Eurail Select Pass Adult vs Youth Ticket

Depending on where you are going, a rail pass might not be the right thing for you. Especially in Germany, there are all kinds of money saving tickets, usually traveling after 9 am on weekdays and using regional trains.
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/index.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0060_ST-REGIONALE-ANGEBOTE_LZ01

You should do a bit of number crunching. I bought 8 sets of point to point train tickets for a family of 4 and my total cost was cheaper than 1 adult Eurail pass. Plus the Eurail pass didn't cover the U.K. Some trains charge an additional fee when using the Eurail pass and in some cases the fee was more expensive than my discounted ticket. I purchased tickets as soon as they became available thus getting a great price. However, all my tickets were non-refundable so that may not work for some people.

I have crunched the numbers and the pass is definitely worth it for us because we're doing a few long stretches in both countries and trains in Switzerland are pretty expensive. Just trying to save a little bit more by possibly buying the adult pass for myself instead of the youth. But want to be sure it's not breaking any rules sinces I am under 28 and technically qualify for the youth pass

I'm sure you can travel on an adult pass if you want to.

But as Sam indicates, there's an excellent chance you can pay less, especially since your trip is a few months off. In addition to the tickets Sam mentions, saver fares for long-distance trains are available for advance purchase; I just checked Berlin-Munich, a 6-hour train trip, for an arbitrary date in September and came up with a price of €48 for two adults. (US $54.) Munich-Zurich came in at €58 ($65.)

(When you crunched numbers, did you use prices like these, or the ones the Rail pass seller provided for you?)

By comparison, 5-day select pass for two adults costs $564, or $113/travel day for two. That's roughly twice as much per day as the saver fares.

The Swiss Railway site offers "super-saver fares" for trips within Switzerland - they are worth checking as well.

If you have an itinerary, you can run it past Sam or some of the others here who've done these comparisons before.

If you don't have one, I'd advise you not to purchase a rail pass right away. You can buy it later, much later. If it turns out the pass is what you want, you may even get one at an additional discount - it's not uncommon for promotional discounts to appear as fall gets a little closer.

I can almost guarantee without even seeing your itinerary that a Eurail Pass does not make financial sense for you. In addition to being over priced it also doesn't include necessary things like RESERVATIONS which are required on any fast train might take.

The best Rail Pass to have in Switzerland is some sort of a Swiss rail pass...usually the Half Fare Card is the most economical pass for everyone and it's good all over Switzerland and gives you the biggest discount to the high rail mountain tops.

You can travel all over Southern Germany with a Bavarian Ticket for 31Euro total for 2 persons all day long as much as you want to travel.

Of course you can buy an adult pass instead of a youth pass if you wish.

But like others above I have doubts that a pass is your best option, especially for travel in Germany. There are special tickets for two or more traveling together, and special Sparpreis tickets for longer journeys on inter-city trains. These are limited and specific to a date and train, so you must search for them individually, but they are a great deal.

In Switzerland you may want a pass or Half-Fare card, especially if you are taking the Jungfraujoch trip. A real Swiss pass generally works better than a Eurail pass in Switzerland.

And for cross-border travel between Germany and Switzerland, there are also discounts available on tickets purchased in advance.

So where did you get the numbers you crunched? If from the Rick Steve's travel-planner rail map, those were full-price tickets and do not take the discount fares into account. These are often half the cost of a full fare ticket.

Regardless of what the pass haters here say the ONLY way to see if a pass is worth it for you is to price your trips at the country specific rail sites. Be sure to include any day trips that the pass would cover, unless you are getting a specific # of days pass. It is usually a waste of a travel day on that unless you are are taking a long day trip not covered by a regional pass or the regional pass is too slow on the regional trains.

The other factors are convenience & flexibility of the pass - reservations are not a huge deal except for some specific trains in France where they are limited but that will not apply to this trip. Reservations are not required in most of Germany & Switzerland - read the exceptions at the link to seat61 below.

If you purchase an advance cheap ticket and miss that train you are out that money and will have to buy a new ticket at the walk-up rate.

Contrary to what has been posted reservations are NOT required on all fast trains.

All of the correct information you need can be found here:

https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#supplements cost

You will have no problem traveling on an adult pass.

Posting wrong information just because you happen to find a pass not a deal for you does a great dis-service to the readers. It's one thing to post your opinion about passes but please check your facts before making broad statements about something.

Posting wrong information just because you happen to find a pass not a
deal for you does a great dis-service to the readers.

I completely agree. Posters need to be accurate and honest, no matter their opinions. The comments below, previously posted above, are less than accurate.

"...RESERVATIONS which are required on any fast train might take."

They are NOT required in Germany.

"You can travel all over Southern Germany with a Bavarian Ticket..."

