Eurail Pass vs. Flying for Spontaneous Travel

Good morning wanderers! As I talked about in my last post, Ryanair and easyJet can be your best friends when flying within Europe and planning properly. However, what happens when there is no plan? When the plan is to arrive in Europe, and just go from there. Many backpackers like to fly into London (because it tends to be cheaper to fly into Heathrow from the states, than flying into anywhere else), stay for a few dyas, and decide from there where to go next. Buying a last minute flight, especially if your mind is open as to where your next destination will be, can prove to be surprisingly rewarding in the money saving department. Then there are the times where oil costs have just shot up, of there is a national security threat, or any maybe just now sales going on, and you'll be hard pressed to find a flight under $80 USD to the origin of your choice. While to most Americans, this seems insanely low, this is actually high for intercontinental flights. And once you're abroad, already putting 10x more money on your credit card than you initially planned, this can add up after couple of times. So when does it become smart to lay off the flights and buy a Eurail Pass? What is a Eurail Pass, some of you may ask? A Eurail Pass is a pre-paid train ticket for x-amount of days in x-countries to travel throughout, at any time in the specified duration of your pass. But, is it really worth it? Well let's weigh the options:

A Global Pass starts at $497, allowing you to travel every day for 15 days. This means that you would have to travel at least 7 times in two weeks for the Pass to equate to the cost of the most expensive plane tickets. Being that it's global, depending on where you go, time spent on the train might take up for of those 15 days. It just doesn't make sense unless you are seeing one city a day, and sleeping on the train at night while it delivers you to your next destination.

Another one of many options for the Global Pass is to travel 15 days within 2 months for $770. This just about equals out to what you would pay for 15 last minute flights on the expensive end of the spectrum. If you don't like flying, and don't like airports, this would be a situation when the Global Pass would be the right choice for you. Also, train stations tend to be easier to get to than airports, so that is always another plus.

Eurail also offers a Select Pass, where you get to choose 3, 4, or 5 connecting countries to travel for your choice of days, all of which prove to be more expensive than the higher priced flights. A Regional Pass, good for your choice of two connecting countries, which also proves to not be worth the price.

Lastly, is the One Country Pass. While I'm still iffy on weather this pass is worth the price or not; it most definitely worth not having to deal with airports when your destination is a mere 2 hour train ride away.

One thing to remember with the Eurail Pass, however, is that for some trains you will need a seat reservation. This can be done either by calling the train station in advance, or if it is a route that leaves from your stations many times per day, can be done half hour before departure, at the platform. Rule of thumb is to have common sense about it. If you're traveling from Rome to Florence, you can make your seat reservation 20 minutes prior to departure. If you're going from Basel to Interlaken, you're going to want that reservation taken care of 24 hours prior.

All in all, it is completely dependant on the travelers plans, and personal preferences as to whether the Eurail Pass is worth it. It is fun to pull out the pass years later and remember what you were doing at the time of each hole punch in each city!

Hope this info was helpful to some of you!!

Safe travels!!