nanaof4

I am still struggling with the whole question of buying a one country, two country, or three country pass vs. point to point tickets for my upcoming trip in Sept. to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. I find it frustrating that I cannot get the point to point ticket price on the DB website. Is there any website where I could get that information? I am probably just trying too hard to wrap my head around all the possibilities and I never seem to find the same info twice on the various country train websites.

I read about the Bahn Card. Is that something I have to purchase in order to get a discount on ticket prices?

Also, Senior rates are mentioned, but I don't understand how to get them.

Is there a way I can determine the distances of various legs of my trip in order to decide how many days I need on a pass and how many I would be better off just buying point to point tickets?

There will be two of us traveling together, so I know we could get Saver passes, so that is something else to consider.

I apologize if I am asking too many questions, but I am just so confused by it all.

PalenQ, can you help me put this all together, so I can decide. Thank you so much.

Joy

Man_in_seat_61

Booking opens 92 days ahead, so simply pick sample dates 3 months from now.

You'll find fares work like air fares, varying from €19 upwards depending on the how far ahead you book and how popular that date/train is.

Compare the pass price with the most expensive fare is you demand spontaneity and flexibility, but compare the pass price with the cheapest fare if you are willing to pre-book and commit on a no refunds, no changes to travel plans basis.

www.bahn.de/en for Germany, www.oebb.at for Austria.

nanaof4

It doesn't work for me. I just now tried it again by going to www.bahn.de/en and put in a date of a Wednesday in late July for a trip from Frankfurt Flughafen to Bacharach at 11:00, to see what would come up. It says "Fare not available". So I put in a date in late June and it said the same thing. So I tried late May; same thing. Tried May 22nd and May 15th and still said "Fare not Available" I could not get any fare unless I put in tomorrow's date. This is frustrating! What am I doing wrong?

Travelforbeer

Nana, I got the same result for July 10. It looks like there is no discounted price for the trip you entered. If you click on the "standard fare" button it indicates that the total unrestricted one way fare for up to 5 passengers is 15 E, at least that is my interpretation. Try to purchase this and see what happens...

thursdaysd

That is a short trip on regional trains that is already cheap. As Travelforbeer says, the standard fare is 15 euro, regardless. Just show up and buy a ticket. Absolutely no point in using a pass for a trip like that, either, as the per-day cost for the pass will be higher.

What other trips are you planning? I usually buy point-to-point tickets, but I think there is a Swiss pass that might well be worthwhile. Do read what seat61.com has to say on his website.

PalenQ

I read about the Bahn Card. Is that something I have to purchase in order to get a discount on ticket prices?>

Yes and the cost of that annual pass I think makes it a poor investment for someone not doing a lot of train trips.

nanoa - what exactly are you doing by train - in Switzerland a relatively few train trips can make a Swiss Pass viable - in part because it covers not only trains but lake boats - lots of sweet floats there!) and postal buses, city trams and buses and also gives free entry to 400+ Swiss museums and gives 50% off nearly all gondolas and trains to mountain tops - check www.swisstravelsystrem.com for lots of goodies on Swiss trains, passes, etc.

A Swiss Pass has a lot more coverage than any 2- or 3-country 'Eurail' Pass - those will only cover mainline trains and some mountain trains but will not cover many so not nearly as many benefits in Switzerland.

A German Twin (mnot Saver but Twin - Saver is for 2-5 names on one pass but in Germany it is only for groups of two - Twins - if you have 3 people the third must buy a solo pass at a higher rate. But if taking 4 or more German trains of an hour or so - fast trains then the German Twin Pass can be as cheap as the touted 29 euro tickets and unlike them provide completely flexibility to hop just about any train anytime, including S-Bahns that act like metros in many German cities (you would of course not use an unlimited travel day to ride them but say you use you pass to get to Munich then it would be valid the rest of the day on the S-Bahn system say you wanted to S-Bahn it out to Dachau to to the city center.

A 3-country pass - the Select Saverpass is much more expensive per day than either the Swiss or German passes because it only comes in first class if you are over 25 - you can buy 2nd class German and Swiss passes at a much cheaper per day rate - so unless traveling a lot that may not be the best - especially since the Swiss Pass is often a much much better deal for what folks do in Switzerland than a Eurail Select Pass as that pass does not provide all the benefits a Swiss Pass does.

So perhaps a German Pass or point-point discounted tickets if you do not desire flexibility and are willing to book weeks in advance to get those limited in number offerings and or a Swiss Pass and in Austria just regular tickets unless doing more than the usual cross country trip to Vienna - www.oebb.com - Austrian Railways offers similar discounts as does Germany.

For lots of great info on trains in these countries and passes I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sources - www.seat61.com - Man in Seat 61 who posts above his commercial site - click on his commercial link to RailEurope to get current pass prices and if buying give him a well deserved commission from RE! and also www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - if you want to talk to someone who is an expert call Byron here - I have bought passes from him for years and he knows everything and will answer questions IME even if not buying anything!

But gibve us an outline of your proposed train trips in each country and I and others can give a better informed recommendation!

Cheers!

nanaof4

This is my complete itinerary.

Frankfurt Flughafen - Bacharach
Bacharach - Cochem
Cochem - Freiburg
Freiburg - Interlaken
Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen/Gimmelwald
Gimmelwald - Lucerne
Lucerne - Innsbruck
Innsbruck - Salzburg
Salzburg - Hallstatt
Hallstatt - Vienna
Vienna - Nurnberg
Nurnberg - Rothenburg
Rothenburg - Frankfurt
Frankfurt - Frankfurt Flughafen

We won't really be needing to use the subways or trams in any of the locations, except probably Vienna and I'm not sure about Salzburg. The rest are really quite small places where we will be walking.

