Interrail: rule of the country of residence

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

Hi.

[b]Update[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]

the rule of the country of residence exist to avoid people buying an InterRail ticket to use it as a let\'s say ticket for everyday. To use it to go to work everyday for example.
The idea of InterRail is to travel during some days a country. If I life for example in France (=country of residence) and I need to go to work every day from Paris to Marseilles, an InterRail ticket would be a cheap solution - but this is not the idea of InterRail. It is not the idea to get a cheap ticket to use it as a normal ticket - there are more expensive solutions available ;)
and to avoid all this, the rule of the country of residence exists.

I understand this rule - but I really don\'t like it. it is not fair! and for example for people living in Germany, the InterRail ticket gets unattractive. Because it is not possible to travel from Southern to Northern Europe without paying supplements.
People need to use a cheap flight (ryanair, ...) - and that is not really ecological, but if you do not have money, you need to do it. And when starting a travel already by plane, you do not need a train anymore. Take the plane, fly to everywhere in the world, it is sometimes even cheaper. ;)

Also it is simply sad, that you can visit the whole Europe, but not your own country. :(
I know for example really a lot of cities and places of Europe, but only some big cities of my own country... a bit strange. isn\'t it...?!? :))

okay, now the rule is explained... ;)

and to help you ... you have to proof by official documents, that you lived in a certain country for more than 6 month that it becomes you country of residence.
and you are living for example in the UK for a long time with you Spanish passport. normally you have to buy an UK-InterRail-pass and you couldn\'t travel for free in the UK. but until now, no one working at a station could explain me, how to proof this... and what they mean by official documents. if you are coming from outside of Europe, you have such official documents with your visa.
now back to you. if you do not have official documents to proof that you lived in the UK for at least the last six month, you can not buy an UK-InterRail ticket, you have to buy a Spanish ticket which allows you free travel in the UK.
For your friend: he has to buy an UK ticket. :(

I hope I answered your question a little bit ...?!?

Have a lot of fun... and a lot of sunny days ... and by the way: for Scotland it is nicer to have a car with you ...!! :) to reach all the nice and sweet places in nature, you can\'t reach them by train. I already tried it! ;)

Peter
:)

Rateta
Traveller
7 comments

oh well for me isn\'t a problem to say i am spanish and i can travel for free in my real country of residence so the rule sucks in my opinion so is even better my boyfriend gets a british one and i get a spanish one and we share the costs of going out of england and dedicate our time in other places... but if I change my mind and I want to prove ive been leaving in England for the last five years WHAT kind of papers you mean by oficial documents to prove it... pls give me an exemple.... thanks

Rateta
Traveller
7 comments

By the way i need to mention something... at the beginning of the webb when u can choose ur language.... where is spanish or italian? :| u can choose srpski or magyar or suomi.... spanish is spoken all around the world...not everybody is able to understand english... it looks unfair... i will apreciate if who ever did the webb have it on mind.... i can help with translations if u need me... ;) it will open the webb for so many more people... thanks again... (i can translate to spanish or catalan no italian i am afraid... ) :D

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hey hey ... :)

that is the problem ... i just do not know what is needed as official documents when you are citizen of the European Community. No one ever told it to me when I asked at a station or somewhere else.
So I think you need documents from the city you live and pay your taxes ... or ... something comparable ...!? :o

and about the english and italian language versions ... there was persons helping with the translation, but they never finished it.

now there is Andrea starting soon with the italian translation and maybe YOU with the spanish one ... ?!? :)

I will inform you be email...
Peter
:)

Rateta
Traveller
7 comments

Looking forward to listen abt that... i would like to help with the translations... spanish and catalan would be nice... thanks for ur help... i think i would get a spanish one and i can travel all around uk for free where its much more expensive than in Spain... we ll see what my boyfriend would like to do... c u soon

Paranoia
Traveller
4 comments

[quote]hi ... :)

the rule of the country of residence exist to avoid people buying an InterRail ticket to use it as a let\'s say ticket for everyday. To use it to go to work everyday for example.
The idea of InterRail is to travel during some days a country. If I life for example in France (=country of residence) and I need to go to work every day from Paris to Marseilles, an InterRail ticket would be a cheap solution - but this is not the idea of InterRail. It is not the idea to get a cheap ticket to use it as a normal ticket - there are more expensive solutions available ;)
and to avoid all this, the rule of the country of residence exists.
[/quote]
Okay, i just stumbled over this thread, but to pay 400 Euros every month for a train ticket simply isn\'t cheap. or am i thinking to swiss? :|
a total of 4800 Euros every year for a personal train ticket... and nobody commutes over such distances as from Marseille to Paris. i understand it is an example, but not a realistic one...

