Train pass question
 

We have a 4 day train pass, and reservations on the following trains:

Eurostar - London to Paris
Venice to Florence
Florence to Naples
Naples to Rome

I just want to confirm - my travel agent told me that it was cheaper to buy a pass because of the discount we got on the Eurostar ticket - but she said that the London/Paris leg does not count as a "day" on the pass. So we have a four day pass, but only 3 train reservations. So, in essence, we have an extra "day" on the pass.

We are looking to go to Pisa one day. Does this mean I only need to purchase a one way ticket for Pisa, because the other way is covered by my pass?

Thanks!

First of all, a bit of unsolicited advice: GET A NEW TRAVEL AGENT.
There is no way that you are saving money with this pass over buying point to point tickets for your three itineraries (including the discount to buy the Eurostar tickets). Is your travel agent also getting you reservations for those trips (at extra cost, as I'm sure you're aware)?

You have one more day to use. Are you saying you are planning on spending a night in Pisa? If so, yes your pass is only good for one way and you'll need to buy the other way for the other day. If you're doing a day trip to Pisa from Florence, which is very easy, then you could go on your pass. Many suggest a day trip which not only includes Pisa, but Lucca as well. You could do all that with your one day if you can spare a day from Florence.

The Eurostar trip does not count as a day.

You can use the fourth day for Pisa.

Get a new travel agent.

Aren't passes fully refundable? OP could possibly return the passes and rebook the trains with point-to-point tickets..

or at least, go to railsaver.com to see if would 'save you money'.

Hi H,

If you enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money" you will see if your pass is actually cheaper.

If you turn in your pass(es) you lose about 15%.

You can go to Pisa and return on the same day. Otherwise, your pass covers one day of travel and you would have to
buy a ticket for the return.

Your Pass is costing you about $20. RT at www.trenitalia.com is 15E ($18)in 1cl and 10E ($12) in 2cl.

((I))

Okay - so we got screwed on the passes....that's fine.

Ira - I think I understand but I want to confirm.

If I go to Pisa in the morning and come back on the same day in the afternoon - I only need one day on the railpass and I don't need to purchase any tickets?

Thanks!

That is correct. The pass provides unlimited travel for each day of its validity.

I don't agree that it's "ok" that your travel agent didn't do the most basic research on your behalf. Whatever you're paying this person, it's too much.

harrow,

Yes: A "day" on the pass covers all travel during that day. Wherever and whenever.

One pass "day" also covers any overnight travel begun the previous evening after 7:00 PM, but that's another story. (That story might be: You'd be covered for an evening overnight train from Paris to Venice on ONE pass day.)

You didn't get screwed too badly. The passholder fare usually saves you around $75 each for the Chunnel train. Be sure and book the Chunnel seat reservation as soon as possible to preserve that fare.

You'll still need seat reservations on the EC trains. Get them in Europe while you're waiting for the Chunnel train to depart.

Is the 4-day train pass a 4-day Italian pass? And that gives you a discount from London to Paris? This seems unusual to me.

Musicteacher, no that part is correct. You can buy virtually any pass including a single country one and you get a discount for the Eurostar.

Hi harrow,

>Okay - so we got screwed on the passes....that's fine.<

No, it's not.

You can always turn in the pass for a partial refund.

A one-day RT ticket on the Eurostar is about 60GBP or about $94 at RailEurope.

You can get the ES* prices at www.trenitalia.com

If you keep your railpasses, you still have to buy reservations for ES* trains.
These are about 9E.

Do the numbers.

((I))

Can't the Travel Agent answer the question about Pisa?

To me it seems obvious that the Pisa round-trip could be the 4th day on a 4 day pass, but maybe I'm missing something?

