BritRail England Flexi Pass-Questions

[shellyc]

We are trying to buy the best short term rail pass for our needs and are getting a little confused. We are flying to France for 3 days then taking the Eurostar from Paris to London pre-cruise, on a Sat. We are taking the train to Southampton from London Sun morning, and 10 days later from Southampton back to London, and will stay in London 2 more days.

Does anyone know if I can purchase a Britrail England FlexiPass and activate it on the French side as we get on the Eurostar back to London. We don't need a French rail pass as we are flying in and staying in one place.

Also can the BritRail England Flexi-Pass be used on the tubes, buses and trains, and does the 24 hour period start when first activated, example: 6:00PM Sat to 6:00PM Sun = 1 day used on pass?

 

BritRail England Flexi-Pass 4 day = 2 mo

$209.00 x 2 = $418.00

2 passholder on Eurostar one way $150.00

Total passes $568.00

or

Eurostar one way leisure rate (2) $240.00

London to Southampton $100.00

Southampton to London $100.00

London/Gatwick/London etc 2 days $100.00

Sub-total estimates single tickets $540.00

 

One traveler is 60, one is 59

I will be talking to a travel agent next week to get her opinion as we book our Disneyland Paris accommodations.

[Nickwolf]

Crikey, I thought I had the UK travel system sorted out in my mind but your question has me baffled. I hope someone else can be of more help.

 

If this has you only a little confused I consider you the expert. ;)

 

Nick.

[Globaliser]

Does anyone know if I can purchase a Britrail England FlexiPass and activate it on the French side as we get on the Eurostar back to London. We don't need a French rail pass as we are flying in and staying in one place.

Also can the BritRail England Flexi-Pass be used on the tubes, buses and trains, and does the 24 hour period start when first activated, example: 6:00PM Sat to 6:00PM Sun = 1 day used on pass?

I'm as baffled by Nick by this, but I have had a dig on the Web to see whether there was anything I could rapidly find out. What I found was this page:-

How to Validate and Use Your Pass:

1. Passes are to be validated within 6 months from the date of issue and prior to the first day of use. To validate your pass present your passport and your pass to a railway official in a railway ticket office (not the conductor) from the country in which it is valid. The railway official will enter the first and last date of validity on the pass. This must be done before boarding a train, bus, boat or renting a car for the first time. In most cases validity runs from midnight to midnight for the period shown on the pass but check individual passes/countries for variations. All services, rail, rental car, air travel and travel bonuses must he used within the validity of the accompanying rail pass.

That page was reached from that site's page about the BritRail England Flexipass.

 

The BritRail England Flexipass page talks about "the rail networks of England" but makes no mention of London Transport services. So I think that it would be safer to assume that it will cover overground British Rail services within London, but it will not cover the London Underground or London Buses.

 

I suspect that these factors mean that you would have to pay the full Eurostar fare for that trip, and you would also have to buy London Transport tickets for travel within London, although the pass will cover the trip on the Gatwick Express. That may change your calculations.

[shellyc]

Thanks for your reply.

[calikak]

Try these sites:

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/greatbritain.htm

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/eurostar.htm

 

I'm pretty sure the railpasses don't cover the Eurostar, but you do get a discount on the Eurostar as a passholder.