I am looking at a rail pass for dd and myself for our train travel next fall through out Europe.

I am confused on the reservation piece and the extra cost.

I would like the pass for the ease but am utterly confused - (gee there is a shocker) - I am thinking of the:
Eurail Global Pass Saver Flexi
10 days in 2 months; 1st Class
1 adult, 1 child -

With that pass what do I need to do to travel in Germany, Austria, Italy, Amsterdam?... still pay more for reservations?

You really have to know pretty close to exactly how many train trips you will be taking to figure out which pass (if any) is going to be the right one to save you money.

With certain itineraries you are just as well off paying point-to-point and buying at the train station as you go along.

Are you sure you need 1st class not 2nd class?

Hi Suze,
No not sure if we need first class - I am more confused on if you have rail pass - do you still make a reservation and pay and to whom do you do this with?

dawn-
I'm not a huge fan of Rick Steves, but his website has a good section on Railpasses and he discusses how to do reservations w/railpass.
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/howrailworks.htm

If you want a reservation, you have to pay an additional reservation fee besides the cost of the pass.

Some trains such as Thalys, TGV, and Eurostar require a reservation.

You can either pay extra to a reseller such as RailEurope or any of the other companies that sell passes or you can purchase seats from each countries train company.

Passes don't cover seats for the trains in Italy that require you have seat reservations such as the AV/ES trains. The seat reservation will cost 15€ ($24) if purchased from Trenitalia (they will be higher from a reseller). ICPlus seats are a bit cheaper, about 5€. Keep in mind many trains you might take in Italy will not have a 1st class or allow seat reservations such as the d,r,ir trains you will encounter in southern Italy. On many routes there aren't any AV/ES/IC trains.

A pass is rarely economical for Italy. Enter your itinerary on www.railsaver.com and be sure to click only if a pass saves me money. Railsaver isn't 100% accurate, but will give you a rough idea.

Each country will have different fees for seat reservations. Some trains limit the number of Eurail passholder tickets for high-speed trains so you might not be able to get space on the exact train you want.

In Europe, it can be cheaper and faster to take one of the budget airlines. Use either www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net to search flights, but schedules are usually put up in about five month chunks of time so you may have to wait to book or price.

Thank you,thank you, thank you! This is all exactly what I was looking for.