Pass guide researched online on 17 October 2026; we did not buy a pass or travel on one for it. Prices are those Interrail published in euros that day and change with promotions and currency. Reservation fees are Interrail’s own indicative figures.
Eurail Pass guide for 2026: eurail.com now redirects to Interrail. Pass types, published prices, seat reservation fees, the mobile pass and refund rules.
Key takeaways
- The pass still exists, but under the Interrail name.
- Three families. The Global Pass covers 33 countries, either flexibly from 4 travel days in a month or continuously for up to 3 months.
- Interrail’s pass tables, read in euros on 17 October 2026, priced a second-class adult Global Pass from €283 for 4 travel days in a month to €956 for 3 months…
- In the Rail Planner app you add the pass with your surname and pass number, connect a trip, then activate it with your passport or ID number and a start date.
- All night trains and most high-speed trains do, and Interrail singles out France, Italy and Spain.
What happened to the Eurail Pass in 2026?
Link to this answerThe pass still exists, but under the Interrail name. On 17 October 2026, eurail.com/en returned a permanent redirect to interrail.com, and Interrail’s about page names the seller as Interrail B.V., known as Eurail B.V. until 1 May 2026, which sells its Passes to travellers worldwide.
We checked the redirect in the server response rather than trusting a banner: eurail.com answers with a 301 that lands on Interrail’s international site, tagged “eurail-welcome”. Interrail’s about page gives the same Utrecht address and Chamber of Commerce registration for the renamed company.
Interrail’s conditions of use record the rest of the change. Version 18, effective 22 June 2026, opened Interrail Passes to travellers from any country, and version 19, effective 10 September 2026, removed Eurail Passes from the text. Anyone already holding a Eurail Pass stays on the earlier conditions and the earlier refund policy.
In practice, a traveller from Canada, Australia or the United States now buys the same Interrail Global Pass as a traveller from Germany. The differences that remain depend on where you live, not on the brand, and our Interrail vs Eurail guide sets them out.
Which pass types replace the old Eurail range?
Link to this answerThree families. The Global Pass covers 33 countries, either flexibly from 4 travel days in a month or continuously for up to 3 months. One Country Passes cover a single country or a set grouping such as Benelux. The beta Plus Pass folds most seat reservation fees into a 5- or 7-day pass.
Interrail’s pass guide aims the Global Pass at trips through two or more countries, with more than 30,000 destinations. Flexi versions give 4, 5 or 7 travel days inside one month, or 10 or 15 inside two months; continuous versions run for 15 or 22 days, or for 1, 2 or 3 months (Global Pass).
The One Country Pass page says most of these last a month with a fixed number of travel days, and lists the multi-country exceptions: Benelux, a Nordic Pass for Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the German Rail Pass, which reaches some cities over the border, and a 6-day Greek Islands Pass that includes ferries from Italy.
The Plus Pass is labelled beta. Its Global, Italy and German Rail versions cover seat reservations on most trains, must be activated within 3 months of purchase rather than 11, and their seats are booked only through an Interrail account.
How much does the pass cost in 2026?
Link to this answerInterrail’s pass tables, read in euros on 17 October 2026, priced a second-class adult Global Pass from €283 for 4 travel days in a month to €956 for 3 months of unlimited travel. Youth passes cost 25% less, seniors pay 10% less, and children aged 4 to 11 ride free with a Child Pass.
These are the prices loaded by the pass table on Interrail’s Global Pass page for its international site; no sale was running when we looked. The same table holds sterling prices, £246 for the 4-day and £331 for the 7-day second-class adult pass, so compare in the currency your card will actually be charged in.
Age rules come from the Global Pass conditions: youth means 12 to 27 on the first day of travel and senior means 60 or over. Each adult, senior, or youth aged 18 or over can take two children aged 4 to 11 free, but their Child Passes must be added before payment; under-4s need no pass.
A first-class pass is valid in both classes, while a second-class pass is valid only in second, so the dearer pass buys a fallback on crowded days as well as more space.
| Global Pass | 2nd class adult | 2nd class youth (12–27) | 2nd class senior (60+) | 1st class adult |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 days in 1 month | €283 | €212 | €255 | €367 |
| 5 days in 1 month | €318 | €239 | €286 | €413 |
| 7 days in 1 month | €381 | €286 | €343 | €495 |
| 10 days in 2 months | €447 | €335 | €402 | €581 |
| 15 days in 2 months | €553 | €415 | €498 | €718 |
| 15 days continuous | €476 | €357 | €428 | €618 |
| 22 days continuous | €586 | €440 | €527 | €761 |
| 1 month continuous | €696 | €522 | €626 | €904 |
| 2 months continuous | €826 | €620 | €743 | €1,073 |
| 3 months continuous | €956 | €717 | €860 | €1,242 |
How does the mobile pass work on a travel day?
Link to this answerIn the Rail Planner app you add the pass with your surname and pass number, connect a trip, then activate it with your passport or ID number and a start date. Before boarding, you add each journey to the pass, and the inspector scans that day’s ticket on your phone.
Interrail’s setup guide says activation can wait up to 11 months after purchase but needs an internet connection, and that you cannot board your first train on an unactivated pass. A travel day can be cancelled until midnight on the day before, so an unused flexi day is not lost when plans slip.
The mobile pass page asks for a connection at least once every three days and lists support for iOS 16 and Android 6 or later. It promises a free replacement if you lose your phone, whereas the refund policy says a lost or stolen paper pass cannot be reissued.
