Most "youth" railpasses specify the pax must be "under 26". Would someone who celebrated their 26th birthday yesterday qualify for one of these passes or not? If they really mean "no more than 25" then why don't they state it that way? Thanks

I'm not sure I understand where the confusion comes from ....

If someone has turned 26 already, be it yesterday or three months ago, they don't qualify for a pass that is for people under 26 years old.

If someone is 25 when they start traveling, but turn 26 during the validity of their railpass, then they are ok.

Here's what Rick Steves says in his guide to railpasses, which is available on line:

"If you're under 26: Some passes are discounted for youth traveling second class. To be eligible, you must be under 26 (according to your passport) the day you validate the pass in Europe."

As with the 2nd poster, I fail to see what the problem is.

Does anyone have an answer based on actual experience with these passes?

Your question has been answered, if you are 26, you are not under 26 and the pass would not be valid. They will look at your passport when you get it validated, and if you are 26, they will not validate it. As stated, however, if you validate the pass before you turn 26, then it is still valid.

Asked and answered!

Thank you for your reply, schmare. The fact of the matter is that it is within the realm of possibility that the phrase "under 26" might be equivalent to "no more than 26" in some cultures. I think that is probably not the case (as my initial post indicated), but somebody out there must know based on their experience rather than on nothing more than their interpretation of the phrase. Certainly I do not intend to rely on the interpretation of anyone who doesn't understand the proper use of the word "dilatory".


If there is anyone who either sells the passes, or has purchased or used one in this situation, please let me know.

Well I used to sell the passes when I worked in the travel industry. This was about four years ago. I've also personally used railpasses, but that also was years ago.

In my personal experience, when they validate your pass, they look at your passport. IIRC, it was more than a quick glance. I can't confirm that they were definitely checking date of birth, but they were definitely comparing the passport details to the details printed on the railpass.

At the travel agency we did not sell youth passes to people who were going to be 26 before the pass was validated, as our sales materials indicated that "under 26" was for people who had not yet turned 26.

It is possible that in some cultures the terms "under" and "no more than" could be intrepreted as the same, but in my opinion that doesn't follow the generally accepted definitions of those words in English.

Bottom line is that you could probably buy a youth pass online if you are over 26 by entering an incorrect birthdate, but you are then relying on the person who validates your pass to either not notice the discrepancy, or to accept your argument word definitions and meanings. If you're willing to take that chance, go for it!

Thanks schmare, your post was very helpful.

I recognized that in general use among native English speakers the phrase would mean what you indicated. But I was thinking that this description wasn't written by a native English speaker, for 2 reasons. First, English isn't the first language of any country in which a Eurrail pass is valid, and secondly I don't think a native speaker would have chosen that phrase.

There is definitely a cultural difference in thinking about this. That was illustrated by an email reply I finally received from Eurail on the question. They said: "Youth passes are for those between the ages of 12 and 26." That had me scratching my head until their example showed that it works exactly as you described.

Now I'm wondering if it might be possible to somehow get the pass validated in the US before the birthday as the Europe trip will not begin until after the birthday.

I questioned this because in US English time restrictions are usually stated inclusively. For example, a web site might state that to be eligible for a bonus one "must register before Dec. 31, 2006". That would be understood by everyone to include Dec. 31st despite the fact that the word "before" was used. If you followed the logic used for the railpasses the real deadline would be Dec. 30th.

Hmm....personally, if I read a website that said you must register before Dec. 31st 2006 I would assume that you need to register by 11:59pm on December 30th (and I'm not just saying that to align my position on this example with the Eurail example )

One tactic you could try would be to try any buy a pass online (preferably on the official eurail website) with your correct birthdate (I'm assuming you have already turned 26 and are wanting to buy a youth pass). If the eurail site lets you purchase the pass, you have a much stronger argument (though it doesn't guarantee 100% that you'll be able to validate the pass, as you still may have the validating rail employee to deal with). If the Eurail site doesn't let you purchase the pass, I think you have your answer.