st Travel dates: No restrictions, pass must be validated within 6 months from date of issue After Sales: Regular after sales conditions apply Britrail: Price Increase As of April 1 st Britrail Prices have increased by approximately 6% across the full fare range of passes and point to point tickets All prices have been updated and are available on extranet Swiss Family Card The Swiss Family card is available again in Euronet. The Card is free and valid for children under 16 travelling with their parents and in combination with the following products: Swiss Pass Swiss Flexipass Swiss Card Swiss Transfer Ticket London Pass Please note that St Paul s cathedral is no longer included in the London Pass. However we are delighted to announce that, as from April 5 th 2014, the ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Olympic Park will join the other fantastic attractions within the London Pass product Prices have also changes as of April 1 st, and are valid until March 31 st, 2015. See extranet for more details
Paris Pass A reminder that the redemption center for the Paris pass will be closed on the following public holidays: New Year s Day (1st January) Easter Sunday (20 th April 2014, 5 th April 2015) Labour Day (1st May) Whit Monday (9th June 2014, 25th May 2015) Christmas Day (25th December) VI. Point to Point Tickets Eurostar: RIT Fares New Eurostar RIT fares are now available in Euronet The fare sheet can be downloaded from the libraries on myraileurope, under the section Net Fares Please note all RIT fares are net pricing, you will need to add your own mark up RIT are reserved for GSA s specifically promoting Eurostar products in a package For more information regarding RIT fares please contact your local representative Eurostar: Porter Fee Increase From April 4th Eurostar will be increasing the charge for a porter service at London St Pancras from 10 per porter to 20 per porter In Paris the charge will also increase to 12 euros for 1 to 5 bags and 24 euros for 6 to 9 bags The Porter service is for Individual travellers, can't be pre-booked and is available at Check in, subject to porters being available at the time of request Thalys: New Route From 12 April 2014 Thalys will introduce 23 return services per week between Lille and Amsterdam 2 X Round trips Monday through Thursday 1.5 X Round trips on Friday 1 X Round trip on the weekend
Thalys: Timetable Change Due to a last minute change of the transport plan, Thalys 9319 service (from Monday to Friday) will not operate until April 18th. The 9319 service is replaced by the 9321 service (from Monday until Friday). The customers, who are travelling on Thalys 9319 service, will be reaccomodated on the Thalys 9321 service and they will keep the same seats which they have on their train tickets. SNCB Belgium: Travel From Brussels Midi/Centraal To Brussels Airport Diabolo Fee Travellers to Brussels Airport must pay a Diabolo fee of 5.07 in addition to the following tickets: Thalys ABS Fare Eurostar ABS Fare Brussels France TGV ABS Fare Open Tickets Eurail Passholder Diabolo fee is not a transportation fee, but a tax implemented by local government to raise funds in order to improve the connection between Brussels and Brussels Airport. Diabolo fee can only be booked locally prior to boarding the train. SJ: Stockholm To Malmo Night Train From October 31 st the night train from Stockholm to Malmo will be discontinued No changes to day services with X2000/3000 operating approximately every two hours with a journey time of 4.5 hours Lyria: Track Works Between Bellegarde and Geneva Major track work will take place between Bellegarde and Geneva Services to/from Geneva and Bellegarde will be reduced and severely impacted From 15 July to 19 August the following services will operate o 3 X Daily returns from Paris <> Geneva (2 X daily returns on Saturday) o 3 X Daily returns from Paris <> Bellegarde o 2 X Daily returns from Geneva <> Mediterranean with busses replacing trains between Geneva and Bellegarde From 20 August to 24 August the following services will operate o 3 X Daily returns from Paris <> Geneva (2 X daily returns on Saturday) o 1 X Daily return from Geneva <> Mediterranean with busses replacing trains between Geneva and Amberieu Services to resume between 25 August and 1 September, exact date to be advised Lyria: Book Early Fares Are Back The introduction of the Ticketing Time Limit has allowed us to sell book early fares on Lyria services through Euronet This allows individual travellers to take advantage of excellent lead in fares on selected services between France and Switzerland A reminder that these fares are only available for individual travellers and not for groups All book early fares are subject to availability, non-changeable, non-refundable and have and immediate ticketing condition After Sales French Journey: Increase in Local Exchange Fees After 7 years without any Changes, local exchange fees for leisure fare on the above products will change New fees : 12 for French Journey, Paris<>Fribourg, Paris<>Luxembourg (maximum, instead of 10 max) 15 for France <> Germany High Speed (maximum, instead of 10 max)
Berlin <> Warsaw Express: New service to Gdansk Contrary to the name, a new daily direct service will operate direct between Berlin <> Gdansk The service is compulsory to reserve and available now in E2 France Spain High Speed: Increased Booking Horizon The booking horizon for the France Spain high speed is now 143 days on Paris-Barcelona service During the summer services between Paris to Barcelona will increase from 2 to 4 daily returns Please note however that only three services are currently available in Euronet to book, with the fourth service expected to be loaded into Euronet in the coming weeks City Night Line: Track Work From Copenhagen Affected lines: Copenhagen-Prague, Copenhagen-Basel, Copenhagen- Amsterdam City Night Line services will terminate at Flensburg with a bus replacement Flensburg and Fredericia v.v. local trains between Fredericia and Copenhagen v.v. Dates: 17 April to 8 September To book in Euronet: City Night Line complete fare between Flensburg (DE) to/from south stations (Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic) and then Open ticket between Flensburg and Copenhagen v.v. City Night Line: Track Works From Paris Due to construction works all City Night Line connections to/from Paris are cancelled without any replacement in the period from 01 June to 06 June and from 09 June and 12 June 2014 NS High Speed: Amsterdam <> Breda A supplement is required to travel on Intercity Direct services between Amsterdam <> Breda v.v This supplement can only be purchased locally prior to boarding from any ticket office in the Netherlands The supplement is in addition to the open ticket issued in Euronet Thello special fare: 25% Off for Eurail Passholders From April 1 st passengers holding a Eurail Pass valid for Italy and/or France Italy will be entitled to a 25% special discount fare on Thello services, without taking a day from their Eurail pass Due to Thello s decision, the fare is not going to be available through Hermes, and as a consequence, not available in Euronet However the fare will soon be available through Trenitalia Direct Connection for all GSAs with Web Services or Rail Booking Engine VI. Non-European trains Japan Rail Pass: Exact Names Reminder A reminder that when booking the Japan Rail Pass you must insert all names exactly as per passport, including middles names in the passenger field. Travellers will face issues locally when they go to exchange the voucher if the passes have been issued in the lead name or just with an initial plus surname.
