I purchased 2 tickets, one for myself and one for my daughter, on trainline. I just printed them off and it appears that there is just one ticket for the 2 of us. My name is the only name on the ticket as the "lead passenger". I am the only one that requires ID. Is this set of tickets only valid if we go together? If for some reason I couldn't go, does that mean my daughter is out of luck? I can't get any info from the Trainline website.
We are traveling from Amsterdam to Cologne and back.
Are this ticket for a specific train?
If they are, it will say on the ticket, date, time, train number and seat numbers (2 seat numbers).
In which case the ticket is only valid on that train.
It is valid for you and anybody you want to bring along with you.
They probably won't ask for ID. The only reason they have your name on the ticket is to stop you printing out 2 copies and giving one to somebody else to use. Tickets you buy at a station don't have names on them, you can travel without ever telling anybody your name.
"If for some reason I couldn't go, does that mean my daughter is out of luck?" - yes, she is out of luck.
Kateja,
Which train did you purchase the tickets for? I've always found Trainline to be very helpful and responsive to E-mail requests. This may help - https://www.thetrainline.com/about-us/contact-us .
If for some reason I couldn't go, does that mean my daughter is out of luck?
Is this a rhetorical question (If for some reason...), or do you really think you might not go with her. The reason they include your name and want ID is to prevent another couple from using the same ticket, somewhere else on the train. You need to be there in person (or at least some person, with your ID, impersonating you). If for some reason you can't go, you will have to get a refund (assuming this is not a non-refundable ticket).
And, Chris, "date, time, train number and seat numbers (2 seat numbers)". At least in Germany, seat reservations have not been required for train specific tickets in years (I bought "Sparpreis tickets in 2008, and they included seat reservations, so only one person could use them), but not recently. So, just because the ticket doesn't show seat numbers, doesn't mean it is not a train specific ticket.
Thanks for all the responses.
Yes the ticket does list train, times & seats.
I just assumed (my bad?) that when I bought 2 tickets that they would be separate tickets. Like if I bought airline tickets.
At Centraal Station in Amsterdam, one has to use the barcode on the ticket to get through the security gates and into the station. As we are coming from different places, will the barcode work for 2 different people entering at 2 different times?
I have used Trainline many times in the past and have always been quite happy with them. But then I was just buying 1 ticket. I finally reached customer service yesterday, but she said she was customer service UK and there was no phone number for CS Europe. She gave me a web address, but I had given up by that point.
I am still curious as to how one buys 2 seats together, 2 separate tickets?
I am still curious as to how one buys 2 seats together, 2 separate
tickets?
You avoid 3rd party ticket resellers and buy direct from the company that operates the train (easier with some companies than other).
At least in Germany, you can purchase just tickets (without seat reservations), and you can purchase seat reservations independently of tickets (this is often used by people with rail passes or annual passes, who don't need tickets). So, you would purchase the tickets separately, one ticket for each of you, then purchase two seat reservations together. There would probably be only on copy of the seat reservation, which should be in the name and possession of the first person to get to the seats.
