EURAIL PASSES - HOW DO THEY WORK
Are They Worth the Cost?
There
has been a long standing debate on the value of buying a Eurail pass for
Europe travel. It all depends on your
travel plans. One, the rail pass was intended for those who live outside
of Europe. If you're already toddling around Europe a Eurial rail pass
won't be an option,
but the local
state rail services like SCNF (France), Britrail, Trentalia (Italy), Swiss
Railways (SBB) and the DB DeutscheBahn (Germany) will have passes and discounts
available in those countries. If your plans are to stay in
one or two cities and make a couple of short trips to local destinations,
or one long trip between cities, a rail pass may not be the most cost effective
as the national railways offer cheaper fare options. You can now print tickets
to your
computer
from
many state
rail
companies, but booking cross border journeys is more complicated, currently
requiring some trip segments be booked online through each country's rail
system portal.
Eurail Pass or Point to Point Ticket Cost
If
you want to wander all over Europe for a whole summer a full Global
Eurail Pass can
possibly be of value. They start around $700 and go up to $2,000 for the
full time available. However, If you're visiting a number
of cities
in
a
few different
countries
with spur of
the moment
journeys
in-between a Selectpass is
the more cost effective option between $500 - $800 (less for
Youth, Saver and Senior Eurail passes). You have to plan a certain number
of days to travel within a period of time. To decide if a Eurail pass
is worth it you can look up Point
to Point European Rail Tickets
for
wherever you think you might want to go on your trip. If
the tickets add up close to
$450 you might do better with a rail pass. You can find discounted direct
tickets in certain countries on some routes, but they often require
advance purchase and have to be picked up locally. The cheapest ones
may often
not be
available. Discount rail fares are
usually
non-refundable
and for a specific train (like
airline
discount
tickets), so your
planning needs to be very specific. A rail pass gives you the freedom
to just show up at a station and get on a train (see Budget Family Rail Travel).
What is a Eurail Rail Pass? What Kind of Eurail Passes Are There?
Eurail is an agency set up to market rail travel throughout Europe, connecting all the individual countries internal railroads. As with many things in the European system is it part government and part business. What is Rail Europe? Rail Europe is the official seller of the Eurail system in North America and is partly owned by the European railroads themselves. A few others on the web offer Eurail rail passes and ticket products (like familiar travel guide Rick Steves). Different sellers may package the tickets with services like maps or souvenir bags, but the actual passes and prices are pretty much all from the same source. Rail Europe offers city discount cards, British Heritage Passes, France Museum Passes and other products for convenience. You'll find links on this page.
Eurail Passes are available to travelers who live outside of the European Union, like the U.S., Canada, Australia and must be purchased before traveling within Europe. There are full Rail Passes for unlimited travel throughout the system for a period like a month or two. Select Pass or Flexipass allow travel on certain amount of days in certain countries. Youth Passes, kind of self explanatory. And there are single country passes.
Eurail Passes
offered
by Rail Europe
Eurailpass:
good in 17 countries
Eurail Selectpass
BritRail
Swiss Pass
France Rail Pass
Benelux Rail Pass
TGV French Bullet Train
Italy Rail Pass
Youth Passes
Reservations for most trains are not necessary. Reserved seats may be marked as you get on, but other seats will be open. It is usually not difficult to find a seat, except on high traffic routes or during rush hours. Some High Speed trains like the TGV or Cisilpino in Italy require reservations, though usually not in Switzerland or Germany. Some spaces on special trains can cost a little extra - like Night Train berths (see SAVE ON A HOTEL - TAKE THE NIGHT TRAIN).
High Speed Rail Travel - Eurostar - TGV - ICE -Thalys
The Eurostar (London-Paris or London-Brussles) only costs half price if
you have a Eurail pass
or a single country Eurail Rail Pass (see Eurostar
St. Pancras). The TGVin
France does require a reservation fee if you have a rail pass.
In
Germany ICE
trains
don't
require
anything beyond a rail pass, except for some "rush hour" expresses
do require an extra charge. So bear that in mind should you be hopping
on the Stuttgart to Munich ICE at 17:00. You can pay it to the conductor
on-board or before travel. Italy is a bit of a special case, requiring
reservation fees on its IC
and EC express trains (€5), and its high speed train (€15).
Eurostar Booking
Center
TGV Booking
Center
Select Pass - Flexi Pass - Saver Pass
How the Eurail Select Pass (and Flexi pass) works is you choose a number of travel days (5-7) and a number of countries (4)*. You have to pick countries with connecting borders, otherwise you may have to buy a seperate ticket to cross a country, which might be an advantage if you're just cutting across a border. When you get on your first train, you fill in the date by hand and the conductor punches it, or stop at a ticket window to have the agent stamp validate it. You can travel all you want for that calender day. If you take a night train after 7 pm (19:00) as your first leg, it counts as the next day, so you can travel all that next day. To get the best value, come up with a realistic calculation of how many actual days of travel you will need. A saver pass is for two people traveling together with a discount across the two fares.
For 2016 Eurail is offering a 2-Country Select Pass for a limited selction of countries and is returning the 3-Country Pass Option and all Select Passes can now be booked 11 months in advance for better travel planning.
Advantage of Rail Pass over Discount Airlines
Is there an advantage of a rail pass over discount airlines? On the given day of travel you can hop on and off in any city you like along the way. Traveling from Munich to Trento? Get off in Innsbruck and spend a few hours wandering around. Stop in small villages you'd never otherwise see. Or if you get to a city and get into your hotel, but want to go check out another town nearby? Just get back on the train and go. And take as much luggage as you want. Buy a bunch of souvenirs and take them on RyanAir, see how much they really cost! A airplane may get you there faster, but you'll be spending almost half a day getting to the airport, through security, etc. and many discount airlines airports are a long way from the intended destination city. © Bargain Travel Europe
See Also:
BENELUX
BY RAIL PASS
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
SWISS
CHOCOLATE TRAIN
A Sweet Ride from Montreux to Gruyères
FOLLOW THE RHINE RIVER WITH A RAIL PASS
