How to Get Your Money’s Worth from a Rail Pass – carry out a straightforward calculation for choosing the right pass for you and the best travel days on which to utilize it.

Rail passes versus point-to-point tickets – Which is more cost-effective? You choices include:

• A pass

• Point-to-point tickets

• A combination of the two.

The only reliable method of determining which is the most cost-effective is to outline your travel route in detail and determine the total cost of point-to-point tickets.

Rail Passes

Advantages

• Advanced purchase required.

• One-time expense.

• More flexibility than point-to-point tickets.

• Allow for unplanned side trips.

Disadvantages

• Price may not include postage fee for delivery.

• Not available to European residents.

Point-to-Point Tickets

Advantages

• Can purchase at time of departure (last minute if necessary)

• Can combine with rail pass so that point-to-point tickets are only used for the shortest, cheapest routes.

Disadvantages

• Less flexible than a rail pass.

• No unplanned side trips.

• Ongoing expense.

Calculating the More Cost Effective Train Ticket

Follow these steps to help you determine if a Eurail or Britrail pass is more cost-effective than a series of individual train tickets.

The method outlined below does not include the cost of postage and handling that you might be required to pay if your purchase your pass online.

1) Outline each day of the trip in detail.

2) Visit the national website for the country of interest (see below) and find the cost of train travel for each leg of the trip. When an individual day has more than one destination, determine the cost to each destination in succession.

3) Calculate the total cost for each individual day of rail travel.

4) Rearrange the order of rail travel days in descending order based on cost.

5) Calculate the running total cost for each day in succession.

6) Select the rail pass of interest from either the Eurail or Britrail website (prices are more likely to be in the same currency as those on the national websites). Record the successive number of travel days along with their corresponding prices.

7) Compare the cost of the point-to-point tickets on a successive daily basis to those of the prices from Step 6. The following three possibilities are most common: i) The successive point-to-point ticket price remains less than that of the rail pass - the former is the better deal. ii) The cost of the rail pass is consistently less than that of the successive point-to-point tickets - the rail pass is the better deal. iii) The cost of the rail pass starts out as the better deal and then at some point becomes uneconomical - a combination of rail pass and point-to-point ticket is the best option.

8) When the rail pass is the preferred option, determine which days to use it.

You can use the Oanda website if you wish to convert foreign prices into your own currency for easier understanding.

Use these links to the various national railways:

Austria
Britain
Eurostar
France
Germany
Italy (Trenitalia)
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thalys (high-speed train system through Belgium, including Paris-Cologne, Paris-Brussels, and Paris-Amsterdam)

To outline the eight steps above, here are three examples that follow.

Example 1:

Step 1:

The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1 – Arrive in Rome – travel to Arezzo and then on to Florence.

Day 2 – A day trip from Florence to Pisa to Lucca and back to Florence.

Day 3 – A day trip from Florence to Siena and then back to Florence.

Day 4 – Tour Florence and then take the evening train back to Rome.

Day 5 – A day trip from Rome to Tarquinia and then back to Rome.

Days 6-9 – Tour Rome (train travel is not required)

Day 10 – Travel from Rome to Naples.

Days 11-14 – Tour the Naples area. Train travel is not required.

Day 15 – Take the overnight train from Naples to Palermo.

Day 16 – Tour Palermo and then take the evening train to Agrigento.

Day 17 – Tour the Agrigento area (train travel is not required).

Day 18 – Take the evening train from Agrigento to Syracuse.

Day 19 – Take the overnight train from Syracuse to Rome.

Day 20 – Tour Rome (train travel is not required)

Day 21 – return home.

Step 2:

Collect the point-to-point ticket prices from the Italy website above (the prices are in Euros). The prices below were those appearing on June 4, 2009 for second class train tickets. These will likely change in future.

You should note that ticket prices may vary throughout the day for the same destination. Ticket prices were selected on the basis of train departure time (rather than how cheap the ticket price actually was). This method allows for an early arrival time at a destination; and then a late enough return time in the afternoon to allow for sufficient sightseeing.

Day	From	To	Price (Euros)
Day 1	Rome	Arezzo	22.50
Day 1	Arezzo	Florence	11.00
Day 2	Florence	Pisa	5.60
Day 2	Pisa	Lucca	2.40
Day 2	Lucca	Florence	5.00
Day 3	Florence	Siena	6.10
Day 3	Siena	Florence	6.10
Day 4	Florence	Rome	27.50
Day 5	Rome	Tarquinia	6.20
Day 5	Tarquinia	Rome	6.20
Day 10	Rome	Naples	21.50
Day 15	Naples	Palermo	35.80
Day 16	Palermo	Agrigento	7.60
Day 18	Agrigento	Syracuse	15.35
Day 19	Syracuse	Rome	42.30

Step 3:

Determine the total cost of each individual day of train travel. Ignore the days where no train travel is required.

Day	Cost
Day 1	33.50
Day 2	13.00
Day 3	12.20
Day 4	27.50
Day 5	12.40
Day 10	21.50
Day 15	35.80
Day 16	7.60
Day 18	15.35
Day 19	42.30

Step 4:

Rearrange the order of rail travel days in descending order based on cost.

Day	Cost
Day 19	42.30
Day 15	35.80
Day 1	33.50
Day 4	27.50
Day 10	21.50
Day 18	15.35
Day 2	13.00
Day 5	12.40
Day 3	12.20
Day 16	7.60

Step 5:

Calculate the running cost total for each day in succession.

Day	Cost	Running Total
Day 19	42.30	42.30
Day 15	35.80	78.10
Day 1	33.50	111.60
Day 4	27.50	139.10
Day 10	21.50	151.50
Day 18	15.35	166.85
Day 2	13.00	179.85
Day 5	12.40	192.25
Day 3	12.20	204.45
Day 16	7.60	212.05

Step 6:

This was a trip that I planned for 2 adults so the Eurail Saver Pass was the rail pass of choice. Prices listed in Euros (for easy comparison in this example) are for a single adult.

Saver Pass (second class)	Price (Euros)
3 days in 2 months	120
4 days in 2 months	140
5 days in 2 months	156
6 days in 2 months	170
7 days in 2 months	185
8 days in 2 months	201
9 days in 2 months	215
10 days in 2 months	231

Step 7:

Compare the cost of the point-to-point tickets on a successive daily basis to that of the rail pass on a daily basis.

Day	Cost	Running Total	Save Pass (second class)	Pass Price (Euros)
Day 19	42.30	42.30	none	none
Day 15	35.80	78.10	none	none
Day 1	33.50	111.60	3 days in 2 months	120
Day 4	27.50	139.10	4 days in 2 months	140
Day 10	21.50	151.50	5 days in 2 months	156
Day 18	15.35	166.85	6 days in 2 months	170
Day 2	13.00	179.85	7 days in 2 months	185
Day 5	12.40	192.25	8 days in 2 months	201
Day 3	12.20	204.45	9 days in 2 months	215
Day 16	7.60	212.05	10 days in 2 months	231

Now, compare the running totals to the price of the Saver Pass on each successive day. The running total prices are consistently lower than the Saver Pass. This means that the point-to-point tickets are always the better deal.

Step 8:

The rail pass is not the preferred option.

Example 2 Example 3

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