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Train Reservations
Thu, 03/20/2008 - 22:54
nonotthat
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Hello
A friend and I are going to europe this summer for two months.  We already have our eurail passes and now I suppose it’s time for me to start making some reservations.  I went to www.raileurope.com and I’m kind of confused by the process.  I checked the “railpass” box but it is still talking about shipping and handling, which appears to be $18 per item!  Does this mean every reservation we make is going to end up costing us like 40 bucks?  Also, is the reservation really something tangible? I thought it just entered their system for when we come on that day.  And the FAQ/help section is not very clear.  Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just want to make sure I’m doing the whole reservation bit right, can anyone help out?

Thanks in advance [Smile]

-Sarah

Edit:  just read the post directly below mine, is it still wiser to buy reservations in person when you are going to be hitting up different cities every few days for a couple of months?

Thu, 03/20/2008 - 23:54
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Basie
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First, you should know that only certain trains require reservations and, in general, these are special trains such as high-speed trains such as the TGV in France.
There might be times when you feel that you absolutely must be on a certain train (an example might be when you’re finishing your trip and must get to an airport for your flight home). There may also be times when trains get packed— an example here might be in France in early July when everyone goes on on vacation, or in late August, when everyone heads back to Paris. Except for those situations, you may not need reservations and, if one train is filled, there will likely be another a couple of hours later.
Finally, keep in mind that reservations restrict your freedom! And, when you’ve decided which trains are essential to take, you can make reservations for any of them at any train station in Europe for a fraction of the cost that you’d pay Rail Europe.

Fri, 03/21/2008 - 11:22
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oldlady
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Quote:
  I went to www.raileurope.com and I’m kind of confused by the process.  I checked the “railpass” box but it is still talking about shipping and handling, which appears to be $18 per item! Does this mean every reservation we make is going to end up costing us like 40 bucks?  Also, is the reservation really something tangible?


1.  A railpass is an actual paper document and it’s shipped to you by a secure shipping method.  You usually have to sign for delivery.  Try www.railpass.com or “rail” at the top of this page.  They sometimes charge more for the reservation but their shipping charges are usually lower (and apply to the whole order as opposed to each product) and they sponsor this forum…

2.  It’s much cheaper to buy your reservations after you get to Europe.  Besides the shipping fee, the “railpass” travel agencies inflate the cost of the reservation.  A TGV reservation is 4 euros if you buy it at the train station in France.  It will cost $11 (plus the shipping and maybe a hidden handling fee you haven’t discovered yet) from raileurope.  Here’s a listing of what reservations cost in Europe: http://railpass.com/new/infocentre/rp07.htm 

If you’re buying a whole lot of reservations (several people and several trains) try EurAide http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/euraide/howtores.htm  They charge the actual cost of the reservation plus a flat $35 for all the reservations you buy at one time.