Booking conditions for tickets booked with us

These general terms and conditions apply to your booking of tickets with us.

Specific terms also apply to each particular ticket type and take precedence over these general terms.

You are advised to read these.

1. The Contract
Your contract is with the carrier, tour operator, or other service provider. We act only as an agent and accepts no liability for any matters arising from or otherwise connected with your contract.

The relevant conditions of carriage and byelaws of the railway operators over whose lines you travel on your journey are incorporated into your contract together with those of any other carrier.

Your contract also includes the Uniform Rules concerning the Contract for International Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Rail (CIV) which are applicable to the Berne Convention concerning international carriage by rail.

All other services are subject to the conditions of the service provider, whether or not they are booked at the same time as a rail journey.

All conditions of carriage contain limitations of liability and we recommend that you read these before travelling.

2. Bookings & Reservations
When you have reserved your ticket, we will send you an email confirming your booking and provide you with a booking reference number and a link to a section of our website giving you fulfillment progress information.

A booking fee may be charged.

Please examine your tickets carefully upon receipt. We accept no liability for ticket errors resulting from incorrect information provided by you.

If you notice any inaccuracy, you must tell us within 48 hours of receipt of your tickets.

We make every effort to ensure that all tickets booked through us are issued correctly and efficiently but in the event of any error or delay occurring in connection with the booking or the issue of tickets, the maximum liability to you will be to refund the price of your ticket.

Names on travel documents must match exactly those shown on passports.

eTickets must be collected from the station of departure. You must present your passport and your booking reference number and have available the credit or debit card with which payment was made.

3. Validity
The period of validity of any kind of ticket is that printed on the ticket or stated in our notices and other publications relating to the ticket. Reduced fare and discounted fare tickets may be subject to limited availability and restrictions as to the dates, days, times within a day and trains on which they can be used. Such ticket restrictions are set out in our notices and other publications.

Stop-overs en route, other than those necessary for transfers, are not permitted. If you break your journey, you will not be entitled to continue it later.

Tickets for Eurostar trains do not include the cost of travel between different stations in any one city.

Before boarding a Eurostar train or any train outside Great Britain, the ticket must usually be validated at the automatic gates or at the check-in booths.

If you have to change trains on a journey you are making, you will be responsible for transferring yourself and your baggage between the trains and, if necessary, between stations.

If you wish to use your ticket for a station other than the one for which it is valid you will have to pay the appropriate full fare for the additional portion of the journey.

Tickets may not be offered for sale except by us or any International Rail Limited's authorised agents. If a ticket is resold or transferred for profit or other commercial gain, it will become invalid and the holder may not be entitled to use it.

Tickets remain our property and if you fail in any material respect to comply with any condition governing its use, your ticket may be withdrawn or invalidated by our staff or agents.

You are responsible for making sure that you join the correct train and that you get on and off at the correct station. We will not be responsible for any loss or delay caused as a result of your joining the wrong train or getting on or off at the wrong station.

You must allow at least 30 minutes, or other minimum period which we may specify from time to time, in order to check in for a Eurostar train. If you arrive after this minimum period, you may not be allowed to board your train.

You are also responsible for ensuring that you are in possession of a valid passport or other valid travel documents when you travel, and that you have obtained all necessary visas or other immigration documents which you need for all countries through which your journey passes. If you attempt to travel without a valid passport or other necessary travel documents you may not be allowed to board the train.

Tickets must be shown (together with any railcards or other supporting documents where they are required) or handed over upon request to a member of staff of the operator on which those tickets are valid.

4. Fares and payment
All fares quoted are subject to availability and are only taken when payment has been received from you.

Products booked online may only be paid for by the following credit or debit cards: Visa Credit, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Mastercard Credit, Mastercard Debit, Maestro and JCB.

If you wish to pay by cheque or BACS, then please contact our Call Centre on 0871 231 0790

5. Changes to your ticket and refunds
Unless indicated otherwise in the specific terms that apply to your ticket, your ticket is only valid for travel at the times stated on it and may not be exchanged.

