Had a really odd experience yesterday in the UK. I tried to board a train at Euston using an Interrail pass that I’d already been traveling with all day, and was denied boarding.
Staff told me my ticket wasn’t valid because it was “not found in the Eurail database.” No real explanation beyond that. It honestly felt like they thought the ticket was forged, which made things pretty uncomfortable.
What’s confusing is that the QR code should be verifiable offline and tied to my ID. At the ticket office, they ran it and said they got a “weird result” but confirmed the ticket was valid. Since then, multiple conductors on other trains have also said it’s fine.
Interrail support hasn’t helped much either. They claimed I was denied because I needed a seat reservation, which is clearly wrong for Avanti services, even if the timetable incorrectly shows a mandatory reservation flag.
Has anyone seen this “not found in Eurail database” issue before? Could a pass get temporarily flagged if you’ve used it a lot in one day, or is this just UK gate staff not knowing how to handle Interrail properly?
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