Night trains use one travel day: Interrail’s conditions count only the departure day on a flexi pass, provided you do not change train or ferry after midnight and the arrival day falls inside the pass’s validity.
Which trains need a paid reservation on top of the pass?
Link to this answerAll night trains and most high-speed trains do, and Interrail singles out France, Italy and Spain. Its indicative fee lists put a Eurostar Standard seat between London and Paris at €35, the Paris–Barcelona TGV at €35, an Italian Frecciarossa at €13 and an optional German ICE seat at €5.50.
The figures come from Interrail’s domestic and international fee lists, which call them indicative and source them from carriers’ booking sites. Booking through Interrail’s own reservation system adds €2 per passenger per train, and the reservations page warns that local prices can differ.
A few trains need a supplement, not just a seat. Interrail’s supplements page lists Railjets crossing from Austria or Germany into Italy, Intercity Direct between Schiphol and Rotterdam, EIP trains in Poland and the Centovalli line, and says the Brenner supplement costs €5 more when bought on board.
Eurostar takes second-class pass holders in Standard only and does not accept the pass in Premier, the international list adds. Interrail’s advice on avoiding reservations is that most European trains need none at all, and its app can filter for those journeys.
| Train and route | Reservation for pass holders | Indicative fee, 2nd class |
|---|---|---|
| Eurostar London–Paris or Brussels | Compulsory | €35 (Standard) |
| TGV Paris–Barcelona | Compulsory | €35 |
| TGV INOUI within France | Compulsory | €10–€20 |
| Frecciarossa within Italy | Compulsory | €13 |
| AVE within Spain | Compulsory | €10 |
| EuroCity Milan or Venice–Switzerland | Compulsory | €13–€17 |
| ICE and IC within Germany | Optional | €5.50 |
| Railjet within Austria | Optional | €3 |
Can you use the pass in the country where you live?
Link to this answerOnly for two journeys. If you live in one of the 33 pass countries, a Global Pass covers one outbound journey to the border, an airport or a port and one inbound journey back, each on a travel day you already hold. A One Country Pass cannot be used in your country of residence at all.
The rule is clause 4.3 of the conditions of use, which adds that both journeys may include several trains as long as they fall on the same travel day. Interrail’s home-country page explains that the app spots these journeys and asks before spending one, even if you only pass through your own country.
For a UK resident starting in Manchester, the train to London and the Eurostar onward can therefore be one outbound journey if both happen on the same day. Residents of countries outside the network, such as the United States or Australia, face no home-country limit at all.
Interrail also says it sometimes runs pilots that give mobile pass holders extra home-country journeys, which appear automatically in the app if your country qualifies (Interrail).
What are the refund and exchange rules?
Link to this answerA standard mobile pass can be returned in full within 7 days of purchase. After that, a pass that has not been activated can be refunded less 10%, or exchanged for €25, until its last activation date 11 months after purchase. Refund Protection, sold only with mobile passes, keeps those later returns free.
The terms are in version 12 of the refund and exchange policy, dated 10 September 2026. Plus Passes become non-refundable once any included reservation is booked, promotional passes follow their own conditions, and unused travel days on an activated pass are not refunded.
Paper passes are stricter. They must be posted back unused, with the pass cover, before the validity period begins, and shipping charges are never refunded. The booking fee on seat reservations is not refundable either.
If a train is cancelled or you will miss a connection, the policy asks you to contact customer service rather than use the online refund route, because a self-service refund counts as accepting the standard reservation terms.
What does the pass not cover?
Link to this answerCity transport, accommodation and most reservations sit outside it. Interrail lists trams, buses, metros and rental bikes as excluded, though some cities offer pass discounts. It covers trains run by 35 rail and ferry companies, and partner deals include 30% off Stena Line’s Harwich–Hook of Holland crossing and Norway’s Flåm railway.
The inclusions and exclusions are on Interrail’s pass guide; the company count is on What is Interrail. Benefits unlock automatically when you buy a pass, the One Country Pass page says.
The Stena Line discount appears in Interrail’s busy-routes advice as a way to reach the Netherlands without a Eurostar reservation, and the 30% reduction on the Flåm scenic train is on the domestic fee list.
Airport links can carry extras even when the train is covered: Belgian trains to Brussels Airport need a Diabolo supplement, which the supplements page prices at €7.10 and the domestic list at €6.40, so check the amount when you pay it.
Who should buy the pass, and who should not?
Link to this answerBuy it if you want to choose routes as you go, travel several long days, or lean on regional trains that need no reservation. Skip it for a short trip on fixed dates, or for a plan built around Eurostar, French TGVs and Italian high-speed trains, where reservations pile on top of the pass price.
A 7-day second-class adult pass at €381 works out at about €54 per travel day before reservations. One short high-speed hop booked early can cost less than that, while a day stringing together three or four trains at walk-up prices usually costs more.
Our Global Pass value guide runs the sums leg by leg, the first-timer’s guide covers tickets and luggage, and night trains in Europe explains how berths work on a pass.
If you decide against a pass, compare sellers as well as fares; Omio vs Trainline vs Rail Europe sets out how their fees and customer support differ.
Ad · before committing to a pass, look up the single fares for each leg of your route on Rail Europe or Omio. Note which fares include a seat and what a change costs, and add up every fee before choosing.
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Evidence note
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19 external references linked in this guide and its resources. Each reference supports only the claims it addresses; a link is not evidence of first-hand testing.
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