Railpass question
 

I have always purchased my point to point rail tickets while in Europe. On my next trip I figured the Benelux- Germany railpass would work the best for me. What other choice do I have besides purchasing them from Rail Europe. I am asking this because of another post saying Rail-Europe is a ripoff.
Thanks

Eurail

I purchased them from www.ricksteves.com and I think I heard that you can get them from AAA but I've not tried.

Rail passes are by definition, a special marketing product, not a product of the regular railway. So it is normal to buy them from some agent like Raileurope. There are many companies that sell these, I think they all charge the same. If you can get them in person from AAA, that sounds good as you'd avoid any handling or postage fees.

Before you buy any pass input your proposed itinerary at www.railsaver.com to compare the costs of point-to-point tickets with the cost of a pass.

In some instances you can even buy some rail passes after you arrive in Europe.

No matter who you buy from the price is the same and Raileurope sells the vast majority of passes - some like the Germany-Benelux pass i believe they actually develop so may be the only source. That said there are lots of agents who work thru RE that in my opinion give better service for the same price - ricksteves.com; BETS (800-441-2387) and www.euraide.com are three expert sources. Though the price is the same S&H and fees can be added - Steves i believe charges a $15 fee regardless of price; RE $15 if the order is under $200 but free over; BETS free if over $250 and non-rush. That said i always recommend BETS because of their unique service - they will answer any questions by phone without obligation - ricksteves offers a few minutes of such conselling before buying and a limited number of phone minutes after buying. REurope i believe charges $25 for order by phone - trying to get people to order online. That's why i always recommend BETS - you, in my experience, can talk hours without any fee to real experts. That said if you know exactly what you want i'd take the option with the least fees. The fact that Rail Europe is a rip-off applied to point to point tickets which they typically sell for a price significantly higher than you'd buy that same ticket for in Europe. But railpasses are different - they are generally not available in Europe, at least this one is not, and could be a real bargain depending on your travel plans. (some passes, usually country passes and Eurailpasses are sold in Europe but in case of Eurailpasses the price is nearly always 15-20% higher than the $ price you'd pay at home - Eurail Aid offices in a few dozen key stations sell them and it is technically meant for people who lose their passes but in effect they sell them to any non-European - Europeans can't use Eurailpasses but can buy the European resident-only Interrail pass.

Hi M,

>On my next trip I figured the Benelux- Germany railpass would work the best for me.<

How did you reach that conclusion? :)

Remember to click "only if it saves money" at www.railsaver.com.

((I))

Pal is correct: pass prices are set by the indivdiual railroads.

Thanks everyone,
I did check with BETS They offerd the same price as Rail Europe and they were very helpfull. Here are my travel plans fot October.
Arrive in Amsterdam on the 16th
Leave for Brussels on the 19th. One day in Brussels and one day trip to Brugge.
Leave for Cologne for two nights and
Leave for Berlin for three nights.
Leave for Hamburg for two nights.
Fly home

Hi Mike,

Before you buy your railpass, check the prices for trains to and within Germany.

www.bahn.de has fares as low as 29E.

((I))

It seems with your itinerary that invovles several long-distance trains the pass may be a good deal. If you want to go the 29 euro per segment route via bahn.de you could save a bit but lose any flexibility - i like a pass in Germany because i can hop on any train, including ICEs anytime by just showing up and these types of fares can be very expensive and if want flexibility the pass is an excellent deal i believe for your plans. But check www.bahn.de for real fares in Germany - www.railsaver.com uses RailEurope point-point fares which are considerably higher than those in Germany. If going the 29 euro promo route act as soon as possible as these tickets are sold in limited quanitites and i think only online.