It's not valid for all of southern Germany - only Bavaria. Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Saarland are excluded.

"...for 31Euro total for 2 persons all day long as much as you want to travel."

That's true only on Sat. and Sun. On weekdays it's only after 9:00 a.m.

If you purchase an advance cheap ticket and miss that train you are
out that money and will have to buy a new ticket at the walk-up rate.

True. Now, I am the one who brought up "advance cheap ticket" - the saver fare - precisely because the saver fare is very price-competitive with the Rail Pass for long-distance journeys. But I did not omit the saver fare details to deceive - in fact I provided a link to the saver fares so that all the nitty-gritty details would be available.

Every rail product has nitty-gritty details that cannot be included in every forum post. Rail passes have downsides that often go unmentioned... like the fact that...

• ...you need a 10-day rail pass if you require only 9 days of travel (cheap day passes are bought day by day.)

• ...rail passes do NOT include inner-city transport like the cheap day passes do.

• ...a 5-day select rail pass refund, if necessary, means you lose $85. (Day pass refunds are irrelevant - it's pay as you go.)

• ...a lost rail pass = a loss of total remaining value; lose a Bayern Ticket for two = €31

It's the job of posters to make sure what they say is accurate. But IMO it's not the job of posters to nail down every single detail. The customer must do his own vetting on these products.

It is standard and intended that two traveling together on a rail pass do book the group discount off the adult rate. This is (by design) usually the cheapest option. In these two countries, the pass gives you lots of hop-on convenience, the option to buy either 1st or 2nd class, and 25%-50% discounts on mountain lifts around Luzern and Lauterbrunnen. See coverage summary for Switzerland at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes.

And of course, you don't "have" to buy 10 days if you need 9, as in Russ' example, but you would have to decide whether to get an 8-day pass and pay for your shortest trip separately.

I was not trying to call out anyone specific - this is just a trend I see - especially when it comes to rail passes.

It is NOT always about the buck - passes can make sense for many reasons.

@Russ - the advance saver tickets were mentioned before your post as well - I agree that we can't post all of the details - I do try and post links to them as well.

"...the pass gives you lots of hop-on convenience, the option to buy either 1st or 2nd class, and 25%-50% discounts on mountain lifts around Luzern and Lauterbrunnen."

While we're on these topics... Germany's day passes also offer hop-on convenience, are often available for 1st or 2nd class (Bayern Ticket,) and offer some discounts like those you get with rail passes. The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket/day pass - or any standard ticket for that matter - provides for the same 20% KD Rhine cruise discount - yet railpass promotional materials make this out to be a special railpass perk.

"...if I buy the adult pass for my self and my mom we would actually save more because of the 15% group pass (discount)..."

Railpass prices have a built-in discount of 15% for two traveling together. Day pass discounts are a bit more dramatic. The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket/day pass is €24/day. A day pass for two is €29. For two, that's a 40% discount over the price of two one-person passes. If there are 4 adults, the price is €39, a 60% discount.

"...this (anti-pass sentiment?) is just a trend I see - especially when it comes to rail passes."

The fact that railpass alternatives are presented on the forum with some enthusiasm is to be expected. Consumers simply do not get a full spectrum of information. Railpass marketing has all kinds professionals - and a lot of cash - behind it. The Rick Steves time/cost map might be intended as a helpful tool for rail pass decisions, but there's only so much a map like this can do, and it provides only walk-up fares for comparison. Seat 61 has lots of good information, but it leaves many of the local/regional transport issues unaddressed. The railpass marketing pros know just how to lure and persuade their customers. It is not their job to provide practical alternatives to their rail pass products. There is no big corporate voice for day passes and other practical transport alternatives; that "job" is left to unpaid forum-dwellers like me, Lee, Sam and others who have some real-world experiences to draw on. I believe most of us do our best.

@Christi: I am both a consumer rail passes and of the alternatives - not at all a "pass hater" - in fact I bought and used a 7-day rail pass just 12 months ago when it was the right thing for my trip. It is indeed my instinct to examine rail pass offers suspiciously. But as I said, I'm on your page when it comes to supporting any suggestions I make only with the honest facts.

Why the heck was my post deleted? Not appreciated as I said nothing which violated any guidelines and made the same points as others here. Thanks a lot.

Emily, I have had that happen too and it is very frustrating. You might contact the Webmaster and ask. This isn't like Tripadvisor where the "community" can get posts removed, and often does in a seemingly random way in some forums. Here the Webmaster is in control and makes the decisions.

I would rather avoid riding regional trains in Germany, much prefer another choice when available. You have the advantage here of qualifying for the Youth Pass, which is for those under 26, not 28.. I use the Pass esp for riding in Germany the ICE and IC trains in doing zig zag traveling. Of course, you can buy an Adult Pass even as a Youth.