So for the past few weeks I’ve been traveling around with my Interrail Pass hoping to save a bit on the transportation costs on the train. The pass is easy enough to use but in the end I don’t think I saved much money on it at all – in fact it was probably a waste of money for me. For a start I’m old so I wasn’t eligible for any sort of youth (under 26) discounts. Secondly we ended up having to reserve most of our train trips anyway and with reservation fees ranging from 5 euro up to 30 euro these soon started to add up and I’m thinking it might have been cheaper to buy the individual ticket – one ride I saw that the reservation fee was almost the same price as the train ticket. Sigh. So, what I want to know is – what’s the fuss with these train passes!!!
Rant over. Bed time.
Well I think these train passes are quite interesant for young people who want to travel in the “interrail way”, that’s to say they won’t buy any reservation ticket (and no matter if the train is full, they’ll take another) and they will sleep in the train to save a bit money..
I traveled this way 2 times and I’m quite satisfied of the passes (I bought the 22 days).
PS : I just remember some reservation are compulsory – but in some countries (UK ie) there’s no supplement at all.
Hi Maya. We were using the pass through Italy and Spain and we ALWAYS had to reserve. Probably something to do with the time of year and also maybe taking the quicker (so more expensive) trains. You’re right that the rail passes are great for youths with flexible travel arrangements who can take whatever trains they can … for me it just wasn’t worth the cost.