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

I don\'t like this rule at all - it is very disturbing and you loose a lot of the freedom of the ticket. But I can\'t change the rules. It is not me doing the rules!!
Especially when living in a big country like Germany for example, you can NOT travel from Northern to Souther Europe without crossing your own country - and then you have to pay extra !! :(

Information: In Germany you pay about 3600 EUR for a rail ticket valid for 12 months. But you can only but it for a whole year, not for single months. So the InterRail version for 400 EUR per month (if you only have a lot of travels within one or two months) is maybe for some persons a nice solution.

yurev_v
Traveller
1 comments

Hi!

I study in Nederlands and I want to go to switerland for christmas. But I just arrived 3 months ago. I\'ll be here for several years, so I just wondering if I can apply for a interrail ticket.
I have my visa and student card, whit these documents is possible to apply.?

Best regards

yurev

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej Yurev ...
you need the six months... :(
even if you stay (and have visa) for more than 6 months ...
for you there is the possibility of an Eurail pass - it is nearly the same like InterRail, only a little bit more expensive, or have a look at the [b]SWISS Youth Pass[/b]:
[ux]https://rail.shop/swisstravelpass[/ux]

to travel from the Netherlands to Switzerland, use a [b]CityNightLine[/b] train. but book your journey right now... otherwise the fares will grow as closer to the travel date you book: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/germany/de[/u]
have fun on your tour, Peter :)

anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments

Hi everyone,
I am a turkish citizen, with a turkish passport.
But i have been living in Qatar for more than 2,5 years.
I had some visits to Turkey 2 times a year, for 15 days each time.

I already spent 7 months in Qatar, then back to Turkey for 15 days, 6 months in Qatar, back to Turkey for 15 days...like this...for about 30 months

Here comes the confusion.
Shall I get a Interrail pass because i am a turkish passport holder, as Turkey is a member of Interrail and i am a citizen of turkey?
Shall I get Eurail pass, because I have been living out of Europe for 2,5 years, with some breaks of 15 days?
If I get a Eurail, may I base it on my last duration of stay? I mean if I just came back from my 15-day vacation in turkey, and I stayed 4 months in Qatar, then it is not 6 months. Shall I get a eurail or interrail? Do this 15-day vacations in Turkey reset my residency in Qatar? If I already spent 7 months in Qatar before am I considered as non-european resident despite my 15-day vacations in Turkey?

Why this is so confusing I do not understand... I have some doubts on proving my residency to the people on the stations in Europe, with these unknown required documents.

I hope somebody can give me a satisfying answer. I already made a contact with Eurail and Interrail official websites customer services but my doubts still remain as before. After paying this much money, I do not want to have any trouble about proving my residency and getting on trains...


Best for all of you,

mrvrtrk

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej... I do not have the information about the official rule in your case. but the experience of a lot of travellers I talked to says: if you have an European (in your case Turkish) passport, you can buy and travel on an Turkish InterRail ticket, even when stayed all the last years somewhere else outside of Europe. go on [u]https://rail.cc/en/train-tickets/turkey/tr[/u] and select as country of residence: Turkey
hope this will help you ... all the best, Peter :)

Judithh
Traveller
4 comments

Hej,
ok once again the question: I\'ve been living in Poland now for a few months and I\'m thinking of using Interrail to travel through Germany after my stay (6 months...I know). So will I have to take this country-of-residence-proof all the time with me? And what the hell is it!? (ok i know you don\'t know...and I don\'t think polish pkp-people will know :/ whatever)
wow that\'s complicated, but it\'s cool that I wil be able to use Interrail to travel in Germany :P
thanks!
Judith

cansu
Traveller
1 comments

hello to everyone
im really confused about country of residence thing..im turkish and im studying in germany for 2 months..in other 4 months i lived in turkey..so can somebody tell me where is my country of residence??and with my ticket i want to travell in germany too..
pls help me
thanx

mikeyz
Traveller
1 comments

hey, i\'m a uk citizen but have been studying out in austria for 3 months now (since start of september) but want to go interrailing within austria (briefly), germany etc in february. By then i will have lived here for just 5 months. Can I still count the UK as my country of residence, since it\'s less than 6 months, or do i say austria?
thanks :)

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej...
you can buy an UK InterRail Pass - no problem! :)
just fill in at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] the UK as your country of residence and the passport number of your UK passport or IDcard.
the delivery address can be in Austria even ordering an UK InterRail pass...
have fun, Peter :)

Batidakathi
Traveller
1 comments

HEllo everone..
I\'m really confused about this 6 months rule..

