We are going to Europe and meeting friends there. If we each buy Euro passes for trains(going to multiple countries) and want to make reservations for some trains, can one person make reservations for all so we can sit near each other? Will be two groups, one of 3 adults and one with 3 adults and two children.
Any insights would be helpful.
Where are you going? Are you sure that a Eurail Pass is you best travel option?
No personal experience.
Perhaps one person could buy all the passes in a single transaction so you are a 'single group'. ?
But the question Sam posed, needs to be answered as to whether 'passes' are your best option
We will be traveling to Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium and Netherlands. It seemed like a euro pass would be best due to the number of countries.
Do you have a solid itinerary with allotted days. What is it?
The number of countries is actually immaterial. It is the type trips you plan to do, and the countries you want to travel too.
In France and Italy an Eurail Pass is difficult to use, as long distance trains require advance reservations, and getting those at the station can be difficult. SNCF has the option well hidden in their ticket machines, and Trenitalia ticket clerks often do not even know anymore how to do this.
Local trains in Italy, Belgium and France are cheap. No need for an expensive pass.
If you are the kind of person that wants to book all the long distance segments in advance you will be far better off just booking those in advance directly with the operator. Local trips you just buy locally.
But tell us a bit more about your plans. We can help.
However if this is a long trip (looks like two months or so to me) with no real set itinerary a Eurail Pass may indeed be a good option.
We are in the process of completing the itinerary. If we cannot make reservations together, the euro pass will not work. Our longest trips will be 2 overnight trips to and from Germany/Italy. If it is difficult to make reservations than the question may be moot.
are any of the adults seniors?
If you could lay out the current itinerary than we can be of most help.
Every country deals with the Eurail pass differently, and in different circumstances.
We have most of the answers, but to provide them in a way with what you're planning we need to know what you're planning.
We're not being nosy, we don't mind whatever it is, and you can change it later.
Is this the first trip to Europe for everybody? Which is your first landing?
Italian trains are relatively inexpensive. Germany has some extraordinarily good deals on trips within specific regions (like Bavaria)--situations in which multiple people traveling together can pay shockingly low prices. We have some folks here (I'm not one of them) who are experts on German rail travel and will be able to suggest the most cost-effective way to cover your travel within Germany.
We will be using trains mostly in Italy. Arrive in Germany, go to Salzburg and on to Italy, home bases will be Florence and Venice. After Italy we will be in Germany, visiting friends in Bavarian village and using trains if we decide on day trips. Will leave Germany for France then stopping in Brussels on way to Amsterdam then home. All details are being worked out….not easy for that number of people. It will be first visit for some, particularly two teens, but not for others. We have been to both Italy and Germany multiple times, but never with such a large group that will utilize trains.
In response to earlier questions, No, we are not sure Europass is best, feel that information about reservations with Europass is one of the components that we need to make decision. Re potential discounts, two of us qualify as seniors, and two teens.
Why not fly to Italy first rather than back tracking from Germany to Italy and back again.
How much time are you allocating to this vacation?
We have additional family members on different parts of our itinerary…..some are not going to Italy, but staying in Germany with family. I thought the itinerary was needed, but was not asking for changes…..we have our reasons for our itinerary We return to Germany to spend time with family again before going to France.
I was only asking for information regarding making reservations with multiple individuals with Euro Rail passes…..to have information to make the decision whether or not the EuroRail pass was a good option.
Appreciate efforts to tell me there are more straightforward routes, but family circumstances dictate some of our agenda.
Thank you, Mary, for the detail. It is much clearer now. I wouldn't try to change your routing, but I do have some suggestions, which I think, taken in the round, may help you decide on the Eurailpass, or not.
The reason I asked about the ages was because the Belgian trains offer an absolute stonker of a senior fare, one cheap price for a round trip anywhere in Belgium, returning same day and starting after the rush hour in the morning, M-F, no such restriction on the weekends. But it sounds like Brussels will only be a stop on the way, not a base for exploring the country. Is that right? So those Belgian deals won't help you much.
If you are landing in Munich (?? or would it be another city for arrival ??) and heading off to Salzburg you won't need a Eurailpass, the really wonderful Bayern Ticket is built for groups and very cheap. It is valid on the regional trains to and including Salzburg, and in fact on every bus, train, tram, S-Bahn and U-Bahn in all of Bavaria. It does not cover local Austrian trains and does not cover transportation in Salzburg.
Because the train to Venice (Venice first ??) operates in Italy it would need reservation charges for Eurailpass riders, equally if you get advance purchases in for the train from Öbb (the Austrian train company) you can get reservations for all. The best train to me looks to be the 8:12 with just one change in Villach from an IC InterCity to a Railjet, which gets you in at 14:05, total travel time of under 6 hours. Only problem might be the 5 minute connection between platforms 3 and 4 at Villach which involved down and up the elevator or stairs. If you take a later train with a longer connection you pay for it with a 40 minute connection at Innsbruck and then a 32 minute connection at Verona, so you don't get to Venice until 16:42 with a journey of 7:46, nearly 2 hours slower. If you were doing that on Eurailpass you would need to buy and pay for 2 reservation fees for everybody because you would be on two different legs in Italy.
Italo trains tend to be a bit cheaper (and I prefer them) and make a good connection between Venice and Florence, but they don't accept Eurailpasses. Trenitalia does. Because the train to Florence from Venice originates Grand Canal side you can have a lot of time to settle everyone comfortably. I don't see any reason why one person couldn't buy all the pass holder reservations. A normal ticket on either Italo or Trenitalia can be bought on laptop or phone app, and include the reservations which will try to sit you together.
Cross border France to Switzerland or Germany or Italy are expensive. French passholder reservations vary in price, and are rationed, and you may find that while you could buy tickets on a particular train but the passholder reservations have sold out.
I wish I could be more positive, good luck, and I hope I have been a bit helpful
Note that Eurail pass has limitations on days. The two month is good for total 10 days out of 60. That means at best you could move every 6 days. That is 10 places in two months. Hardly something ever done seeing as how so many itineraries on here are covering 10 places in maybe 14 or less days.
Thank you to everyone……sounds like the EuroRail pass will not be best for our trip! Thank you for all of your tips!
For train travel in Italy, you might want to look into their Insieme offer - it gives significant discounts to groups of 3 to 5 people traveling together:
https://www.trenitalia.com/en/offers/insieme_offer.html
It doesn't require any special membership - it's automatically applied when you make a group purchase under the terms of the offer, which is easy on the Trenitalia website or app - when you apply for an account, you can name the individuals in your group just once, and then easily assign them to each ticket order.
For your group it would be best to have two accounts, one for each group of 3 adults. They would hold all of the tickets for each trip on their respective phones.
We used it on our trip last November - we were able to get very good fares without buying way in advance.
