Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Multiple Country or Point to Point Rail tickets?

Multiple Country or Point to Point Rail tickets?

Old Jan 1st, 2007, 09:10 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Multiple Country or Point to Point Rail tickets?

We are going to be traveling between 3 to 4 countries in Europe, possibly Paris, Munich, Switzerland, Austria. Can anyone help me with rail tickets? I looked at the Rail Europe website which seemed very steep price wise and a bit confusing.Is it cheaper to buy a multiple country pass or point to point and, exactly what is point to point? How and where do you buy point to point passes ahead of time? Sorry to seem so ignorant. On our first trip to Europe two years ago we had a travel agent to do the rail passes, but I was disappointed in a lot of the hotel choices that were made for us, and I want to be able to start planning my own trips now that my family and I are beginning to get into traveling. Any advice?
ledhead is offline  
Old Jan 1st, 2007, 11:49 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 19,881
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Look on the website of the national rail company for the particular country.

Raileurope exists primarily to extract lots of money from the ignorant.
alanRow is offline  
Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 04:11 AM
  #3  
ira
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi L,

Enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".

If it says to buy PtP tickets, it is correct.

If it says to buy a pass, it _might_ be correct.

You should then check prices at the national rail sites, as they offer discounts that railsaver doesn't consider.

>..what is point to point? <

You walk up to the coounter and say, "I want to go from point A to point B". The clerk gives you the price. You hand over the money. You get your tickets.

You buy tickets in France and France to Germany and Switzerland at www.voyages-sncf.com.

For Switzerland to Germany, in Germany, Germany to Austria and in Austria you buy tickets at www.bahn.de.

You might also want to look at airfare at www.whichbudget.com.

Enjoy your planning.





You buy ticket
ira is offline  
Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:09 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A pass is a ticket which allows you to make unlimited journeys within a specified area. The price of a pass is based on the idea that you will be doing a fair amount of rail travel.
Point-to-point tickets are what 99.9% of rail passengers buy. A point-to-point ticket is a ticket allowing you to go from one place to another along a specified rail route and, in most European countries, the fare is calculated from the distance in kilometres.
Therefore, to decide whether a rail pass might be worth buying, you need to find fares for the journeys you plan to do. As others have said, go to the national rail web sites to find the fares actually charged at the railway stations - the fares local people pay.
GeoffHamer is offline  
Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 02:00 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You are correct in assuming that RailEurope charges a very steep price for point-point tickets, usually about 50% more than the price over there.

The problem with Rail Saver is that they know nothing (or want to know nothing about special fares available from national rail companies).

For instance, if you fly into Munich and out of Paris: you can go round trip from Munich to Vienna for €58 per person. You can then go to Zurich for €39 per person. (All these trips, RT or one way, have to start in German to get the Europa-Spezial fares.)

That is €97 for the first three travel days. With a Eurail 5 day 4 country select saver pass, for which you would pay $392 (or about 295 equivalent EUR), you would have two days to complete the trip to Paris. Without a pass, you would have €197 (about $260) to complete the trip without exceeding the cost of the rail pass.

Of course I only assumed you wanted to go to Vienna and Zurich. Depending on where in Austria, and how you get from Zurich to Paris, everything could change.
Larryincolorado is offline  
Old Jan 2nd, 2007, 10:08 PM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks everyone for all the advice. I wrote it all down and now I know where to look for the best deals!
ledhead is offline  
Old Jan 3rd, 2007, 01:55 AM
  #7  
ira
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You are welcome, L
ira is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
nessa_L
Europe
16
Feb 4th, 2009 07:53 AM
scrubbs
Europe
6
Sep 19th, 2006 01:30 PM
gypsy2_25
Europe
17
May 5th, 2006 10:46 AM
MichelleMcCarthy
Europe
7
Dec 24th, 2003 04:59 AM
Karla
Europe
6
Jul 10th, 2003 04:55 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -