Here is what the man in seat 61 actually has to say about 1st vs. 2nd class, as well as railpasses.

http://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-t...%20class%20..?

http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-E...0pay-as-you-go

Conclusion: Budget train fares have arrived, as train operators copy budget airlines and offer very cheap point-to-point deals if you book in advance. If you're prepared to pre-book your itinerary a couple of months in advance on a 'no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans' basis online direct from a European train operator (as opposed to buying from an overseas booking agency), these cheap fares blow railpasses out of the water price-wise.

Nevertheless Man in Seat 61 admitted to being an aficionado of first-vclass train travel and in a recent post he outlined the substantial differences between the classes - and there is and with that Eastern European Pass you can travel really cheaply per day in first class - the main benefit being if you just hop on a train you will nearly always find lots of empty seats in first class and not always in 2nd class. And you also have rows with one seat in each row - an aisle and a window seat - two can face each other - if you read Man in Seat 61's links from St Cirq above he says these seats are one of the nice perks of first class.

"Nice perk" vs more money to travel longer? I'll do without the perk.

Just how many posters here do you think just hop on a train to somewhere at a day's notice? Most posters, especially those with limited travel time, are much more organized.

@thursdaysd

We are in the process of planning out our train timetable, using may as a example month, to see how much prices differ between pass and point to point as it seems to be that its a 50/50 split as to who prefers pass or tickets. We are only considering the pass as we would qualify for the youth pass which is a cheaper option to the adult or aduly and 1st class.

Here's another post, from March 13:

<<
Man_in_seat_61 on Mar 13, 13 at 2:24pm

Start with the assumption you just want to pre-book cheap train tickets at www.tgv-europe.com (for journeys within or starting in France), www.sbb.ch for journeys within or starting in Switzerland, www.trenitalia.com in Italy or starting in Italy.

Only think railpasses if you actual NEED unlimited travel or total flexibility, and are prepared to pay top dollar for it.

It's exactly the same principle as booking your flights to Europe - you don't want an unlimited mileage all-over-the-word airline pass, you just want a cheap return flight to Europe! Trains are the same, and western European trains now work like air fares with budget fares if you pre-book!>>

You beat an awful lot of dead horses, Pal. Given your animal rights stance, that may not be such a good look.

We are only considering the pass as we would qualify for the youth pass which is a cheaper option to the adult or aduly and 1st class.>

yes when some folks speak of railpasses they tend to lump them all together and say are rarely cost-effective but those folks really do not know all the various railpasses out there - like the bargain Youthpasses where fully flexible travel could at times be cheaper per day than even online discounts - the German Pass is an example of this - take a handful of trains rides and a pass is about the same as 4 discounted tickets - if all those tickets were available and they are not always - so when someone throws out a generality about 'railpasses' take it with zillions of grains of sand IMO.

Oh for heaven's sake, what a bore. the equine isn't just dead, it's decomposing. No-one is saying that passes are ALWAYS a bad deal, just that they are often a bad deal and each trip needs to be assessed separately.

just that they are often a bad deal and each trip needs to be assessed separately.>

They are often a bad deal of course if you are not taking enough trains and or do not want flexibility to hop any train anytime in many countries.

But you could as well say they are often a good deal - for those who are taking enough trains and desire flexibility or want to go first class - passes generally a better deal in first class vis-a-vis first class fares

so to say 'often a bad deal' is a Red Herring IMO - I have had 100s of passes - literally and none has ever ever been a bad deal - for me and what I did.

what does 'often a bad deal' mean - to most it means rarely a good deal and for those who investigate a pass and compare to regular tickets - for them they are often a good deal too.

nope often a bad deal is about the same as saying always a bad deal and IMO pure misinformation - it could be said that before buying a pass do your research and do not automatically think of a railpass as a requisite for any European train travel.

Good to see the OP is still involved.

Chris, welcome to Fodors, Bratislava used to be a dump, it has improved but not by much. I guess you want as many capital cities as possible. Well you could get of the train in Liepzig or Dresden and have a better half day visit between Prague and Berlin.