Everything flows and changes, circumstances sometimes change our plans. Often, for a variety of reasons, it becomes necessary to make changes to the purchased travel document. Let's see how to change a train ticket?
Electronic vs regular train tickets: is there a difference?
There is no difference between a ticket purchased at a railway ticket office and an electronic ticket issued through a specific website. Both of them are valid travel documents. It should only be remembered that they are valid only upon presentation of a document proving the identity of the passenger.
For what reasons do they change tickets
Most often, passengers apply to railway ticket offices with a request to make changes to tickets for the following reasons:
- need to change travel date;
- required to change seats in the car;
- need to replace passenger data.
And if in the first two cases the procedure for reissuing a ticket, under certain conditions, is possible, thenreplacement of passenger data is not allowed under any circumstances. Exceptions are not made even if an error is found in the name, surname or passport number. In this case, only the procedure for returning a ticket and issuing a new one is considered (subject to the availability of seats in the car for the required dates).
Issuing another travel date
In accordance with the rules of rail carriers, changing the date of travel on a ticket for a long-distance train is possible under the strict observance of the following conditions:
- reissuance of a travel document is possible only for long-distance trains, before the departure of which there is less than 24 hours;
- the passenger has the right to leave by a train departing earlier than the train for which the ticket was purchased;
- reissuance of the ticket takes place strictly to the destination station indicated in the previously issued ticket;
- reissuing a ticket is possible only if there are seats in the carriages of the carrier with which the original ticket was issued.
Change seats in the car
You can reissue your ticket due to changing seats under the following conditions:
- If there are less than 24 hours left before the train leaves.
- Replacement of seats and categories of the car is possible if available and subject to additional payment (or refund) of the difference in fares. In this case, the question of how much it costs to change a ticket for a train will be answered - you have to pay the difference in the fares of cheap and expensive categories of cars, since the amount of the fee for reissuing a ticket is insignificant.
What types of tickets can be reissued
You can only reissue regular and electronic tickets for domestic trains. For trains of international importance, there is no such thing as “changing a ticket for a train”. Such tickets can only be returned under the appropriate conditions.
How to change an e-ticket for a train? Where and how are tickets reissued
If we talk about reissuing railway tickets (not to be confused with a refund!), it can only be done at railway ticket offices. Therefore, regardless of the method of purchase, take your ticket or its electronic copy and go to the station for reissuing.
All types of railway ticket reissuance are subject to established fees (usually low).
Return tickets
Do not confuse the concepts of refund and reissuance of a ticket. If you are faced with the need to change a train ticket for a different date, when there are more than 24 hours left before the departure of the train, then you will not be able to reissue the ticket. Here you can simply issue a return of the old ticket and purchase a new one, for suitable dates. In this case, please check availability for the required dates before making a return.
The procedure for returning an electronic ticket can be done both at the ticket office and independently - in your personal account on the carrier's website.
When returning a ticket at the ticket office, you must present the original identity documentthe passenger for whom the ticket was issued. No refund will be made without the original document.
It is necessary to carefully read the return conditions: the availability and amount of fines.
A ticket purchased with cash at a railway ticket office must be returned the same way.
You should also be aware that in some cases the refund of money on a returned ticket is not carried out simultaneously with the return of the ticket, but later. These cases include:
- Cases when the return of an international ticket purchased at a ticket office in Russia is carried out at the ticket offices of the CIS countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In this case, the passenger will receive his money only at the international ticket offices of Russia on the basis of forms for the return of seats.
- Electronic tickets: funds for the return of a ticket purchased via the Internet are not credited to the card immediately, but within a month.
Are any fines withheld when returning tickets
As a rule, if the ticket is canceled no later than one day before the date on which it was purchased, no refund pen alties are charged, the refund is made almost in full with a small amount of commission deducted (exceptions are tickets redeemed at group fares).
Now that you know the basics about the difference between rail ticket reissuance and refund procedures, you can easily make changes to your plans. Thanks to loy altythe rules established by carriers, in both cases, you can get by with minimal commissions. Have a nice trip!
