rail pass help!

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May 27th, 2002, 05:06 PM

Joanne

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rail pass help!

Is anyone good at figuring out what railpass to get? I am having a tough time trying to figure this thing out. Here is my itinerary: 9/5 Arrive in Frankfurt-transfer to Rothenburg 9/8 Transfer to Munich-3nights including day trips to Neuschwanstein and Salzburg 9/11 Transfer to Luzern 9/12 Transfer to Murren 9/16 Transfer to Varenna, Italy 9/19 Transfer to Venice What would be a better option the Eurail Selectpass or the Swiss Pass combined with point to point? While in the Berner Oberland and Luzern we might be using a lot of cable cars, funiculars, trains etc and were wondering if it is a better value to have the Swiss pass? Any feedback is appreciated.

May 27th, 2002, 05:12 PM

Betsy

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Joanne, type your itinerary in at www.railsaver.com for a comparison of passes to point-to-point tickets.

May 27th, 2002, 07:31 PM

Bob Brown

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I can come up with a guesstimate, with some interpolation of what point to point tickets would cost you. You will close to the breakeven point between a 3-country pass bought from RailEurope and point to point tickets. (The 3 could be Germany, Switzerland, Italy. Train travel in Austria will be so little of your trip that it can be excluded.) Here are a few basic facts: The Swiss Pass for 4 days is 240 chf if you are alone, or 204 chf for one pass if you are with another adult. Both of you can buy the pass for 15% off. It will give you some discounts in the Berner Oberland. The Eurail Select Saver Pass is first class and for 6 days travel in 2 months total time it is $380 or 8 days in 2 months $444. You actually have 8 days! The cost of the trip from Frankfurt to Munich via Rotenburg depends on which Rotenburg. I assumed Rothenburg ob der Tauber. There are two Rothenburgs that show up on the map, so you must specify which one. From Munich to Luzern is hard to figure price wise because international fares are hard to find. The cost of the trip from Munich to Luzern, therefore, is educated guessing based on partial fares. The area between Lindau and St. Margarethen is in Austria and Switzerland and I cannot find a price. Day trips are figured round trip, second class. Detailed costs: Frankfurt airport to Munich 77 e Munich - Neuschwanstein train 48 e Munich - Salzburg train 48 e Munich - Lindau 28 e Lindau - St. Margarethen 10 e guess St. M - Luzern 50 chf or 34 e Luzern to Mürren is 42.40 chf or 28.80 e Murren to Brig is 56.40 chf or 38.35 e Brig to Milan 20 Euro estimate Milan to Venice via Varenna 30 e. Adding up all the euro figures, I get 362 e or about $340 on 8 days worth of travelling, depending on exchange rates. That figure of $340 is about $100 less than the 3 country pass. The pass would enable you to ride first class, which I would do in Italy. You will be more comfortable on the whole trip if you go first class. If I had priced first class tickets, the pass would definitely save money. Also, I am not sure what savings you will get on mountain rides in Switzerland with the 3-country pass. It might yield a little, if it does, you would be closer to the breakeven point. In Switzerland you will ride about 150 chf worth. That is under the cost of the 4 day Swiss pass. What might save you a little money is if you buy the Berner Oberland Regional Pass. It will cost you 195 chf. If you ride the 3 most expensive rides in the area, you will be at the breakeven point. Figuring that one is not easy, because you must predict what you do. The prices for the indvidual rides in the Berner Oberland area are posted on the web. Try this site: http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/english/pages/SE/SE_KrTe.htm The other factor that you can consider with a pass is this: you might decide on the spur of the moment to take another trip. And you would already have your ticket. This one is complicated, and I hope some of my interpolations hold up in actual use.

May 27th, 2002, 09:06 PM

joe

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Go to railsaver.com and list the cities you are traveling and they will give you a price and suggestions of what pass would accommodate you. Good luck!

May 27th, 2002, 09:38 PM

Julie

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There is a rail pass calculator on the site below... http://eurocheapo.railkey.com/eurocheapo/railsaver.asp if you oare over 26, the cost of the pass is $444 + $22 extra for the day trip to austria (above is the price the website calculated for a eurail select, germany/italy/austria 8 day non-consecutive 2nd class pass)' if you are 26 and under, the same combo will cost you $310 + $16

May 28th, 2002, 04:36 PM

Josnne

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Bob, Yes, I'm sorry that is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Trying to figure this out I guess is difficult because it really depends on what we want to do in the Alps. We are definitely going up to Schilthorn and possibly Jungfraujoch and if we have time in Luzern, Pilatus. These are all extra of course. Having a pass is convenient-you don't have to buy a ticket constantly. Yes, I would love to save money, but my thinking right now is to have a pass of some sort for the majority of the trip. Yes, this one is a complicated one. Thanks for your help. Any other insight is appreciated.

May 28th, 2002, 04:38 PM

Josnne

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May 28th, 2002, 04:39 PM

Joanne

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Sorry-computer problems today. That's me Joanne, not Josnne. Woops!

May 28th, 2002, 08:35 PM

Bob Brown

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Hi Joanne. The problem I have with these handy dandy saver calculations is that they do not cover the routes and they do not give all of the prices at the same price you pay in Europe. Rail Europe often charges 25% more for a ticket than you would pay in Europe. I have even found them to be more than 40% higher in some cases. Therefore, I try to get as close as I can by looking at the national rail sites. The problem with the national rail sites is that they do not often give prices on tickets when the trip crosses an international boundary. That is why I had to do some guess work. I did a workup on the Berner Oberland Regional Pass and posted it a while back. It may be buried so deep that it is totally out of sight. If you cannot find it here, take a look at Frommers. I put it there too and it is under Switzerland. It should be easy to find there. The problem with the Berner Oberland Pass is this: If the weather is lousy, it does you little good to go up higher because you see only more fog. I would not buy it until I was on the scene, except for one angle of your trip I did not figure on. That angle is this: You get a 50% discount with the Berner Oberland Pass from just south of Luzern to Brig. If you DID not buy a rail pass, and went with point to point tickets, the BOP would save you on a little more than half of your train travel in Switzerland. In fact, on the 7 day pass, you have 3 free days of travel, with notable exceptions. I doubt if you would want to use a free day to go from Mürren to Brig, but it is a possibility. For example, you might want to take the 50% discount when (if) you go to the Jungfraujoch. You need to allow most of the day, and the last leg of that trip is never free. You pay half price with the pass all the time. And the trip from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg, the station at which you switch to the Jungfraubahn for the last leg of the trip up, is not that expensive. I would not want to devote a free day just to that section of your travel. (You write on the pass itself those days you select as "free". Once written in, you cannot change it.) If you want to continue this discussion, email me directly. I am getting into a lot of detail here without knowing if it is fully applicable. I get a few inquires each week, and don't mind answering them. I am afterall having fun discussing it.

May 28th, 2002, 08:39 PM

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Bob Brown

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PS. One factor some people point out is that "If you have a pass, you can just get on the train." So? It takes a very brief time to buy a ticket. Also, if your plans are fixed, there is no reason that you cannot buy your complete ticket when you get to Frankfurt. One other item, I suggest taking a bus tour to Neuschwanstein. Otherwise you have a hassle to get there, or so it seems to me. I rented a car in Munich, and 3 of us went. One car was more convenient than 2 trains; and probably cheaper. We also spent less time traveling, and we could see what we wanted to see.