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Eurail pass - I hope I didn't make a mistake

I researched and researched before finally buying a Eurail Global Pass good for 10 days travel over 2 months. I received my Eurail Pass July 26, 2017 in the mail. Now I'm trying to go in Eurail to reserve seats (as some routes we're taking require it), and it is not showing the various routes I know exist (I found the routes on GoEuro) as available with the Eurail Global pass. It only pulls up one overnight (crappy) route.

Here is one example - Budapest to Innsbruck on August 13, 2017 - On GoEuro, it shows OBB railjet leaving every two hours. But when I go into Eurail, the only route shown as available is the OBB nightjet leaving Budapest at 17:40 arriving Innsbruck 04:49. I really don't want to get to Innstruck at 4:49am the next day.

Am I misunderstanding how to make reservations using my Eurail Global Pass (which means I need more education), or did I purchase a Eurail Global Pass that is going to make my trip uncomfortable (which would be a huge mistake on my part)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by
2393 posts

First don't use GoEuro - I don't even know who that is.

Give me a minute to post useful information.

Posted by
2487 posts

You shouldn't go to the Eurail website, but to that of the actual railway company. In your case that's the national Hungarian or Austrian railway company. I tried to get a reservation-only ticket with the OEBB. It is a terrible website, but after trying out some buttons I found an »I already have a ticket« option and managed to get a reservation-only ticket for Budapest to Innsbruck for a random date in August for EUR 3. You can pay by credit card and you get your ticket as an emailed pdf for printing at home.

Posted by
22347 posts

The reason Rail Europe is only showing a night train is because that is the only one that requires a reservation. If you want an optional seat reservation, just buy it at the station when you get there.

Posted by
15472 posts

I use a Pass and in your case would buy the seat reservation in Budapest. You can tell them that you have a Pass or not. I've done it both ways when buying only a seat reservation, esp on an EN night train.

Posted by
7209 posts

Can you return an unused Eurail Pass and receive a refund? I feel sorry for newbie travelers who buy into the idea that a Eurail Pass is a good idea. They're overpriced, difficult to use sometimes, difficult to understand - point to point tickets are almost always the best way to go.

Posted by
16899 posts

Eurail pass materials say that pass holders need a seat reservation for the RailJet departing Budapest, even though Austrian trains don't otherwise require reservations. There's no deadline to reserve. Just request your reservation to the connection point at Vienna. If you want to reserve both legs, Rail Europe's shopping would need you to break that request into two. DB schedules show that the connection is often all on one platform in Vienna, usually at track 8.

If you'll take some trains in France or Spain that require reservations, those are recommended to book further ahead. When reservations are not required, as in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, I also usually would not bother. The DB schedule web site is usually the best resource to know when reservations are required, but they've dropped the ball this year on Italian trains, many of which require seat reservations - but they are not artificially limited and are easy to buy on short notice.

Posted by
2393 posts

@Laura - where did you see that? I have looked and do not see that is required.

According to seat61:

Budapest to Munich by RailJet train: No supplement. No reservation necessary.

Innsbruck is on this line. If this is not correct I know he'll want to update his site.

Thanks

Posted by
2126 posts

I am not clear as to how you can find out how much a point to point tickets costs to analyze whether or not a rail pass is the right deal. I can't seem to find a site that quotes the prices. Thanks for any suggestions.

Posted by
5697 posts

@threadwear. For prices, there is not "a" site (except for Rick's schematic in the trains section) but you can look at the national rail website for the country where each train trip begins or ends, then see the prices for buying day-of ("base" fare) and booking ahead by changing the trip date and noting how the prices change (upward) as the lead time gets shorter.

Posted by
5697 posts

Regarding the Budapest-Vienna leg, even if reservations are not necessary I would highly recommend them, particularly for weekend travel. Easy to purchase at the station a day or so before, and SO useful to have when you shoo people out of your seats and into the aisle standing room.