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Inconsistent info on Eurorail pass options for travel?

Posted by on

My family (2 adults, 3 kids 12-17yr old) are still trying to de-code the various Eurorail pass options based on our itinerary and we are seeing many different results from the tools/online info. So I'll keep this simple so I can get some (hopefully) accurate info I can plan with.

I'm looking at buying a 5day Global Eurorail pass, 2nd class. It looks like that will cost $1909 for the 5 of us (but with the promo mentioned on the site for $95 off, it comes to $1814 for our family, yes?).

For our train portions, we are looking to use the pass for 5 travel days where it will save us the most $. Here are the stops we are considering beginning on July 11th
from Bruges to Amsterdam
then Amsterdam to Munich
then Munich to Salzburg
then Salzburg to Venice
then Venice to Bern
then Bern to Paris
(Please note: my destinations and the order of them are fixed. Not an option to change at this point)

I've tried to read all the info on passes, exclusions (like night trains, high speed seat reservations, etc), exceptions, etc. but when when I use http://ricksteves.mytraintravel.com/ to estimate the cost with and without a Eurorail pass, I get conflicting information.

For some reason, the tool says "The fares you requested are not available with the selected rail pass. Please select a regular fare and proceed to the next step." for both the Bruges to Amsterdam travel as well as the Venice to Bern trip. I do show a significant savings for the other legs, including a trip on the TGV from Bern to Paris (which many sites said would be problematic or not possible... but apparently, that trip would be according to the tool, with a seat reservation) and only minor savings on a Munich to Salzburg trip.

Right now, when I select "I have a pass" and look up the cost of each leg and add the base line Eurorail ticket to the supplemental costs the tool says I would pay, I come out about $200 ahead... but that would be using it for only 4 travel days and one of those would be a very short trip from Munich to Salzburg. If I can use it for the Bruge to Amsterdam and then the Venice to Bern trips, it would be a clear winner.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is the tool just not working properly? When I started using the tool last week... every destination I plugged in came up with that message of nothing available. When I called RickSteves about it, even the woman I spoke with tried it and said "Yes.. that's really odd... try again later and hopefully it will be fixed." Could that be the case for those longer travel days I'm looking to save by using the Eurorail pass... or is the Eurorail pass just not valid for those trains?... or are they just sold out of all Eurorail options for those dates in July.

Right now, I'm leaning toward buying the pass while the summer special is going on and then booking the 3 longer trips that clearly will save me money (Amsterdam to Munich, Salzburg to Venice and Bern to Paris) and then try and work out how to use the pass for my Bruges to Amsterdam and Venice to Bern routes.

Any and all help/perspective is welcome. I've been very impressed with the responses and help I've had on this forum. Truly a great community willing to help my family and I understand train travel in Europe.

Thanks!

Posted by
3430 posts

I would go to a user-friendly site like trainline to check prices before buying a Eurail Pass from Rail Europe. A pass may be cheaper than the train fares available on Rail Europe, but tickets available elsewhere will be much cheaper.

https://www.trainline.eu

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks for this quick response... You are right.. they are cheaper on that sight! And it looks like they don't take into account EuroRail passes.. at least none are able to be selected in the drop down menu. I'm glad I didn't put any money on the other site! Again.. thanks!

Posted by
16895 posts

TheTrailLine and some other sources only sell regular tickets, whether at full fare or with advance discount. They don't sell reservations for pass holders. The pass holder reservation prices are listed on my last reply to you and at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/global-pass, as well as our single-country pages.

If booking passholder reservations through our link, you should only request reservations for the portion of the train that requires or at least offers reservations. They are not sold out for July. The first three travel days don't require them. From Brussels to Amsterdam, we would avoid the trains that require reservations (Thalys departures on a portion of the route) and just jump on other trains with the pass.

From Venice to Bern, only reserve the portions that require reservations, which are Venice-Milan and then from Milan to your next connection point within Switzerland. You may need to request each leg separately. Some departures from Milan go all the way to Bern without an additional connection in Switzerland but others require more changes.

The Deutsche Bahn train schedule link Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online is usually the best place to see connection options and reservation rules; note that "Global Price" in the details for Italian trains means the same as "Subject to Compulsory Reservation."

The number of discounts set aside for the Summer Special coupon has already been used up. That just happened the day after I mentioned it to you.

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