I went on www.nshispeed.nl %26amp; booked tickets for Antwerp to Amsterdam. When I booked, the English disappeared %26amp; replaced by Dutch. I managed to book in Dutch (using dictionary to translate) and had a confirmation - printed out.
I also booked for tickets from Amsterdam to Paris using the same site and everything was fine. There specific time %26amp; train numbers for the confirmation.
Just looked at my print-out for Antwerp to Amsterdam today and realized there is a date but no time. It looks identical to my other tickets (there are confirmation numbers, my name, price for 30.20 euros, the square barcode, etc) but NO time listed!
It has been over a month and I don%26#39;t remember what time was booked. I want to ask customer service regarding this but this is all there is under the contact info:
*****
Internet Support Desk
Voor vragen die naar voren komen bij het online boeken kunt u terecht bij de Internet Support Desk. Telefoonnummer:
0900 - 9296/keuze 2
(0,35 euro per minuut)
Openingstijden: maandag - vrijdag 08.00 - 21.00 uur
zaterdag en zondag
feestdagen 10.00 - 18.00 uur
******
Is that even a telephone number? Please help. I have no idea where/who to go to for confirmation now.
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I don%26#39;t think you have booked anything, I think you have just purchased in advance which means you are not bound to take a particular train or sit in a particular seat, you just use your ticket on any (InterCity) train on the date in question. If, on the other hand, you think you have booked on Thalys, you should have a carriage and seat number.
The text you quote says:
Internet Support Desk
Any questions that may arise with online purchase can be answered by the Internet Support Desk. Telephone number:
0900 - 9296/option 2 (add NL country code and drop first 0 phoning from outside NL, btw)
(0,35 euro per minute)
Opening hrs: Mon - Fri 08.00 - 21.00 hrs
Sat, Sun, public holidays 10.00 - 18.00 hrs
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So for inter-city trains, no seat or time reservations are required? Is that why it%26#39;s not printed? It has been such a long time since I booked the tickets, I can%26#39;t remember if it%26#39;s a Thalys train or not.
I just wanted to speak to someone and confirm but having a hard time with the phone number given.
From Canada, I should be calling:
011-32-2-900-9296
But I%26#39;m assuming the city is in Belgium. It may not be because I called the number above and it says it%26#39;s an incorrect number. The site doesn%26#39;t say which city their office is located, so how can I contact anyone?
Is there any other source for info or anyone else I can speak to regarding my ticket?
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Sorry, I meant I assume the city is Brussels but it may be another city within Belgium. Each city code is different.
I%26#39;ve just compared this ticket with the Thalys ticket from Amsterdam to Paris and there are specific seats with the Thalys ticket. I guess this is the InterCity train then.
It sayss %26quot;vervoerbewijs billet%26quot; which is the rail ticket, right?
Vertrek: Antwerpen Agglo.
Aankomst: Amsterdam
Via: Roosendaal
Klasse: 2
I guess I can take any IC (non-Thalys) trains from any station in Antwerp to Amsterdam Centraal, correct?
Thanks in advance!
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Yes, you clearly didn%26#39;t specify Thalys so you are on InterCity and can take any IC train from Antwerp to Amsterdam on the date in question.
0900 numbers are free in Belgium, don%26#39;t know about the Netherlands. You said you bought from NS which is Dutch Railways - why would you expect their helpdesk to be in Belgium?!
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0900 numbers cannot be called from outside the particular country. A 0900 number in the Netherlands can only be called to from within the Netherlands ; a 0900 number in Belgium can only be called to from within Belgium.
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I have a related problem - I booked a ticket through the nshispeed website (in advance you could say) for a trip from amsterdam to brussels on sept 17th (thursday) at approx 7:45 am.
On the website, there are a few different prices for the many different train trips from amsterdam to brussels that day. I paid for the ticket and then it was emailed to me to print at home. Now I have two questions...
First - my ticket has no time or date! why not, considering the company makes you choose a date and time and there are different prices for the different times?
Second - since there%26#39;s no time or date listed, is my ticket only good for the day and time i chose?
third - my email says %26quot;homeprint tickets are valid for only one day.%26quot; Minor detail though - they don%26#39;t say when the validity begins...and if it begins when I print it, that ticket would be worthless since I plan on printing it before I leave the states.
Can anyone please help. I don%26#39;t speak dutch and their customer service is only in dutch. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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This is the forum for Belgium and you are asking about tickets bought through Dutch Railways. I would suggest that you will find more experts on that subject in a forum for the Netherlands, since those of us who live in Belgium would buy tickets from Belgian Railways, and those who have visitied Belgium by train may or may not have experience of buying their tickets in the Netherlands.
1) As explained in the answer to the question you added yours to, if the train you chose was an InterCity train, the ticket will neve show a time: you have not in fact BOOKED anything, merely purchased a ticket, you are free to take any InterCity train on the date in question. If you had booked Thalys, the ticket WOULD have shown not only date and time but carriage and seat number. The different times you saw with different fares are firstly for different TYPES of train (IC or Thalys) and secondly, for Thalys, there are different rates. The price will no doubt indicate to an inspector which type of train and/or fare you selected.
2) In my opinion you have an InterCity train ticket which, when purchased from a ticket office, is valid for 2 or 3 months from the date of purchase and which can be used on any IC train to the destination in question (but see 3 below). Unlike Thalys, InterCity SINGLE fare does not vary no matter what date or time you buy it for.
3) As it seems pretty obvious that tickets have to be printed out in advance of the date of travel, this can only mean that while normal tickets can be used on any date, homeprint tickets can only be used on the date you selected (this is also the case with Belgian Railways). Either the date does show up somewhere on the ticket and you just haven%26#39;t noticed it, or it can be checked through your booking details. So you are bound by the date of 17/9/09 (when there is an IC train at 07:54), but not the time (so if you miss it you can take the 08:54, 09:54 etc.). But you cannot take the 08:26 Thalys, or travel on a different date.
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qaminari is spot on. you have bought a ticket for the IC train which is valid for any IC train. I also suspect that if there is no date on it that it is valid for any date also until the Conductor on the train stamps it so obviously it can only be used once.
Actually there is no need to pre book or pay for this ticket as you can just buy one for the same price at the station on the day of travel. Althogh these are dated for outward travel, if you buy a round trip then it is valid for two months.
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