I thought I planned everything right, but thanks to some very useful recent posts and the (somewhat sporadic) help of the Trenitalia website, I realized that I am really getting ripped off.

After we planned the trip, I looked at RailEurope.com to get point-to-point ticket prices. I added them up, and it was almost the same price for a Trenitalia Pass. So I bought the pass (from Rick Steves), and planned to buy any required reservations when we got there, since everyone says that is cheaper.

Unfortunately, I did NOT realize what a drastic markup that RailEurope.com has on the point-to-point ticket prices, thereby making my Point2Point-vs.-Pass comparison completely meaningless.

I looked up the ticket prices listed on Trenitalia.com, added up all the legs of our trip, and converted to US dollars. It turns out if I return the passes right now, I will save $130, even with the 15% return fee, the wasted shipping charges, and the shipping charges to send the passes back.

I think the idea of the railpass is overly romanticized, as though it offers a level of freedom we hardly ever get to experience -- to roam at will like we are all a bunch of vagabonds hopping off the train in some little village or another, letting our whims guide us. But how many of us truly travel that way? Someone has to dispel this notion of the railpass! Maybe it is a good idea for some, but I think many more of us are getting ripped off.

Thanks to all the education I have received from the more experienced Fodorites. You all just saved me $130. That'll buy a lot of wine, and I'll toast you all as I enjoy it.

P.S. If I am horribly mistaken in my understanding of this, please post ASAP, before I send back my railpasses!

Hi ndf,

You are correct. The railpass usually costs more than PTP tickets.

You can now order tickets on line from Trenitalia. See Trenitalia Tickets Online
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34465647

Interesting to read a first hand experience - - ofsomething I have said here on this forum, at least a hundred times.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hey Rex,

Perhaps your time has come.

One last comment, regarding:

<<as though it offers a level of freedom we hardly ever get to experience -- to roam at will like we are all a bunch of vagabonds hopping off the train in some little village or another, letting our whims guide us. But how many of us truly travel that way?>>

There ARE people for whom this mode of travel (un)planning is highly desired, and fits their needs/wishes just fine.

And they TOO are - - in the majority of cases - - STILL better served, cost-wise, by simply buying point-to-point tickets as their whims dictate.

It's the notion that a rail pass somehow provides freedom and flexibility that drives me crazy.

Smiley, back atcha, ira...

And just to show that I am willig to evaluate all of the products sold by RailEurope fairly, see http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34467838 regardig my thoughts on the Prague Excursion Pass - - which actually IS almost always a bargain.

Ira and Rex, you are both very helpful on a variety of topics on this board. Thanks for the confirmation that I am on the right track (no pun intended - I swear!)

I have been reading that point-to-point is cheaper than a pass, and I believed it - I really did. But I thought a LITTLE more money would give me some added convenience.

I had to see the numbers, though, to really get it, and that didn't happen until trenitalia.com finally worked for me today.

Now, please someone - tell me I am not alone in not getting it!

Currently I'm looking at this summer. We could buy two Saver passes (two people traveling together) for four trips in one month in Italy and France. When I compare the point to point tickets -- Salerno to Rome, Rome to Venice, Cannes to Lyon, and Beaune to Paris, I find that I'd come out a little better with the pass, but still need to make reservations for the trips since all are Eurostar or TGV, so I'm not saving any trouble at all. As a result, guess this time I'll just do the point to point tickets. But if I had done the comparison using the RailEurope point to point prices -- you're right -- I would have jumped on that pass as a huge savings.

Also last year we did a German saver pass for 5 days of travel in a month, but only used it for the carefully planned trips which made it a savings for us. We didn't add extra days for travel that we could buy point to point cheaper.

There are many alternatives for rail passes besides the unlimited travel ones, and many people seem to even miss the idea of the saver pass when two people will always be traveling together. But I think the most important part of your post is that idea that you SHOULDN'T be using the point to point prices from overpriced RailEurope to do the comparison.

I keep saying "one more thing" - - sorry!

"We" almost always mention www.railsaver.com as the TRUE place to do the comparisons - - whether you can get the web sits of the rail companies of individual countries to work or not.

Are you alone in not getting it? No way. At least you did, by continuing to think about your trip. Way too may people approach a trip as something they'll learn everything about when they get off the plane.

Hi ndf,

If you were the only person who didn't get it would RailEurope be charging the prices they do?

BTW, RailEurope doesn't show all of the available trains.

Also, as noted above, sometimes a Railpass can be better than PTP. You just have to do your homework.

When I first started travelling in Europe 12 years ago, I thought the 15day Saverpass was a real bargain at 280 dollars per ticket. And for me, it was a bargain since I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I arrived in Frankfurt with a general outline of a plan, but nothing concrete. I could hop on and off first class train cars without much worry, and I had practically the entire car to myself since it was mid-December. Now that I've been there a dozen or so times, I would never buy a railpass again, not even a regional pass. I'd simply buy a 2nd class point-to point ticket at the train station there and string some cities together I wish to visit enroute. It takes more planning that way but the money saved, I've found, is over 50% over the cost of railpasses. I don't regret buying the passes for the first few trips, but they helped me gain the experience to move on.