Oct 24, 2012 - 8:04 PM
It is more accurate to say that Eurail passes are seldom the most economical choice. Our frequent flyer miles get us nonstop from Miami to Paris and we spend a couple of nights there. At current prices we can train direct from Paris to Nice for only 25 euros buying and printing at www.tgv-europe.com and putting Great Britain so it doesn't switch me to the high priced Rail Europe. From Nice we take the local train to the Italian border for 3-5 euros and I can buy and print 3-4 months in advance from www.trenitalia.com a Smart fare ticket from the border to Milan for only 9-19 euros which includes the seat reservation that Eurail pass holders have to pay 10 euros for. From Milan I buy another 9-19euro Smart fare ticket to Brig which includes the seat reservation that Eurail pass holders must pay 10 euros for. Switzerland where I begin using the half price card which I will buy 2 months before travel on www.sbb.ch/en for about 110 CHF and will use in Switzerland for trains and other transport at half price until our frequent flyer miles takes us from the Zurich airport back to Miami with an overnight in London. The half price card is a big savings since just to go from Lauterbrunnen or Interlaken to Jungfraujoch is about 180CHF round trip so the half price savings on that one trip almost pays for the card not to mention half price on the other trips on trains, boats, lifts and other transportation to and from our 2 nights each in Zermatt, Lauterbrunnen, and Luzern. I have said on the forums of www.tripadvisor.com that the only train passes usually worth buying are in Switzerland. It is fantastic the price on the Swiss Pass the months you have 2 passes for the price of one.