eurailpass or point-to-point
 

I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?

I appreciate your comments/suggestions.

Thanks.

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Buy it in Barcelona. RailEurope charges top price for the ticket and
then adds fees for booking and fees for seat reservations.

Barbara in CT

Jdjuan6 wrote:

    >I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    >point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?
    >I appreciate your comments/suggestions.
    >Thanks.
    >

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Jdjuan6 wrote:
    >
    > I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    > point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?

There is no way that you would save money buying a point-to-point ticket
from raileurope. I once did a cost comparison and found that they were
from 30% to over 200% more expensive, depending on the class of train.

Barbara

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Jdjuan6 schrieb:
    >
    > I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    > point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?
    >
    > I appreciate your comments/suggestions.

You should consider the overnight Talgo service. Buy in Barcelona.

Regards, ULF

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Jdjuan6 schrieb:
    >
    > I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    > point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?
    >
    > I appreciate your comments/suggestions.

Try http://www.renfe.es/viajes/precios_i...a.html#opcion1

118 EUR one way in tourist sleeper if bought in Barcelona.

Discount for travelers under 26 or over 60.

Regards, ULF

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 17:47:04 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >Jdjuan6 wrote:
    >>
    >> I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    >> point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?
    >There is no way that you would save money buying a point-to-point ticket
    >from raileurope. I once did a cost comparison and found that they were
    >from 30% to over 200% more expensive, depending on the class of train.
    >Barbara

Hi

Is there any site which shows the prices of buying "walk up" rail
tickets in Europe? I have been using the RailEurope site for the
basis of cost calculations (ie pass vs point-to-point), but if the
RailEurope site shows inflated prices my calculations may be
inaccurate.

Thanks in advance.

Luke

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 08:58:10 +1030, Luke
wrote:

    >Is there any site which shows the prices of buying "walk up" rail
    >tickets in Europe? I have been using the RailEurope site for the
    >basis of cost calculations (ie pass vs point-to-point), but if the
    >RailEurope site shows inflated prices my calculations may be
    >inaccurate.

They may indeed. Many of the national railway sites give fares,
including discount fares and travelcard fares.

DeutscheBahn will give you fares within Germany, at
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...rotocol=http:&

The French railways will give you fares within France and
international fares for trains originating in France at
http://www.sncf.com

UK fares are at http://www.thetrainline.co.uk/

I'm not familiar with all the sites (I've not managed to find online
fares in Sweden), but I am quite familiar with the Finnish rails and
their web site at http://www.vr.fi is very informative. You can
download the entire national schedule book as a PDF file (the Finnish
version is actually more comprehensive than the English version).




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

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Luke wrote:
    >
    > On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 17:47:04 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
    > wrote:
    >
    > >
    > >
    > >Jdjuan6 wrote:
    > >>
    > >> I'm travelling from Barcelona-Paris. Would it be cheaper to buy the
    > >> point-to-point ticket with RailEurope or in Barcelona?
    > >
    > >There is no way that you would save money buying a point-to-point ticket
    > >from raileurope. I once did a cost comparison and found that they were
    > >from 30% to over 200% more expensive, depending on the class of train.

    > Is there any site which shows the prices of buying "walk up" rail
    > tickets in Europe? I have been using the RailEurope site for the
    > basis of cost calculations (ie pass vs point-to-point), but if the
    > RailEurope site shows inflated prices my calculations may be
    > inaccurate.

The various national railroads show the prices of tickets within their
own country. For international tickets, I've heard that the Rick Steves
website has a summary of the most popular routes. Let's Go, Europe, has
a summary also, on a map that shows both price and number of hours
between cities. Both of these show the price for 2nd class tickets. 1st
class would be about 30% more.

Barbara

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 08:06:34 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >The various national railroads show the prices of tickets within their
    >own country. For international tickets, I've heard that the Rick Steves
    >website has a summary of the most popular routes. Let's Go, Europe, has
    >a summary also, on a map that shows both price and number of hours
    >between cities. Both of these show the price for 2nd class tickets. 1st
    >class would be about 30% more.
    >Barbara


Thanks Barbara & Dave for your replies.

Going by the "Time and Cost" map on Rick Steve's site, I've calculated
that for my travel plan (quite a bit of travel but over 4 months) it
works out nearly equal to buy 2 Eurail Flexi-passes or go
point-to-point.

Hence, I'll buy the passes to avoid the queues. How often should I
expect to have to pay a "supplement"? For instance, on "Reservation
Required" services?


Luke

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Luke wrote:
    >
    > On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 08:06:34 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
    > wrote:
    >
    > >The various national railroads show the prices of tickets within their
    > >own country. For international tickets, I've heard that the Rick Steves
    > >website has a summary of the most popular routes. Let's Go, Europe, has
    > >a summary also, on a map that shows both price and number of hours
    > >between cities. Both of these show the price for 2nd class tickets. 1st
    > >class would be about 30% more.
    > >
    > >Barbara
    >
    > Thanks Barbara & Dave for your replies.
    >
    > Going by the "Time and Cost" map on Rick Steve's site, I've calculated
    > that for my travel plan (quite a bit of travel but over 4 months) it
    > works out nearly equal to buy 2 Eurail Flexi-passes or go
    > point-to-point.
    >
    > Hence, I'll buy the passes to avoid the queues. How often should I
    > expect to have to pay a "supplement"? For instance, on "Reservation
    > Required" services?

A reservation is different from a supplement, and on some trains you'll
have to buy both. Each country has a special class of expensive service
that is not covered by Eurail and similar passes. For these you have to
pay the difference between the fare that Eurail covers and the special
service train. You can avoid supplements by taking trains that are not
in this class. You can avoid reservations by taking only trains that
don't require them.