Japan Rail Pass: Price Increase Japan Rail Pass rate will increase due to the consumption tax raise from 5% to 8% on April 1, 2014. VII. Euronet Tips Golden Pass: How To Book The 0905 Service In Euronet Please note the 0905 service from Luzern to Montreux requires an additional change in Speiz. Due to technical limitations Euronet does not display solutions that require more than two changes, therefore this service will not display in Euronet if you search Luzern to Montreux via Interlaken and Zweisimmen To book please search Luzern to Speiz via Interlaken and then make another reservation from Speiz to Montreux via Zweisimmen All services from Luzern to Interlaken can only be booked manually and you must select "Panoramic" for the seat to confirm Bernina Express: Back In Euronet After a change of reservation systems on Swiss side, Bernina Express is again bookable since a few weeks in Euronet RAD Completion After Sales If passengers want to cancel their train tickets, however cannot get their tickets stamped as not used, In this case, if the passenger contacts you before train s departure and then you can release the seat in system by using the RAD Process button. Simply use the RAD Process in Euronet and complete the after sales process as per normal The booking status will change to refunded partially Then once you receive the tickets back you can complete the refund by using the RAD completion button and complete the after sales processes as per normal and refund the traveler The RAD Completion is available for all Global Fares however fare rules apply
Important: you ll be able to finalize the refund ONLY when customers will provide original tickets. To finalize refund you ll need to follow the RAD completion procedure. You can find the RAD Completion user guide in myraileurope library. VIII. Miscellaneous Ticketing Time Limits As a reminder of new ticketing time limits that came into effect from 12 March, please see re-cap below or, to read the comprehensive ticketing time limits overview, please click here "General TTL" Policy This TTL, also described as the "General TTL", will apply to all other fares, and in particular to Fares sourced in ResaRail without an "Immediate Ticketing" condition Group fares booked using Hermes Ticketing Time Limit date Product's booking date From March 12, 2014 From December 2014 33 days or more before TDD Booking + 12 days Booking + 7 days 32 to 11 days before TDD Booking + 7 days Booking + 4 days 10 to 3 days from TDD Booking + 2 days Booking + 24 hours Within 2 days from TDD Train Departure - 4 hours Train Departure - 4 hours TDD: Train Departure Date "Restricted TTL" policy This "Restricted TTL" will apply to Fares sourced in ResaRail with an "Immediate Ticketing" condition Individual fares booked using Hermes Ticketing Time Limit date Product's booking date From March 12, 2014 From December 2014 33 days or more before TDD Booking + 6 days Booking + 3 days 32 to 11 days before TDD Booking + 4 days Booking + 2 days 10 to 3 days from TDD Booking + 2 days Booking + 24 hours Within 2 days from TDD Train Departure - 4 hours Train Departure - 4 hours TDD: Train Departure Date
TTL Changes For Group Fares From Mid-May the ticketing time limits for group fares will be extended to up to 30 days. Details are still not finalized however we will send out a Newsflash approximately 14 days prior to the changes coming into effect, so stay tuned. Pass Cover Issues We have had a few cases of travelers having problems when travelling with the wrong covers attached to their passes. We remind you that you must attach the pass to the correct cover. If the incorrect cover is attached to the pass, the pass is technically invalid and travelers risk a fine or having their pass confiscated by the ticket inspector. If you are not sure what cover goes with what pass then please check the product fact sheet on extranet and the cover will be displayed at the bottom of each page. Rail Europe Online Training The ever popular Rail Europe online training sessions will make their long await return in May. The short and sharp online sessions focus on one topic and give you the opportunity to refresh your knowledge of Rail Europe products and procedures. If you are not registered please email onlinetraining@raileurope.fr to receive notifications of upcoming sessions. PLEASE ENSURE THAT THIS INFORMATION IS COMMUNICATED TO ALL SALES STAFF AND BRANCH OFFICES