Eurotrip 2013 - Train Passes

Scenic train view from Jungfrau - Interlaken

Plane vs Train

Unless the travel journey is too long to bear, we would pick travelling by train anytime over plane rides. Why? Heres waiiii : 

1. With a Global Pass, you can basically go everywhere in Europe easily.
2. No hassle on checking-in. 
3. You get to enjoy breathtaking view (unless you doze off straight away after getting in. booo) 
4. The seats are spacious and comfortable
5. Free snacks when you're on 1st class cabins (those aged 25+ will  get into 1st class cabins unless you don't mind to be seated in 2nd class cabins with those who paid for Youth fare tickets - in this case, Naddy) 
6. You sometimes need to make seat reservations (recommended) to ensure the seats are yours (during peak hours) 
7. The amazing view. again and again. 
8. No fear of flying. No dupdap dupdap every time the plane take-off / land. Ha! 
9. Night-train - you get to sleep on bunk beds/couchettes during long-hours journey. (somewhat scary but its an experience you'd appreciate)
10. The cafe. You can get drink and snacks or just sit there to enjoy reading the European newspapers.  (we played cho tai tee!)
11. They rarely check on your passports! (but please ensure that you have it with you all the time)
12. Mostly high speed trains. 
13. The only frustration is that, no custom & security check means no foreign visa stamps on your passport. 

Aaaand here goes the dreaded infos of Railway pass. Ni banyak sangat choices. All will depends on how and where you travel to. They have the Eurail Global Pass, Eurail Select Pass and many more.

In this case, we picked the Eurail Global Pass (10 days within 2 months).

Fill in the travelling dates in the Day+Month boxes everytime you travel 

Global pass allows you to travel across 24 destinations in Europe. Since our destinations consists of 6 scattered countries, this pass suits us best. 

Once you're set on Global Pass, you gotta choose its validity. 

• 15 days (continuous)
• 21 days (continuous)
• 1 month (continuous)
• 2 months (continuous)
• 3 months (continuous)
• 10 days (within 2 months)
• 15 days (within 2 months)

We then have to count the train trips.  
For example : From Valencia, we'll be using one train trip to Barcelona - so that's One. Our next train trip will be from Rome to Venice - so this is the 2nd trip. As we counted on, we'll be using about 6-7 trips throughout Europe. 

Obviously we wont be travelling the whole time, and we could not pick the 15 or 21 days continuous (continuous means if we start travelling on the 1st of June, the pass expires on the 15th of June) that means, its either the 1-month option or the 10-day option. We picked the cheapest option which is the 10 days (within 2 months) - basically we can use 10 train trips which valid for two months after your first trip. 

The price for one adult Global Pass (10 days within 2 months) is €568 if you're travelling with another (or more) family/friends. Otherwise, it'll be €668 for one pass. If you're aged 12-25, you get to go with the Youth fare price at €435. 

Price for two adult travellers

Naddy only paid this amount (for 1 x Youth pass - she was 25!)

I managed to get €40 discounted from our total price (discounts & promos are sorta my specialty.. I'm a deal fanatic!) - this is where research came in handy! ALWAYS try to look for promo & discount codes online. We also chose to get the rail protection plan. (see below)

Flexibility to change your train ticket, rail pass, reservation and select activities with no questions asked. You'll also be protected in the event of a railroad strike for train tickets, and in the case of loss or theft of paper tickets, rail passes, city passes or tours. 

Yang mana masih below 25, silakan travel. 

p/s: I was only 1-month old late in getting the Youth fare when we planned this.


xx

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