In Italy, where I live, the Eurostar trains require reservations, but
they are included in the cost of the ticket. So for these trains, and
others that may be the same in other countries, you would need to buy
only the supplement.

Barbara

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

On Sun, 23 Feb 2003 17:04:41 +0100, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >A reservation is different from a supplement, and on some trains you'll
    >have to buy both. Each country has a special class of expensive service
    >that is not covered by Eurail and similar passes. For these you have to
    >pay the difference between the fare that Eurail covers and the special
    >service train. You can avoid supplements by taking trains that are not
    >in this class. You can avoid reservations by taking only trains that
    >don't require them.
    >In Italy, where I live, the Eurostar trains require reservations, but
    >they are included in the cost of the ticket. So for these trains, and
    >others that may be the same in other countries, you would need to buy
    >only the supplement.

Okay, let me see if I've got this right:

* A supplement may be required on "expensive" services (eg express).

* A reservation may be required on popular services (eg at peak times)
but sometimes a reservation is free.

* On an expensive and popular service I'll probably need both.

Thanks again.


Luke

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Barbara Vaughan:
    >> A reservation is different from a supplement, and on some trains you'll
    >> have to buy both. Each country has a special class of expensive service
    >> that is not covered by Eurail and similar passes. ...

Luke Crotts:
    > Okay, let me see if I've got this right:
    >
    > * A supplement may be required on "expensive" services (eg express).
    >
    > * A reservation may be required on popular services (eg at peak times)
    > but sometimes a reservation is free.
    >
    > * On an expensive and popular service I'll probably need both.

Right, except that the bit where Barbara said "each country" is a bit
misleading. In my experience it's more typical for the Eurailpass to
be valid on all trains without a supplement -- except, of course, if
you want sleeping-car accommodation.
--
Mark Brader "After all, it is necessary to get behind
Toronto someone before you can stab them in the back."
[email protected] -- Lynn & Jay, "Yes, Prime Minister"

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

"Mark Brader" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Barbara Vaughan:
    > >> A reservation is different from a supplement, and on some trains you'll
    > >> have to buy both. Each country has a special class of expensive service
    > >> that is not covered by Eurail and similar passes. ...
    > Luke Crotts:
    > > Okay, let me see if I've got this right:
    > >
    > > * A supplement may be required on "expensive" services (eg express).
    > >
    > > * A reservation may be required on popular services (eg at peak times)
    > > but sometimes a reservation is free.
    > >
    > > * On an expensive and popular service I'll probably need both.
    > Right, except that the bit where Barbara said "each country" is a bit
    > misleading. In my experience it's more typical for the Eurailpass to
    > be valid on all trains without a supplement -- except, of course, if
    > you want sleeping-car accommodation.
    > --
    > Mark Brader "After all, it is necessary to


Barbara is quite correct. In addition to your pass you will have to pay a
supplement on these trains:

Eurostar Italia (ES)- Italy
Artesia- France/Italy
AVE, Talgo & Euromed- Spain
Cisalpino- Switzerland/Italy
Linx- Norway/Sweden
Thalys-France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands

And of course in addition to your pass or ticket you have to pay for
sleeping car compartments and couchettes on overnight trains. When you buy a
Eurail pass you will receive a "Eurail Traveler's Guide" that contains this
list of trains requiring supplements.

Ryan

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Mark Brader:
    > > Right, except that the bit where Barbara said "each country" is a bit
    > > misleading. In my experience it's more typical for the Eurailpass to
    > > be valid on all trains without a supplement -- except, of course, if
    > > you want sleeping-car accommodation.

Ryan B.:
    > Barbara is quite correct. In addition to your pass you will have to pay a
    > supplement on these trains:
    >
    > Eurostar Italia (ES)- Italy
    > Artesia- France/Italy
    > AVE, Talgo & Euromed- Spain
    > Cisalpino- Switzerland/Italy
    > Linx- Norway/Sweden
    > Thalys-France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands

Well, that's certainly a longer list than I expected, and it shows how
the original concept of the Eurailpass has been eroded. I'm particularly
surprised to see the Talgo on there, because when I was last in Spain
in 1992, most of the long-distance trains were Talgos and my pass was
valid on them without supplement. Thanks for the information, Ryan.

But it should also be noted that most of the trains mentioned run on a
limited number of routes, so that even in most countries on the list,
the pass is still valid without supplement on most long-distance trains.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Courtesy, hell. We're programmers not humans."
[email protected] | -- S. M. Ryan

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Re: eurailpass or point-to-point
 

Luke wrote:
    >
    > Okay, let me see if I've got this right:

You've got it almost right.

    > * A supplement may be required on "expensive" services (eg express).
    >
    > * A reservation may be required on popular services (eg at peak times)
    > but sometimes a reservation is free.

The reservation isn't very well correlated with popularity, and on the
trains where they are possible they are often not required. Some types
of service never have reservations, even though they may be very
popular. Some types of service always have reservations, even if they're
not so popular. This may also vary by country. Here are some examples
for Italy, where I live:

Regional service: no reservations possible
Intercity service: reservations possible but not required
Eurostar: reservations required and included in the ticket price

Where reservations are not required, I never make them. If I had to take
a really long trip on a potentially very crowded route, I might do so,
but normally I just take my chances. If I find myself standing in the
aisle, I can always upgrade to first class, paying a penalty for doing
so on the train. First class almost never gets sold out.

Barbara