Patrick is wrong about any single country pass qualifying for Eurostar pass - the pass has to be valid for one of the countries Eurostar serves - Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), France or Britain (including London Plus Pass) - Italy Railpass does NOT qualifty nor do other country passes other than those above (though France-Italy and France-Spain do because France is on those passes) Eurailpasses qualify as do EurailSelcet but only if Benelux or France are on them.
I think Harrowgirl omitted that she was going from Paris to Venice by train, in which case her travel agent was right - a saverpass for 4 days on France-Italy costs $175 p person - this got here about a $20 discount at least on Eurostar - Paris-Venice regular fare would be about $125, Venice-Rome $50 Rome-Naples about $40 - these are normal fares - now you can go the hard to get PREM fares from trenitalia but only if act far in advance and lock yourself into non-refundable, non-changeable tickets, etc. - ditto for Paris-Venice train. So if she's going Paris-Venice by train the agent did OK - if she's not it's a terrible mistake and the Italian railpass does not qualify for a Eurostar (London-Paris) passholder fare (though this would rarely be checked)
Harrowgirl - going between Paris and Venice by train or not? If so you don't have a 4th day.
If your agent sold you an Italian railpass because of Eurostar discount get a new agent - the Italian railpass is not so bad by itself i find but still would be a bit cheaper on point-point for regularly priced walk-up tickets.
Note: the $94 one day return ticket on Eurostar UK Ira talks about sounds good but in effect can only be booked on the very earliest trains of the day -meaning getting up around 5am to get the train - makes sense because most day returners want to leave early - but these tickets can be very hard to book so i would always qualify that fare when i mention it. Not a viable option if you want to leave London say around 11am or on - not bookable in that case usually.
If you want to get the passholder rate on Lon-Paris Eurostar ($75) the cheapest qualifying pass to buy would be the LondonPlus pass - $69 for the pass and you get two days of unlimited travel throughout SE UK - use from airports and one day trip and then for $75 passholder fare - passholder fare is good because it can be changed once in Europe up until time of train without penalty - if you have more than two people traveling then the LondonPlus pass becomes even more attractive - as 3rd thru 9th passengers pay 50% of the $69 - and in off-peak Nov-Feb all LondonPlus pass prices are reduced 25% - thus a single traveler can buy a LondonPlus pass for $44 - get two days of unlimited travel in SE England and passholder fare on Eurostar - 3rd - 9th passenger on same pass would pay $22 each (!) per LondonPlus pass and get $75 passholder fare on Eurostar. Passholder fares are available on weekends when other cheap fares often are not - so even if don't use the London Plus pass it could save you money on Eurostar.

We are actually flying between Paris and Venice.

I guess this is what I get for leaving the train stuff up to hubby - I've done everything else. Based upon railsaver.com - the most we are out is $200 CDN. Considering this is our first trip and everything - I'm not too upset - obviously, I don't like to waste money, but getting hubby to do ANYTHING to plan for this trip was like pulling teeth as he was very nervious about messing up, and he was so happy to have done this task, I don't want to tell him he screwed up. We wanted specific trains between cities, so I don't mind paying the reservation fee (even if it isn't REALLY necessary), just to have the peace of mind that we can get on the trains we want.

Like i said, neither of us have been before, so I look at this as a learning experience.

The train pass we got was the "Eurail France n Italy Pass saver". We are on the 8am chunnel train.

As far as travel agents go - we live in a smaller city, and honestly, she was the best that we could find. She knew a lot more than most that we spoke to (based upon the information that I confirmed with you guys!).

Thanks!

We did get the Eurostar for $75USD

Harrowgirl: what day are you taking the Eurostar to Paris? If it's a Fri Sat or Sun the $75 passholder fare would present a savings of $75 because the cheapest ticket that day is $150 - there is the day return of $94 but as discussed not practical unless wanting to leave very early and may well not be available at all unless reserved weeks in advance. thus you may have saved $55 each rather than $20 on eurostar - meaning a better deal. (talking about prices through RailEurope, which is what your agent did - could possible get a little cheaper thru www.eurostar.co.uk but maybe not - cheaper on weekends when RailEurope only offers the $150 otpion (on Mon-thu they offer a $90 one-way but these too can be hard to book. Passholder fares seem much more bookable. Anyway i looked at trenitalia site and you would have saved about $125 per person going point-point but if you each save $75 per person on Eurostar passholder fare, then it's only $50 p.p. you overspent on the pass, not so bad and have everything buttoned down.
In any case i would let it slide with your husband and not say anything - what's done is done and may get trip off the bad start! At least the France and Italy pass does qualify for a passholder fare. If you'd taken the overnight or day train Paris-Venice you'd come out ahead rail-wise! (depending on what you paid for air of course would determine this).

I guess maybe my information is outdated. A few years ago the ONLY pass we bought was a Germany only Rail Saver Pass, yet we were able to get a discount on our Eurostar London to Paris tickets with that pass. As I recall now, there may have even been a "special deal" then as I remember it clearly advertising "get a discount on Eurostar with any rail pass" or something like that, but it certainly worked for us. And it was because of their ad we knew to do that. We bought the passes and the Eurostar tickets at the same time through RailEurope.

German passes do not qualify now - there may have been a special deal before.
Harrowgirl - you even can use the pass on the 4th day to Pisa and back and save $10-20 pp so not so bad!

Hi H,

>I don't want to tell him he screwed up. <

You are a good person.

((I))