Confused about Eurail.

[nickolt]

I've been using raileurope.ca to figure out how long it will take me to get between destinations. Now I just figured that with a eurail pass, I could hop on any train for free .. But then I noticed that beside the spot where it told me how long the trains would take o the raileurope site, there was a fee that eurail pass holders had to pay.

Are there only specific train lines you can ride on? Am i just being a complete idiot???
When it asks you your information, like what cities you're traveling between, the dates etc, there's a box that you can click if you have a eurail pass, yet the fees still appeared.

I'm planning on purchasing the unlimited 2 month global pass, which is about $1000, I don't want to be having to pay any additional costs !!!

[Eagle]

nickolt, Welcome to the Boards! I have a few comments on your Rail Pass questions.

I suspect the "fees" that you noticed beside some train routes are the reservation fees that are normally charged for high speed or inter-city trains. The Eurail Pass does not include these fees; they must be paid separately. In addition, those travellers that want to rent a Couchette or sleeping compartment must pay an extra charge. The Rail Pass only provides the cost of your "ticket" on a particular train, not the supplementary fees. For those buying P-P tickets, the reservation fee is included in the cost of the ticket.

You might want to read www.ricksteves.com/rail/howrailworks.htm for a more detailed explanation. Click the "reservations" link on page 1 for more details on these.

One other point to make is that you can purchase Eurail Passes from the home page of this site. The cost is the same as elsewhere, and it helps to support our efforts here.

Hope this has answered your questions?

Cheers!

[nickolt]

So I checked out the reservation section on ricksteves site, yet when i went to check the times on raileurope.com again (between berlin and amsterdam) it says there is a 12.00 fee. Now the trip is only around 6 hours, and not overnight. Is the website just assuming that I will be making a reservation right now, and that is why its asking for 12.00? I assume if i just show up at the train station in berlin, i wont have a reservation and thus no reservation fee??

Btw, thanks for the tip on getting the eurail pass through the site. I will def do that once I start purchasing everything.

[Eagle]

nickolt, what time of year will you be travelling? If you won't be using the rail system during the "peak" times of July and August, you might find that buying reservations in Europe is the easiest solution.

I normally arrange my outgoing journey (ie: buy reservations) when I arrive in a city (after all, I'm at the station anyway). Especially for your first trip, this is a sensible solution since you have to validate your Rail Pass anyway (don't try to use your Pass without validating it!). I've never had a problem getting a reservation when booking a few days before the trip, but of course this will be more difficult if travelling in "peak" season ( I normally travel in "shoulder season").

You might find it worthwhile to read the "Rail Skills" section in the book Europe Through The Back Door and/or download the Rail Guide at www.ricksteves.com/rail/railpdf.htm.

Finally, for checking travel times for various rail journeys, I find that www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml is a bit easier to use than the Rail Europe site.

Happy travels!

[nickolt]

I plan to be travelling during the off shoulder season. When I used the www.bahn.de site, only some trips has an R beside it that meant a reservation was required. Some didnt have an R beside it. So I'm assuming that unless you need a reservation, you dont need to pay any extra $$$.