Are Americans being overcharged for European Rail Fares?
 

I have noticed that many North Americans visitors to my home continent, who have pre-purchased their European rail tickets in the US or Canada, seem to have paid vastly over the odds for their tickets. More than I, as a European, would pay if I just purchased the fully flexible buy-on-departure fares here. And over ten times as much as Europeans would pay for advance purchase tariffs. You can see some price comparisons for five sample journeys at http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/european_rail_fares.php, and read more at http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/articl...rticles_id=683.

I can see why folk perhaps feel that pre-purchasing in dollars might make good sense, but surely not when the ticket purchased costs twice as much (or even ten times as much) as an identical ticket purchased on a European website.

I would be interested in any comments.

They do this because (a) they don't know how to do otherwise and/or (b) they feel better having another task done prior to leaving for vacation.

Sometimes it is difficult to navigate train web pages. So, some people purchase tickets from agents in the US who do the navigating and purchasing and we are sure we are ordiering the correct tickets.
Of course, these companies are in business and must make money. I don't think it is the purchasing in dollars. I think it is just that we might be unsure of ourselves especially for a first time purchase.
Also, we have the tickets in our hand before we leave. I don't know how easy it is for everyone to discover the difference in prices.

Yes.

And how about (c) when nothing could be done otherwise (like when the Trenitalia website rejects all your CCs, and it's too late to get any discounts by the time you buy the tickets in person in Italy).

It has nothing to do with being unsure of oneself or being too dumb to navigate web pages-- I can navigate even Hungarian pages just fine, knowing only a few words. Some sites just won't let you buy with a US credit card.

Rail passes (most of the companies sell pt-to-pt tickets too)have been marketed so well that many people assume they are a bargain and the cheapest way to travel. They think RailEurope or Eurail is a train and all the trains in Europe are owned by them. Others think all the trains sell out and they must purchase in advance. Since the US doesn't have the rail infrastructure that Europe does, Americans just don't understand that way of travel and think it's like booking airline tickets. Others are just anal and need tickets in hand before departure even if they have to pay double for having OCD.

You don't have to buy in advance to be overcharged-- you are overcharged when you are forced to pay the walk-up fare at the station, instead of being able to buy three weeks before with a 30 percent discount online!

Agree with original poster about these overcharges.
Places like raileurope seem to charge much more than purchasing the same ticket locally even when one does this at the train station on the day of travel.

Perhaps tourists do not realize how easy it is to purchase your tickets and the large savings involved.

many countries rail companies have easy to use websites to locate schedules and even buy direct. Some will mail tickets or you can print some on line.

Also many countries offer highly discounted tickets for fixed departures and routes. These too advertised on the websites.

Most here, Austria, simply go to the train station shortly before traveling, buy the ticket ( 2nd class is fine ) and board the train.
savings can be substantial.

for Austria

www.oebb.at

for schedules and offers. prices for travel easily found and can be compared with purchases elsewhere.

No reason to be unsure or afraid of this method. Most bigger places will have english speaking staff to assist .

"It has nothing to do with being unsure of oneself or being too dumb to navigate web pages" ..

often it is frustrating because it takes a long time to figure things out.
I was trying to buy tickets from the ( excellent) English site for German railways, but it would not accept my telephone number.
I finally asked someone on Fodor's - turns out you have to place " 0" before a country code !
I was able to print the part of the trip in Germany, but Prague - Dresden ticket had to be mailed to me (?).
Still I saved about 30%.

Another example of non-acceptance of North American credit card was at the Amsterdam train station .
There were a hundred people at the counter so I tried to buy a ticket from the machine - it would not accept my credit cards. The only option was the EXACT change .
I was ready to kick the thing, well ... instead I bought something and got the darn change.

But as I have said so many times before Dutch railway ticket machines don't accept anybody's credit card, not even Dutch ones. The do however accept debit (ATM) cards.
Never mind soon you have to buy an OV card and use it on all public transport, provided you have enough money on it.
It is the same as an Oyster card.

>>>You don't have to buy in advance to be overcharged-- you are overcharged when you are forced to pay the walk-up fare at the station, instead of being able to buy three weeks before with a 30 percent discount online!<<<<

You certainly won't find those discount tickets on Rail Europe and there are some discounts that don't have to be purchased in advance. On Trenitalia you can get a walk-up family discount most of the time and they were offering a 35% r/t same day discount on the fast trains which was great for day trips.

>I finally asked someone on Fodor's - turns out you have to place " 0" before a country code !
You have to place "00" before a country code. That is the normal way foreign numbers have to be dialed from here, not a fancy idea of Deutsche Bahn to confuse overseas travellers.
Quite useful to know, by the way, if you plan to phone home during your travels.

The title of this thread is misleading.

First, it has nothing to do with being American - it has to do with greedy travel agencies who are selling the more expensive tickets because their commission increases with price. This happens to inexperienced travellers all over the world - including Europeans.

Second, the above mentioned website compares apples with oranges. The travel agencies sold normal-price tickets without restrictions while the cheap tickets are sometimes very hard to get, restricted and non-refundable. The 29-Euro-Sparpreis ticket sells out so quickly that chances are low that you get it. And it is only useful if you know in advance exactly which connection you will take.

But this is exactly the same as with airfares. So, nothing new.

It is very easy to avoid the pitfalls of complicated fare systems:

1)Make yourself familiar with the websites and online booking systems. Play around for some time.

2)Read one of the numerous threads here on this forum.

3)If you have a question, just post here. You will get most useful advice within a few hours.

For France, using the SNCF website and buying in advance can save you a boodle compared to a walk-up purchase. I agree Raileurope is making money hand over fist from un-savvy American travelers.

traveller1959 (above)

You suggest that the comparison table referred to above is misleading. It shows the fare quoted for specific journeys with date, preferred of travel and route detailed at the time of the request (which was 12 June 2009). And then simply shows the fares that were quoted.

Yes, you are right that the DB within Germany €29 Sparpreis fare sells out quite quickly. Which is why that very cheap fare does not feature in the table. (The only €29 deal shown was the Europa-Spezial Kroatien fare still available with some eight weeks advance booking on the Berlin-Hamburg-Munich-Zagreb routing).

If travellers want to maintain the utmost flexibility and not book anything in advance, then they will surely pay a huge price for that flexibility. But tickets purchased through some agents (such as Rail Europe) will still usually be even more expensive that flexible tickets purchased from local European websites.

"You have to place "00" before a country code. That is the normal way foreign numbers have to be dialed from here, not a fancy idea of Deutsche Bahn to confuse overseas travellers."
of course not, but if you are not from "over there"
how would one know?

Many people seem to not grasp the idea that you need to know how often you will be using the train, to know if a 'pass' or any kind is worth it. First-timers seem to think they must have a 'Eurail pass' even when they are only changing cities a couple times on their trip.

hiddeneurope, Thanks for bringing this up. I am just starting to plan a trip for later April to Amsterdam with some side trips. I am sure I will be asking for some advice as it gets closer.

hetismij - <i>"Never mind soon you have to buy an OV card and use it on all public transport, provided you have enough money on it. It is the same as an Oyster card."</i>

When will this new OV card take effect? Will you still be able to use Strippenkaarts?

Robyn :)>-

Well I justed posted a request for help with booking night trains in Italy. If the Trenitalia webiste will not take my US credit card - how can I pre-purchase these tickets to an advance booking discount?