We (2 seniors) plan on 21 days in France and Benelux. 10 of the 21 will likely use trains, but only 3 days have extended trips (e.g. Brussels to Paris, Paris to Amsterdam, etc.). Other days are short trips (e.g. Brussels to Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, etc.). Is a 2nd Class SaverPass for 10 days in a month a better option than a 3 day pass with separate payments for round trip seniors on the short trips?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23240 posts
Unfortunately David, the only way to really answer that question is to the math. Add up the single trips and compare. That will take some effort. At one time the Eurail passes were "no-brainer". No longer the case. The passes have become more expensive and more complicated. A very rough guess is that point to point will cheaper because of the many short trips. Do not use the Rail Europe site for fare comparison.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
Even though RailEurope is owned by French Rail, they are not a French Rail ticket outlet. They are a reseller, like a travel agency. They mark up the tickets over European counter prices. The prices at RailEurope are not representative ; they're higher, so they would make a rail pass look more favorable than it really is.
The only accurate way to evaluate a rail pass is to compare it with prices from the national rail companies. Netherlands is www.ns.nl; Belgium is www.b-rail.be. To go to and from Paris, you probably want to use Thalys. Eurail passes only partially cover travel on Thalys; there is a big surcharge to use Thalys with a rail pass. You can often get better prices with advance purchase on the Thalys website than you would pay with a rail pass and the surcharge. Also, Thalys limits the number of "passholder" tickets. I've heard (on this site) of people having to wait for days in Brussels for passholder fares to become available during busy times.
Posted by
OP
Silver Spring, MD
62 posts
Thanks for the responses - the site is terrific and the answers are helpful. If I've navigated the site correctly, my round trip local fares (for seniors 65+) in Belgium will be 4 Euro each (Bruges-Brussels, Bruges-Ghent, Bruges-Antwerp). I'm having difficulty finding equivalent senior fares for the Netherlands. Does that mean they don't offer them?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23240 posts
David, I think you are correct. We were just in Amsterdam in early September asked about senior fares. No breaks for senior but the ticket agent did offer a special promotional fare that ended that day. Which I thought was nice of her so you might ask if any promotional fares are running.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Steve, by "senior citizens" do you mean citizens of the Netherlands?
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
In Germany they often have discounts for "Rentners" (pensioners) and I always get one. And they can tell from my accent when I ask that I am not German. To get the child discount in the Netherlands do you have to be a Dutch child?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23240 posts
There is a big "DEPENDS" with senior discounts and it varies from country to country. If there is a senior discount in the Netherlands for seniors, I assume it applies to citizens. When we asked for the senior discount we were told no but she worked hard to get us another discount. In Spain any senior can buy a rail card (5E), need to show passport, for one year of discounts on Spanish rail. Some areas gave free or reduced entrance to local seniors, EU seniors, and sometimes to Am seniors. Just remember to ask, the worse that will happen is a stern "NO."