Thank you so much for all your help.

Joy

PalenQ

well I forgot to mention that the Germany-Austria railpass might work as you are taking a lot of trains in those countries and for Switzerland yes a Swiss Pass may be the best. Many of your train trips in Germany/Austria are longish - I guess check to see www.bahn.de to see what the current fares would be against the Germany-Austria pass - I'll have to look up that pass per day costs - more of course than just a German Pass.

Off hand I say those two passes for you could be a good deal since you are traveling extensively on trains - trains that are inter-city and thus not available under the bargain Lander - or regional passes that are great deals within a small area but then you have to take slower, less comfy regional trains.

Some short trips like Frankfurt Airport to Bacharach could be Lander tickets - passes are also fully valid on K-D ships on the Rhine such as those serving Bacharach (www.k-d.com) - just hop on board - no reservations needed IME.

thursdaysd

I ran over half those on bahn.de and had no trouble seeing prices for trains next week. Most of them are short hops for which there is no point in messing with a pass or advance purchase from abroad.

PalenQ

Most of them are short hops for which there is no point in messing with a pass or advance purchase from abroad.>

well most of them are not short trips as I would call them but longish trips - and if you recommend just showing up and buying tickets at full fare then the OP will spend literally hundreds of dollars more than they need if they had a pass or advance purchased discounted tcikets - perhaps you do not know that with the number of German train trips along a pass would cost them less than 29 euros a trip - much less.

No either do a pass or pre-purchase or pay a whole lot more than you need - the more trips the cheaper the pass becomes and they have a lot of longish trips - nine trips that I would call long or at least expensive.

thursdaysd

Have you actually looked them up on bahn.de? Most of them show up as "standard fare" = 15 euro.

kybourbon

nanaof4 - You will have to look at the price of each train ride and see if it's cost effective to get any kind of pass and compare with what a pass day actually costs. As thursdaysd says, many of your train rides are 15€. The cost of a two country Austria/Germany pass for 10 days would be $48 per day so it would not make sense to use that for a 15€ ($19) train ride.

PalenQ

Well cochem to Freibourg is 75 euros full fare and the cheapest I saw on a quick search for a month out was 39 euros on one train but 45-49 euros - discounted pricing on others - saw no 19 euros though many 3 months out?

If you want flexibility to hop any train anytime the pass is a boon - perhaps you could save a few euros by booking months in advance but not much (if any IMO) - if you do not save a ton of money go for the flexibility.

Yes some short trips may be 19 euros and you would not use a day on a pass but what about 76 euros or even 39 euros - yes you would and you'd have complete flexibility to board any train anytime and not have to lock yourself into some non-changeable non-refundable ticket months in advance.

again I count 9 longish trains rides and yes if you can get them all for 19 euros fine but what if you can't and you have to pay like 76 euros for Cochem to Freibourg on the day you want to go?

It all sounds so so easy - all are 19 euro and that just does not seem to be true.

Where is the Rothenburg to Framnkfurt 19 euro fare?

The Austrian train rides are long - there may be 19 euro tickets but can you get them for when you want to.

PalenQ

I checked these trains for two months from now:

Rothenburg to Frankfurt - Savings fare 19 e on one train 25 euros on others vs 48 euros full flexible fare

Vienna to Niurnberg 59 euros savings vs 98 full fare

Bacharach-Cochem 18 euros standard fare

I could find no 15 euro fares on these - maybe the Austrian trains offer 15 euro fares.

so as kybourbon says simply compare the fares to your actual train dates vs a pass and IMO if at all close take the pass for the flexibility - if savings are significant and you are fine with locking yourself in stone two months in advance (checks of closer trains yield many less savings fares being available) and then decide what is best for you.

But be sure you have all your ducks in a line because it you have to pay full fare for some rides - like Cocehm to Freiboug 75 euros then that changes the equation. But it is very easy to do a comparison yourself and if you can get all the discounted tickets you may be better off that way - but again depends on the price you put on flexibility.

I am biased towards a pass because I like to get up and go to the station whenever I want and hop on the next train but I realize that others may be fine with having to get to the station for a set train that can't be changed so whether you feel good or not it's up and out or you lose your whole ticket price and then if miss it have to buy a full-fare ticket.

Where is the Rothenburg to Frankfurt 19 euro fare?> Well I found one two months out - my previous checks were for a few weeks out so thanks to thursdayed for pointing that out to me and correcting me. Again do the math so simple and factor in whether or not you want flexibility.

nanaof4

PalenQ: I am leaning towards the passes, because, like you say, I like to go to the station and take a train when I want, and am willing to pay somewhat more for that flexibility. Also, the other lady I am traveling with seems to always be running late. I on the otherhand try to never be late. I think possibily I would spend my vacation being frustrated if she is not ready to go catch a specific trip we have tickets for. Point to point is not so much of a problem if we buy the tickets in Europe when we are ready to leave, but it does seem as though they are way more expensive.

Joy

thursdaysd

"the other lady I am traveling with seems to always be running late"

That would drive me absolutely nuts! One reason I travel alone. You could try telling her you need to leave 10 minutes before the real time....

PalenQ

flexibility to hop any train anytime in most countries that allow it is priceless to me but may not be to others - folks always judge railpasses strictly on cost comparisons to discounted restricted tickets but never consider the flexibility that to some at least is priceless.

That said countries like Spain, Italy and France mandate seat reservations negating that aspect - though you can still book your tickets as you go along not months in advance but still not just being able to go to the station and hop on the next train as you can in so so many countries.