Rail passes
 

We are buying rail passes for our vacation this summer, and are considering shelling out for First Class. But as we browse the sites and check for reservations, it appears that we must pay for these too? Is this correct?
And if we're paying for a reservation anyway, should we just pay the Second Class rate instead? Our longest train journey will be under two hours.
Thanks for your help.

You pay extra for reservations and travel on some of the faster trains

Would help if we knew where you were going as these days it's less likely that a railpass is going to be worth it

paper - please give your prospected trains you will be taking - many do not require reservations and then you'll have usually more empty seats in first class, along with more room for luggage, etc.

some trains, esp in France, Italy and Spain require reservations which the railpass do not cover - covering basic train fare however

reservations are usually about $5/seat except on some Italian trains much higher - you usually have an option not to take these trains however and can just hop on often slightly slower trains without reservations

but let me know what trains you are talking about and which pass so i and others can comment better.

Trains in most countries do not demand reservations or anything above the pass cost - like U.K., Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark.

Would help if we knew where you were going as these days it's less likely that a railpass is going to be worth it>

au contraire in my opinion due to steeper fares due to decline of the dollar - railpasses have increased to but not nearly as much as the dollar has declined - i'd say it's more likely a railpass is going to be worth it

the extra fee for reservations is way overblown IMO - only a handful of trains charge more than a simple seat reservation fee.

We are not travelling any great distances ... Munich to Salzburg, then Salzburg to Nuremberg, and then back to Munich.
But our travelling party includes a child, and so we thought it might be easiest just to know we had a seat and a place for our luggage.
But I confess I was taken aback when I saw the additional fees for reservations.

seat reservations are optional on those trains and can easily be made in Germany when you buy your tickets for a few euros (raileurope.com yes charges $12 or so per seat if that is where you were looking)

just buy those tickets in Munich - you may want to investigate the Bavarian Pass - up to five folks can travel all day for i think 29 or 39 euros - covering both Nuremburg and Salzburg from Munich - you cannot use the faster express trains however and i think these are the only trains y ou can reserve actual seats on. Generally you should have little problem finding seats once aboard due to the huge number of trains - at least hourly or more everywhere.

Buy the Bavarian Lander pass locally - or regular tickets as well on faster and more comfy trains on which you can book seats when buying the tickets. No need to do so before arrival IME

The <b>Bayern-Ticket</b> that PalenQ mentions is an all day (until 3 AM the following day , after 9AM weekdays) pass for unlimited travel in 2nd class on regional trains in Bavaria. It also includes travel to and from the &quot;border&quot; station, Salzburg Hbf. The number sold is not limited, and it costs &euro;27 from ticket automats, or &euro;2 more for personal service at a ticket counter. And, as he says, there are no seat reservations on regional trains.

To see schedules, go to the German Rail query page, http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. To see all the regional trains, select &quot;Only local transport&quot; under &quot;Means of transport&quot;.

And Larry, who is THE guru of German train travel, esp fare info, can correct me but i think the Bavarian Pass is also good on most or all local transport, such as buses, U-Bahn and S-Bahns in Munich, Nuremburg, etc. (But not Salzburg though pass will get you to the Salzburg main station, near the heart of town

There are some options that include reservations.

For Munich to Salzburg, one way, full fare tickets for 2 adults are &euro;56 (&euro;28). Reservations, if bought online with the ticket, would be &euro;2 per seat. If the child is under 15, he would be free with parents paying full fare. Then you can get Dauer-Spezial fares for Salzburg to N&uuml;rnberg and N&uuml;rnberg to Munich for &euro;58 each way for 2 adults. If the child is 5 or under, he's free on that ticket; if older than 5, he would have to have another Dauer-Spezial ticket for &euro;29 each leg. Again, reservations at the time of online ticket purchase are &euro;2 each.

Yes, the Bayern-Ticket is also valid that day for <u>all</u> transport S-/U-Bahn, streetcars, and buses of the Verkehrverb&uuml;nden (transit districts) of Munich and N&uuml;rnberg.

Also, on those tickets for those three legs, Munich to Salzburg to N&uuml;rnberg to Munich, with full and Dauer-Spezial fares, if you book tickets online you can get reservations for the entire family for &euro;4, total, per leg.

Assuming these are for three different days, your daily travel comes out to about $90/day for those legs. A four day, 2nd cl. German Rail twin pass is $106/day so you are probably better off without a pass.

If for some reason you do get passes, you can still get reservations online from <u>German Rail</u> for &euro;8 per leg for the entire family.

But for $16/day extra for the pass you can hop any train anytime - complete flexibility rather than the severely restricted online fares that have to be secured before the day of train travel usually

Flexibility for some would be worth $16/day - for other not - especially if your plans are set in concrete and you know exactly what train you want

but for folks who like to roll out ob bed, pack up and leisurely head to the station and then jump on the hourly or more frequent express trains the $16 could be worth it - would be to me as i like total flexibility but many do not

Maybe I should have phrased that differently. That's &euro;172 for two people with the Dauer-Spezial tickets, about $270 vs $426 for a DB twin pass, a difference of up to $156. You could save a little more on reservations, because they are half when you book them with tickets. Unless you have significant travel for a fourth day, there is a <b>savings of up to $156</b>.

Traveling is all about planning anyway. You plan where you go, what you see. Why not a little organization to plan a time for your travel - and you could save $150!

I certainly agree with $156 savings