beluxe train travel
 

Has any one used the beluxe train pass for Belgium, Amsterdam and Paris? Do you have to pay extra for seat reservations? Is it really less expensive than booking from point to point? How far in advance do they allow ticket purchase?

www.seat61.com should answer all your questions for you. Before getting any sort of rail pass you should always compare the cost of point to point train ticket purchases.

Do you have an itinerary, it might be easier to have an idea of whether point to point is cheaper than a railpass if we have an idea of where you're planning on going. You can book individual tickets 3 months in advance or 4 months on some Eurostar.

Also be aware that railpasses tend not to cover 'supplements' for fast trains that can significantly add to your costs. A
"passholder surcharge" on the Thalys, for instance, can cost more than simply buying the cheapest discounted point-to-point ticket.

In benelux there ARE no seat reservations, are there? Unless you insist on using a Paris-bound Thalys train between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels, instead of the hourly regular train, of course!

Is it really less expensive than booking from point to point? How far in advance do they allow ticket purchase?>

Well it depends on what kind of train travel you are doing - one trip Amsterdam to paris or other trips - day trips from Amsterdam - staying in lovely Bruges, Belgium en route to paris, etc. Then a pass could be a good deal especially if you want flexibility to board any train anytime (Thalys excepted but if you go Amsterdam-Bruges-Paris you do not need to ride the Thalys which does charge an obscenely high IMO supplement for pass holders of $35-40 in 2nd class - and much more in first class - and whether you go first class or not - the pass being a better deal IMO in first class and second class and after decades of rail travel I adamantly advise anyone on the trip of a lifetime to go first class - much bigger seats, lots of empty seats IME - more room to store luggage, etc.

For lots of great info on trains in Benelux and the Benelux-France railpass (Benelux Pass along would not cover the French portion so to make a Benelux-France pass pay off would probably mean you'd have to ride trains in France as well) = check out these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com (Man in seat 61's who posted above - his commercial site - click on his commercial link to RailEurope to get current railpass prices and to buy one - giving Man a well-deserved commission no doubt! and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. For thalys tickets www.thalys.com - and if you are just doing Amsterdam to Paris then Thalys is the only direct train - you can score some really deep discounted tickets if you book months in advance and again cannot be changed nor refunded I believe.

In benelux there ARE no seat reservations, are there? Unless you insist on using a Paris-bound Thalys train between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels, instead of the hourly regular train, of course!>

small correction - trains from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centrale that run over the new high-speed line also used by Thalys require seat reservations. But yes no other trains besides this one and Thalys in Benelux even offer the possibility of seat reservations let along require them.