Hi everyone,<BR>I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am so confused about the Eurorail passes. I look at their site, and I read that the pass jsut gets you on the train, but you have to make a seat or sleper reservation for an additional fee? Is this true? How much does that normally cost? I plan on traveling in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Would the Eurorail pass be the cheapest and fastest way? Thanks!

Eurail is worth it if you plan on traveling to more than one city within each country. The eurail pass is enough to get you on most trains except the overnighters and some of the high speed trains. It does not guarantee a seat. You can either jump on the train before everyone else or reserve a seat. The sleepers and high speed trains require a reservation regardless. For exact reservation prices try raileurope.com.

Some sites I find helpful:<BR><BR>ricksteves.com<BR>euraide.de<BR>fo otloosetravel.com<BR>railsaver.com<BR><BR>The last one is good if you have a tentitive plan. Plug it in and see if a railpass is best for your plans.<BR><BR>Reservations are usually not needed, exceptions are noted on charts on the web-sites above.

Seat or sleeper reservation for additional fee:<BR>- Sleeper reservation is mandatory if you are taking this option.<BR>- Seat reservation are more involved:<BR>1. Trains labeled "reservation compulsory" or required or some similar wording on time table (usually some type of highspeed or scenic trains): you MUST make a reservation. Something around ~$5 when made in Europe or more than ~$11 when made from the US (plus handling charge, of course.)<BR><BR>2. Trains labeled "reservation recommended" on time table: you have to decide if it is worth getting reservation or not based on time of the year, day of the week, destination. I have gotten away without making reservation on these "most" of the time. I did have to stand in the corridor or sit in the yakky smoking section at times, however.<BR><BR>3. Other trains: it's same deal as #2. Since I have never bothered to reserve for "recommended" case, I have never bothered to reserve on trains without any reservation notes.<BR><BR>To find out if train travel save you money, you have to do the work. For example go to:<BR>www.railsaver.com<BR>Click "railsaver", in personal info, click "Only if railpasses save me money" option and plug your destination.<BR><BR>Force "railpass" options to findout how much the best railpass costs compared to point to point if the answer comes back point to point.<BR><BR>Fastest? hmm... Obviously railpasses don't make the trains move faster. But having a railpass on non reserved train allows you to skip further ticket purchases and validations once you have done the initial pass validation.

High speed trains, like the TGV, *require* a reservation - it's usually just a few euros and you can buy it just before you board.<BR><BR>If you are taking a train that's known to be crowded (like the Venice&lt;&gt;Milan run), you probably will WANT a reservation because you're sure of a seat; otherwise, you are at risk of SRO (or getting stuck in the smoking car because it's the only seat left).<BR><BR>For sleepers, you will pay the difference between the single-ticket seat-only train price and the sleeper train price (in essence, you will be paying for the "bed" - your railpass covers the "ride"). This fee includes the reservation. It's been a while since I used a pass on a sleeper car, so I don't know the current "bed" fee. I remember that fee being about half the cost of a hotel room.<BR><BR>The only way to determine the value of a pass is having an itinerary roughed out - how many miles are you covering on the train? how many days? which countries? (France/Italy trains are more expensive than Spain/Greece trains). The all inclusive Eurail pass (good for months) is most economical if you are traveling long distances for many days, and want to go first class. Eurail also offers a 3-adjoining-countries pass - like Spain/France/Italy. Again, you need to do a rough itinerary to see if this sort of pass is more economical than single tickets (Rick Steves books and website do a pretty good job of helping you compare the costs).<BR><BR>Personally, if the pass is only a few dollars more than single tickets, I prefer a pass. Other than buying reservations or sleepers, there's no standing in line for tickets or trying to communicate to the salesclerk where I want to go and when. I can hop off the train at an interesting town and not lose money on the ticket; or blow the popstand if the town I thought I'd like turns out to be a loser.<BR><BR> <BR>

I agree with Elvira about the easiness of having the pass. I love being able to just hop on or off a train on a whim.<BR>The longer you have a pass for, the better the value. I've traveled with a three month Eurorail pass a couple of times covering a whole lot of distance and the savings became tremendous. The shorter length passes, of course, are less value unless you keep moving a lot and for long distances.<BR><BR>The passes have become more complicated over the last few years. More and more I rely on special trains -- TGV, Thalys, Eurostar, and they all require reservations. Although most are stated that no supplement is required, it has often been impossible to convince a ticket seller of that fact, especially in Italy. When making a reservation on a Eurostar from Rome to Venice, nothing could convince anyone not to charge me a small fortune for a "supplement" as well as the reservation. And yes, you do need to check the information carefully to know when and where you might require a reservation, and then make them in advance.<BR><BR>I'm also surprised at the number of people who don't check out the options. For example a lot of people I know have purchased a Eurail pass and traveled only in Italy, Switzerland, and France. The three country pass is a much greater savings over the general Eurail pass. Also, be aware that with the purchase of any pass, you are entitled to a special fare on Eurostar from London to Paris or vice-versa. That is true even if your pass doesn't include France or the UK. We bought a 5 day Benelux pass and got our 1st Class Eurostar from Brussels to London for $155. There may be cheaper tickets available, but this was still a good deal as far as I'm concerned, especially since they were sent without a fee right along with our Benelux passes.