Should you require to travel at any other time and exchange is permitted by the special conditions, the used and unused portions of the ticket must be sent to International Rail Limited, PO Box 153, Alresford, SO24 4AQ, United Kingdom.

We reserve the right to charge a processing fee of 20% of the cost of the ticket for this service.

If an order for a rail pass or product is received and found to be incorrect, in as much as you are not entitled to what has been ordered, an admin fee of £12.00 will be charged to cancel the order.

There are ususally two reasons for this:

(1) Country of residence is entered incorrectly - this should relate to the 6 months prior to date of travel, not what is on the passport/ nationality.

(2) Age - close attention should be made as to whether the traveller is youth/adult/senior

The details concerning ticket refunds are set out in the specific terms that apply to your ticket. If these permit a refund, we reserve the right to charge a processing fee of 20% of the cost of the ticket.

The processing fees made in respect of exchanges and cancellations are in addition to any charges that may be made by the carrier concerned.

Refunds on partially used tickets are not usually available. We will give reasonable consideration to applications for refunds in exceptional circumstances provided application is made in writing within 28 days of the expiry date of ticket (with the used and unused portion of the tickets) by recorded delivery post to International Rail Limited, PO Box 153, Alresford, SO24 4AQ, United Kingdom. We may require additional evidence of non use of the ticket.

Should you place an order for a product that you are not eliglible for, we reserve the right to charge an administration fee in order to cancel your order down and process any refund(s) due.

All refunds will be made by the same method by which the ticket was purchased. Cash refunds will not be made.

6. Lost or Damaged Tickets
We do not undertake to issue duplicate tickets to replace tickets (or portions of tickets) lost, stolen or mislaid.

If you have purchased Ticket Protection Plan, available for purchase at the time of booking your Rail Tickets and/or Passes then, subject to the conditions of that plan you will be able to recover the cost of a new pass if it is lost or stolen while travelling.

Any ticket which may have been spoiled, tampered with or altered in any way is not valid for travel.

You must return it to us and we may issue a replacement ticket on payment of an administrative charge. However, we reserve the right to refuse to issue a replacement ticket where it is reasonable for us to do so.

No replacement ticket will be issued where the ticket has been so damaged or defaced as to prevent the reading of essential details.

7. Baggage
The CIV and the byelaws and conditions of any carrier will contain exclusions and limitations of liability for loss or losses, injury, damage and destruction of baggage and late deliveries.

Restrictions may also be imposed on the amount of baggage and the type of baggage you may take and a charge may be levied in respect of excess baggage.

Please check before travelling Requirements as to labeling and lost and unclaimed baggage may also apply.

We accept no liability for the failure of any carrier, tour operator or other service provider. And have no liability for theft, loss of or damage to persons, effects or any loss caused by a force majeure event. We exclude all liabilities to you to the maximum extent permitted at law.

8. Force Majeure
We will not be liable for any delay, poor performance or failure in performance caused by matters beyond our reasonable control.

Likewise the carrier, the tour operator, or any other service provider will not be so liable.

9. Governing Law
These terms and conditions are governed by English law.

10. Boarding times
You must allow time to check in for certain train services - e.g. 30 minutes must be allowed for Eurostar services.

If you arrive after the time provided, you may not be allowed to board your train.

Please check with the railway company concerned before traveling for exact details of required boarding time.

11. Timetable information
We endeavour to give accurate timetable information to all customers at the time of booking. However, travellers are advised to check train times locally on arrival. We accept no liability for any losses or damages incurred arising from timing or non operation of services or otherwise in connection with information we have supplied.

12. Variations
These conditions are subject to variation at any time.

Any variation will be displayed here and you will be deemed to have accepted a variation if you have made a booking after it has been displayed.

Italian 'open' paper tickets, domestic and crossborder, where there is no requirement for a compulsory reservation, must be validated at the yellow machines on the platform before use.

Failure to do so is subject to a €200 fine, reduced to €100 if paid within 15 days.

Ticketless reservations do not need to be validated.