I had wondered about that! Good information to have, since we will be in the Netherlands for two weeks. I had not really wanted to activate the pass two weeks early. This solves the problem!
Carol

Passholders do NOT pay extra to ride on German ICEs. True, you can pay for a seat reservation but there are no supplements required unless things have changed since this past September.

GandCT - A further detail is that after buying the ticket for the Dutch portion of the ICE ride you probably must self-cancel that ticket yourself before boarding the train - in cancellation machines trackside or at the entrance to the platforms. If you do not you may be considered to not have a valid ticket - some trains may not have conductors on them so this self-cancellation policy is in place - spot checks are made and folks without duly cancelled tickets can be steeply fined.

and a further tip I would be sure to have the language that is in your railpass conditions you get with the pass with me - where it says a conductor will validate the pass on the train without charge if coming on a train from outside that country. Not all conductors IME are versed in that and may want to charge a fee for so doing.

More good advice, as always. Details that can be hard to remember while traveling -- I think we will carry a short checklist so we won't forget.

Gand - I would suggest doing what it seems many people do not do - read all the fine print that comes with your pass aboutg 'conditions of use' - like being sure to have entered that day's date if a flexipass in ink before the conductor comes around (actually details say before boarding the train but I always wait - on rare occasions a train strike popped up and there was no train! And enter dates European style, which I guess could be Aussie style as well, with date first, then month, then year.

We will mind our 1's and 7's, too. We heard a story about a couple who entered a "7" American-style (for the 7th of the month); the conductor thought it was a European-style "1", that the pass had already been used on the first of the month, and made them use an additional day. Not sure if that was true, but worth remembering!

I know a WWII vet - yeh an old old guy who was on a German train with a pass and had forgotten to enter that days date - the conductor was not swayed that it was a mistake and proceded to enter the date on the pass and to boot used up another day as well. Be sure the date is there before the conductor comes around!

One new thing to bother about is filling in the Eurail Survey that comes with the pass, where you have to record every single train trip taken - this used to be voluntary and if you mailed it in with the postage-paid already on it you will get a rather nice free gift for so doing.

But now it is mandatory to do as you go along and conductors have upbraided me and threatened to fine me for not having done so.

so do it and return it for a nice souvenir!