Eurail Pass Information

Greetings,

Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass this spring
and what their experiences were like?

Thanks

"Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass this spring
and what their experiences were like?"

The Eurail pass only pays off for very specific itineraries, especially
if you're 26 or over and have to buy the more expensive first-class
pass.

Depending on where exactly you want to go and how long you will be
travelling for, you might save money and gain flexibility by either
buying train tickets as you go or by taking a combination of buses,
trains, or cheap flights. In the last few years, there has been a huge
expansion of low-cost airline networks throughout Europe, and they are
often cheaper as well as faster than trains.

"Jason Canon" wrote in message
...
Greetings,

Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass this spring
and what their experiences were like?

This is a bit of an unnecessarily narrowed down question isn't it?

Why are you interested in use of a Eurail pass and not any other kind
of pass?

Why is this spring important rather than last year or even this summer
(I think we are far enough into the year for this to be possible)

What sort of experience interests you?

Those specifically connected with the mode of travel or about
specific places, countries or what?

tim

wrote:
"Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass
this spring and what their experiences were like?"

The Eurail pass only pays off for very specific itineraries,
especially if you're 26 or over and have to buy the more
expensive first-class pass. snip you might save money
and gain flexibility by either buying train tickets as you go
or by taking a combination of buses, trains, or cheap flights.

I did the Eurail thing in the past and found it very convenient.
Upon arrival at our first station (Frankfurt), we reserved seats
for the rest of our trip, and never had to stand in a line or
worry about the schedule again. It was great to just walk into
a station with the only task to find the right track and car.

OTOH, for my last visit with only three stops, it was much
less expensive and time saving to buy 2 point-to-point tickets
online direct from the railway, and book one discount flight.
But if you check luggage on the flight, there may be a long
delay at the airport when you could be sightseeing. =R=

Jason Canon wrote:


Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass this spring
and what their experiences were like?

Not this spring, but I had a Eurail Pass a number of years ago and found
it to be an excellent way to get around Europe. My wife and I were
travelling with our son, then 15, and made great use of it. I think it
was a good deal, but you have to keep on the move to make use of it.

Someone else has suggested low cost air transportation. That may be a
good option for longer distances, but with a lot of intercity hops you
have to get out to the airport, arrive early, wait for the plane, then
get from the airport into town. Trains run from downtown to downtown,
and there are generally lots of decent hotels and restaurants within
walking distance of the train station.

Jason Canon writes:

Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass this spring
and what their experiences were like?

Sure did. My wife and I travelled around France, Switzerland, and
Italy. I use them fairly frequently; they are no great value price-wise
but I enjoy them for the convenience.

Eric

Hatunen wrote:

[]
I have to admit, though, that a Eurailpass simplifies things.

Yes, it does, and the traveller has to weigh that up. The only time I
used a Eurailpass, it was heavily discounted. It's worth pointing out
that on many European train services, there isn't an _awful_ lot of
difference between first and standard (second) class. The UK seems to
make more of a difference than other countries- though it does depend on
the operator. For the budget conscious traveller, I think that unless
they spend every day on a train travelling long distances (a holiday
that somewhat appeals to me, as a train buff, I admit) it's probably
better to research other options. With the plethora of budget airlines
in Europe, it's often cheapest to fly. I'll be on a flight from Katowice
to Budapest in a few weeks. A lot quicker than the train, and at 20 UKP
single, not bad!

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 15:58:52 -0400, "Rog'"
wrote:

wrote:
"Just interested in whether anyone has used a Eurail Pass
this spring and what their experiences were like?"

The Eurail pass only pays off for very specific itineraries,
especially if you're 26 or over and have to buy the more
expensive first-class pass. snip you might save money
and gain flexibility by either buying train tickets as you go
or by taking a combination of buses, trains, or cheap flights.

I did the Eurail thing in the past and found it very convenient.
Upon arrival at our first station (Frankfurt), we reserved seats
for the rest of our trip, and never had to stand in a line or
worry about the schedule again. It was great to just walk into
a station with the only task to find the right track and car.

OTOH, for my last visit with only three stops, it was much
less expensive and time saving to buy 2 point-to-point tickets
online direct from the railway, and book one discount flight.
But if you check luggage on the flight, there may be a long
delay at the airport when you could be sightseeing. =R=

We, me, my wife and child, used a full Eurailpass nine years ago.
We used it from Brussels to Stockholm, then on the ferry to
Helsinki, and between Helsinki and Oulu, then all the way back to
Brussels. It was very nice, very convenient, and first class was
nice, especially on the Swedish X2000. It was our first trip to
Europe and we appreciated the hassle free travvel. But ...

I calculated the costs of the trip had we purchased second class
tickets on the ground in Europe (not the inflated RailEurope
point-to-point fares) and we would have come out a lot cheaper
that way.

It can be very difficult to justify a Eurailpass based on costs
alone, even the selectpasses. There are individual country and
region passes that may be a better deal, and they usually have a
second class version even for us old farts. And many countries
have a lot of different discount tickets that can make travel
pretty cheap; you can look them up an the railways' web sites.

I have to admit, though, that a Eurailpass simplifies things.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

"Hatunen" wrote:
It can be very difficult to justify a Eurailpass based on costs
alone, even the selectpasses. There are individual country and
region passes that may be a better deal, and they usually have a
second class version even for us old farts. And many countries
have a lot of different discount tickets that can make travel
pretty cheap; you can look them up an the railways' web sites.
I have to admit, though, that a Eurailpass simplifies things.

When I found that I could buy a 1st cl. ticket on an ES train
from Florence to Venice for 39 Euros (weekend fare) online,
walk on with my e-mail confirmation, and not have to interface
with a human, kiosk or stamp machine, my decision to forego
a pass was sealed. =R=

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 18:47:32 -0400, "Rog'"
wrote:

"Hatunen" wrote:
It can be very difficult to justify a Eurailpass based on costs
alone, even the selectpasses. There are individual country and
region passes that may be a better deal, and they usually have a
second class version even for us old farts. And many countries
have a lot of different discount tickets that can make travel
pretty cheap; you can look them up an the railways' web sites.
I have to admit, though, that a Eurailpass simplifies things.

When I found that I could buy a 1st cl. ticket on an ES train
from Florence to Venice for 39 Euros (weekend fare) online,
walk on with my e-mail confirmation, and not have to interface
with a human, kiosk or stamp machine, my decision to forego
a pass was sealed. =R=

However, this won't usually work if you make a spur-of-the-moment
decision to run up to Milano while standing in the Venice
station.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *