PTP or Pass, yet asked again

No one can answer that for you. You have to do the homework yourself. A seat reservation is what it is - a fee to reserve a seat. IF a train requires seat reservations FOR ALL SEATS ON THAT TRAIN, then you have no choice but to pay the fee and it can be expensive for the high speed or premium trains. IF reserve seats are NOT required then you can get on with a reservation. Some trains are mixed so don't sit in a reserve seat. The slow trains, regionals, do not have any seat reservations so take any seat. The disadvantage to buying the discount tickets is that you are locked into a schedule and should you miss that train part or all of that ticket is lost. The advantage, of course, is the price. Generally speaking, a rail pass is effective if you are doing a lot of long distance rail travel over several days. A quick way to look at a pass is the daily rate. If a five day pass is $500, then each of your daily trips have to be at least $100 plus the reservation fee for that day. If the p2p for that day is less than that, then you have wasted money.

In four hours, I only found one train from Köln to Stuttgart that recommended, did not require, a reservation. The seat reservation is €5,50, 1st cl. If you purchase far enough in advance (up to 92 days) you can get a Europe-Spezial ticket from Paris to Stuttgart for €39 pP. In Stuttgart, you can get a group Tageskarte (day ticket) for the entire Stuttgart network (for up to five people) for €17,90 (8,95 pP for 2). Stuttgart-Mainz: if you are willing to purchase ahead, you could get Sparpreis fares for as low as €29 for 2 (€14,50/pers), and do it in 1h50m. I couldn't find any of the €29 fares, but I found plenty for €49 (24,50/pers). If you are willing to spend an hour more, you can do it by regional trains for €48/2 and buy the ticket the day of travel. No pre-purchase necessary, always the same fare. So far I see it costing a lot less in Germany, P2P, than with a railpass. I don't do France.

Thanks for the complete and through replies. It really is coming down to price vs. flexibility. We are mostly sure on 60% of the travel with exact dates. I think we are going to price it all out PTP. I need to learn how to do the trains that require seat reservations. I plan to go the rail pass site and see what I can learn there. IS that the right place to very seat reservations? Thanks so much for all the help regarding the pass and PTP.

April, here's the page that addresses reservations: http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/usepass.htm#sup Scroll down a bit and find the section titled "Train Reservations". Also, click on the link in the box on the right that's called "Reservation Fee List". And yes, sometimes the reservation fee/passholder (supplemental) fee (NOT the same thing) are more than the price of a ticket, especially a discount ticket purchased online in advance - you can take advantage of some real savings with those!!! Be sure and price the France>Germany tickets on both the French (tgv-europe.com) site and the Germany (bahn.com) sites; they each offer their trains for sale, and sometimes the same train! Don't assume you must buy your Paris>Stuttgart from tgv-europe.com. These discount tickets will be going on sale very soon; the early bird gets the worm and the cheapest tickets! IF you decide to go PtP...;-)

April, From Köln to Stuttgart you don't have to have a seat reservation either on the ICE or IC, even when it is recommended, it's still not mandatory. With the Pass you can just hop on. Neither would you need one from Stuttgart to Mainz. But, the seat reservation is mandatory from Paris to Stuttgart, which is extra with the Pass. The Pass doesn't include seat reservations, mandatory or not. Use the Pass for the long rides on ICE, IC and TGV trains.

I am sorry, I am having a hard time figuring this out. We planned on getting the 3 country pass because we have a lot of travel. Most is straight forward. We leave Paris and want to go to Stuttgart direct. On the fee schedule I think it should be about $15 to reserve a seat yet on the raileurope site it says $64! Heck I can buy a ticket for nearly that and be in first class. Please tell me I am don't know what I am doing yet and set me straight on how to get a reservation for a seat on the train we need.

THALYS Brussels–Amsterdam, Paris, Koln, Geneva, & more Belgium. Passholder 1: $80-85 US 1st cl, $40-50 US 2nd cl €41-54 EU 1st cl, €26-33 EU 2nd cl Passholder 2: Fr/Paris to: Brussels €43, Köln €48, Amsterdam €55 EU 2nd cl Passholder 1: fare valid with passes that cover entire route. Passholder 2: fares valid w/ passes that cover France (1st class higher). 1st cl includes a meal and newspaper on most routes. Paris–Brussels and Paris–Köln service exclusively by Thalys. Wi-Fi onboard. Available 90 days out. TGV France $11-15 US, €3-5 EU $27 US w/ France Pass or €12 Lower prices work with any pass that covers France, but seats are limited, especially weekends, holidays, high season, to resort areas, and on the popular Paris–Lyon–Avignon–Nice line. Available 90 days out. Higher-priced "Easy Access" reservations can only be used with France pass, not multi-country pass. TGV INTL France to Switzerland, Belgium, Germany $11 US, €5 EU w/ pass for both countries 1st cl: $26-31 US or €20 EU
Price increases w/ single-country rail passes to make up the rest of the distance. Most available 90 days out. Higher 1st cl rate on TGV/ICE Paris–Germany and Paris–Switz trains that provide 1st cl meal. I think the above TGV/ICE Paris Germany is the one we need.

April, First of all, you mention a 3 country Pass...which 3 countries? France, Germany, Benelux? If so, I would recommend dropping Benelux. Having Benelux listed doesn't preclude you from having to pay for a ticket crossing Belgium to or fro France and Germany if you're taking a Thalys train. It's like paying twice for the same route. That has happened to me...only once. Avoid Belgium by outflanking it and go between France and Germany via Frankfurt. Going from Paris to Stuttgart DIRECT, you have 2 departure times; the first is 0724, which means you had better be at Paris Est by 0700, by which time the track # should be posted. The arrival time in Stuttgart is 1104. You can reserve when you are in Paris, if your Pass is 1st class, you can reserve in either 1st or 2nd, in case one of the two is totally booked. I don't know the exact reservation price for Paris-Stuttgart, 2nd class, is, but to give you an idea, from Frankfurt-Paris Est, last summer, 2nd class day departure, was ten Euro. (I'm looking at my reservation) Paris Est-Frankfurt (1st class) was 25 Euro on the ICE. (I went back twice). The second direct departure is at 1124, arriving at 1504.
Don't use Rail Europe for information. I rather doubt the trains going Paris-Stuttgart will be all reserved if you reserve in Paris. Even then you can still get across but it'll take a bit longer.

Our countries are France, Germany Switzerland. How can I make a seat reservation only on the Paris to Stuttgart part on the TGV? Thanks, April