EURAIL vs. POINT TO POINT TICKETS

It is true that, depending on how far you travel, point to point tickets are often less than a rail pass. However, Rick's map is only a rough guide, and does not take many thing, like using less expensive trains or promotion fares, into account. Also, keep in mind that, in Italy anyway, the passholder surcharges (reservation fee) for using the EuroStar trains is often almost as much as the P2P ticket.

Robert, even if Rick's map was 100% accurate, rather than a rough guide, for the ease of travel I think I would still recommend a Eurail pass.The Rail pass will give you more freedom and it will definately be easier than having to plan every step of your journey.

So, Sylvia, I guess the tax on "not planning" is $300 - or more.

I absolutely disagree that a railpass gives you more freedom than P2P tickets. I buy my tickets when I get to the station.
And yes, I plan every detail of my trip. If I'm going to spend all that money on airfare, I am going to make sure I use my time effectively!

There are several benefits to a first-class pass, but cost is usually not one of them. So the question is, how much are those benefits (ease of use, spontaneity, freedom) worth to you?

The calculus may be different if you compare a first-class pass to first-class tickets. Again this is a question of personal choice, but I suspect many here would agree with me that first-class tickets are not usually a good value. (Though I do think the supplement for a first-class couchette can be worth it.)

Second-class youth passes, and second-class country passes, are a different story, though even there I doubt you can beat the lowball special fares that are sometimes available if you are nimble enough to score them.

So I think it boils down to personal choice.

I have not traveled Spain by train, but when I travel Italy I always go point-to-point.

The last time I compared with the RR pass, the pass was more costly. Depends on how many days you travel and how many legs on your trip.

Depending on how much travelling you're doing in Spain, a rail pass might actually be worthwhile. Now that high speed lines to Barcelona and Sevilla are in operation, the costs have shot up on those runs....and there are no cheaper rail alternatives (although bus service in Spain is very good, and inexpensive.) For example, Madrid-Barcelona is about $165 ow, while Madrid-Sevilla is about $120 ow. With a qualifying pass, even RailEurope only charges $17 as a supplement for each of those runs, second-class. This rate is NOT available to holders of an Italy-Spain pass (go figure), only to those with a global pass that includes Spain, the France-Spain or Portugal-Spain pass, or the Spain pass. But a Spain pass by itself is only $268 for 4 days, second class. A round trip each Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Sevilla would be more economical with a Spain pass, even with the additional RailEurope reservation charge. So if Italy is still cheaper with p2p, Spain may not be.