Railsaver accuracy
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:22 PM
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Railsaver accuracy
How accurate are the estimated prices quoted by railsaver.com when they provide you with their estimation of what point-to-point tickets would cost?
The delta between what a railpass would cost and what i would save by simply purchasing point-to-point tickets seems very high to me ($200 advantage in buying p2p), and just want to confirm that their quotes are fairly accurate. THANKS!
The delta between what a railpass would cost and what i would save by simply purchasing point-to-point tickets seems very high to me ($200 advantage in buying p2p), and just want to confirm that their quotes are fairly accurate. THANKS!
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:33 PM
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railsaver.com compares the cost of FULL FARE point-to-point tickets to a railpass. Booking p2p tickets well in advance on national rail sites often can save you even more money. If, for your routes, the site shows that p2p tickets will be $200 cheaper, you can be certain that p2p is the way to go.
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:37 PM
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My guess is they use the full-fare ticket prices vs. the pass prices. So you might be able to score discounted (restricted) tickets for less than a pass. Depends on how many 'legs' you're making, how many rail regions (ie. booking sites) you might have to buy from,etc to decide if the pass is 'worth' it for convenience if not cost.
Sep 18th, 2006, 04:46 PM
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I did a quick check on a sample price from Hamburg to Munich. Railsaver estimates the price as $143. On bahn.de the actual price is EUR 115, which is $146 at today's exchange rate. So for this example of a full-priced fare, it is very close.
As has been said, there are promotional fares in Europe that might save more money.
As has been said, there are promotional fares in Europe that might save more money.
Sep 19th, 2006, 01:30 PM
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I have found in the past that Railsaver is extremely inaccurate. I once took a trip from Stuttgart to Rothenburg, to Berchtesgaden, to Fischen im Allgau, to Sigmaringen via Ulm, to Stuttgart. When I put my itinerary into Railsaver, they couldn't recognize Fischen or Sigmaringen, so I had to use the nearby towns of Füssen and Singen. They told me that the p2p fare for two would be $424 and recommended that I buy a railpass (2 person saver) for $330. Using Bayern and Schönes-Wochenende tickets I spent $206. So, I saved $124 over what they recommended, and $218 over what they said p2p tickets would cost.
I just tried a round trip for two from Frankfurt to Munich with a one week stay in Munich. Railsaver told me to buy two twin passes at $146 each, $292 total. Purchasing 3 days in advance, the SparPreis fare can be as low as $144 (€112,50) for both people.
It's not that RailSaver is not honest, it is just that what they are trying to do is too complicated to do accurately. In the final analysis, there is no easy solution. You have to figure it out yourself.
I just tried a round trip for two from Frankfurt to Munich with a one week stay in Munich. Railsaver told me to buy two twin passes at $146 each, $292 total. Purchasing 3 days in advance, the SparPreis fare can be as low as $144 (€112,50) for both people.
It's not that RailSaver is not honest, it is just that what they are trying to do is too complicated to do accurately. In the final analysis, there is no easy solution. You have to figure it out yourself.
