Rail Pass or not?

If you are trying to do a price comparison, flip a coin, use a Ouija board, throw darts, but do not, DO NOT, use Rail Europe for prices. They only show fares for trains for which they sell tickets. These tend to be only the more expensive express trains, not the bargain regional trains, and the price from them includes their considerable markup. Also, they do not show the money saving promotional fares. So, the tendency is to make rail passes look good in comparison, even if they are not - but then, they would rather you buy a rail pass from them as opposed to P-P tickets over there.

Nancy....you can check your itinerary for point to point costs at the French national railway website, http://www.sncf.fr/indexe.htm then compare them to railpass costs. You can, with a little effort, purchase your point to point tickets in advance from this website. If you do opt for a pass, purchase it before you leave...it's easier and cheaper. Rick Steves sells them. Most, if not all, the trains you plan to take will likely require reservations. If you buy point to point, the reservation is included. But you must make a separate reservation if you have a pass, and that can be difficult to do in advance. As well, reservations allotted to passholders are very limited. If you have a planned itinerary, I think you'll find point to point will be cheaper (website deals aren't always available at the station) and keep you out of the lineups. Just be aware that, like discount airlines, these cheaper rail tickets can be unrefundable and unchangeable so read the conditions carefully.

A French 2nd class saverpass (for two people traveling together) can be a very good deal, especially given your itinerary. A pass would likely beat regular point-to-point fares.

If you can order in advance directly at the SNCF web site, you might find discounted fares that are better deals. These are not transferable, so you need to be comfortable with your itinerary when you buy them.

Reservations are not expensive and in April you can reliably make them a day or two before (when you might have a better idea for which trains you will want reservations). Well, if you absolutely must be on the X o'clock train, you might buy now.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. I will check the routes and fares and see what the total is. I'm leaning towards point to point, purchased from here. I'm starting to think maybe I can do it! :-)

Nancy

I'm not sure where Kent gets the idea that most people feel it's better to purchase point to point tickets there. During busy times, trains can, and are, sold out, so leaving it until you arrive is not always a good thing. As well, as mentioned earlier, deals available on the web in advance are cheaper than the regular prices you'll find at the ticket window.

If you really want to figure this one out, go to one of the main rail websites (I use RailEurope), look up trips you want to take (you may have to use a phony date since the schedules in RailEurope are only good for 60 days out), and see what the fares are for different times and routes. This may require a considerable effort, but you will get a more accurate idea about rail fares that way. Rick's little cartoon maps showing costs/times for trips usually show the highest 2nd class rate. I looked up a connection in France and found fares ranging from $35 to over $100 for the same trip. Having said that, I usually buy a railpass because I don't want to have to figure out all this stuff and there are advantages to having a railpass. For short trips as from Pisa to Lucca, just buy a ticket at the train station the same day. Use cash in the ticket machines. For long trips, such as Paris to Nice or Italy, make reservations as early as possible especially for holiday times.

Let me add to Norm's comment. Often you can get better prices (promotions) online in advance from the website of the national rail company (such as SNCF's PREMS); rarely, if ever, will the price from US based online companies like Rail Europe be as good as point-point tickets over there.

I can't say so much about France, but in Germany, where I have spent 12 weeks this decade and ridden over 150 trains, I always buy my P-P tickets there. My trips are usually too short to qualify for the big savings of online, promotional tickets, so I use Länder-Tickets. These are unlimited in supply, on non-reservable regional trains, and can easily be purchased at automats with no wait.

Of the over 150 trains, only two were totally occupied, but none was "sold out". On one, an ICE, every seat was taken but few were reserved. Had I bought a reservation with my ticket, I would have had a seat. The other was a regional train - no reservations were possible.