Eurail Pass

I have just purchased a Eurail pass and was wondering how I go about booking tickets in advance?

I jumped onto the RailEurope website to book some tickets and it comes up with a price of $12.00 sometimes $30.00 even when I have selected that I have a global pass..... is this correct?

Thank you in advance :)

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Now that you have a rail pass, the only thing that you have to do is it to have it validated before the first time that you use it. If it is a flexi-pass, you then fill-in the date and board the train �C any train.

Only the fast TGV, Thalys and EuroStar trains require that you book a reservation for a specific train. The cost of a reservation varies and can be made and paid for at any station in Europe. Here is summary of the cost:

www.eurailinfo.com/info-supplements.htm

In Italy, only the regional trains do not require reservations. In Switzerland and Austria, few people make reservations.

The advantage of a reservation is that you can assure yourself of a window seat and you do not have to move if someone with a reservation boards the train. Remember that you are allowed to bring your own favorite snacks and beverages on board.

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rail pass = (normal) train tickets

That%26#39;s the reason why you have to pay for seat reservations extra and also for some premium trains a supplement. Both is also extra with normal train tickets.

The supplements page of Eurail has some errors. E.g. in Germany IC/EC/ICE trains do not require a supplement for Eurail Pass holders.

You can check with the DB timetable which trains require compulsory reservations at all.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

You can also reserve seats through the DB timetable for domestic trips in Germany (EUR 4,00). For other connections you reserve better when in Europe. RailEurope is quite an expensive place for such reservations.

If you%26#39;re a single traveler you won%26#39;t need seat reservations at non-peak times as long as they are not compulsory (peak times are Friday and Sunday afternoon and evening). For longer trips it might be still a good idea. In small countries like Switzerland and Austria seat reservations are not common. In the Netherlands even not possible for domestic trips. In Germany you can reserve only with far distance trains (IC/EC/ICE) but not with regional trains (RB/RE/IRE).

As long as trains do not require compulsory seat reservations you can just hop on them with a rail pass.

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