I got a friend who is British but who now lives in Australia (since a couple of years). So she wouldn\'t be able to buy interrail would she?
Thank you for your help, Kathi

urbwarin
Traveller
1 comments

Hola a todos,

I am very curious curious about this country of residence again, oh well, it\'s just so confusing. In my case, I would like to travel in Switzerland in April but I have already started planning about this one country interrail ticket. The thing is i\'m not a European citizen but I have been living in Spain with 180-day visa, but before it expires I will move to Italy with a renewal 180-day visa. By the time i travel to Switzerland, I will be in Italy for 2 months. So can i use my visa to prove that I have been in Spain for 180 days before moving to Italy even though I actually live in Spain for a few weeks less than 180 days? I hope I explain clearly, really hope you can help me with this. Thank you in advance. :)

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej hej ...
mmmh... you need these 180 days (6 months). so if you have these 6 months in Spain, you can buy a Spanish InterRail pass and travel via Switzerland to Italy where you get a new visa for 180 days...
if this is to confusing for you, have a look at these rail tickets: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train-tickets[/u] or at an Eurail ticket: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail[/u]
:)

anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments

hey :)

i have a question... i come from montenegro and i have a montenegrin passport. however, i live in germany since september and I have german residence permit. which interrail pass should i buy? can i actually buy it if i\'m not EU citizen?

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej ...
you can buy a Montenegrin InterRail Ticket here: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
as Montenegro is then your country of residence and you can travel for free in Germany. this will be the best solution for you.
these are official tickets and will be send to you by secure mail !!!
and Montenegro belongs to the countries which can buy an InterRail pass, see also: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail[/u]
I hope you are happy with these good news. have a good time and a lot of fun, Peter :)

somersault
Traveller
1 comments

Hei Hei

I have a question too..

I come from Thailand but now I have been working in Norway.. since 5th september ..

Then I plan to traveling around europe from Norway-Sweden-Germany-Czech-Austria-Hungary-Croatia-Italy-France-Spain and back to Norway..


I have Norwegian residence permit...

I can buy Interrail tickets or not????

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

hej hej ... :)
I love Thailand ... just spent there 6 weeks in November/December working on a project for the Thai railway company and of course I did some beach and travel days there as well !! really beautiful !! :)
but now to your question...
you need the six month stay in Norway. so you arrived on the 5th September 2008 in Norway. then the first day on which you can start traveling by InterRail is the 5th March 2008 - two days ago. *perfect*
so no problem for you to travel by InterRail. if you order your official ticket here [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] , just fill in as country of residence Norway and as passport number the one of your Thai passport. always have your residency permit of Norway with you on your travels!! :)
and if you have some more questions, just let me know!!
have a good time traveling Europe by train and all the best, Peter :)

Cherie_L
Traveller
15 comments

Hello everyone,
i have a different question concerning the validity of the interrail ticket.
a friend of mine will buy a global pass in summer and at the end of her trip she wants to go from innsbruck to munich.
my questions are now:
a) how do i get the most cheapest ticket from innsbruck to munich - will i get a discount for the rest of the route after the border?
b) is there also a discount for the underground in munich as she owns a global pass?

thanks for the answers! :P

Hetman
Traveller
364 comments

b) no, there is not.

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

a) a normal 2nd class ticket is EUR 30.
there are limited tickets called Europa-Spezial Österreich from the German railway company (buy them in Germany at a station). but you are fixed then on a date, time and train.
:)

merlomar
Traveller
1 comments

Hi!
I have another question about the country of residence. My sister and I are both french citizens and our parents own a house in France, but we both study in North America. Do you think it would still be possible for us to declare France as our country of residence, since we have a house here? Thanks for your help!

Hetman
Traveller
364 comments

if you have valid french passport/ID you haven\'t any problem with IR.