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

Too late for regrets.

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

Give me a minute to post useful information.

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.

Not sure where you saw that train needs a res - it does not.

what other trains do you need? You can either post them here or send them to me in a pm and I will help you get it sorted.

Also here is some great info on what trains need res:

https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#country-by-country-railpass-reservation-fees

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.

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.

Passes are a luxury option that are never cost effective. I'm concerned that you say you did loads of research but are unfamiliar with the websites of the actual rail companies where you get actual (not inflated) prices. What is your planned route? Did you read through this website- https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm?

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.

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.

@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

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.

@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.

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.