Eurail Timetable
Eurail Italy Saver Pass, 2nd class – High Reservation Fees?
Question about reservation fees for Eurail Italy:
I purchased a saver pass (for 2 people traveling together), and in the package that was sent to me, there was a fare table regarding reservations. Firstly, all the main trains listed in the timetable for distances I need to travel (Venice to Florence, Rome to Venice) have a “R” next to it (Reservations Required). The “reservation fees” on the other sheet are listed between 15-25 Euros (is that per person??), much higher than any other country!
Now asking around there were many conflicting answers regarding this predicament – someone suggested that we only fill in the dates on the Eurail pass, without reserving, and hop on any train and try to get 2nd class seats if available and that wouldn’t be a problem.
So what should we do? Should we go to each ticket window, get reservations for EVERY train, and be charged a ridiculous amount even though we purchased a pass?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
The reservation fees are per person. Italy was much higher than other countries; however, there was a recent change in the fees structure and reservations are more in line with other countries. The fees are now 10 euro for all the higher speed trains or 3 euro for an Intercity or Express train. There is no additional fee for the regional trains, but you apparently aren’t on any of those.
http://www.eurail.com/eurail-reservations-supplements-domestic
You do NOT want to get on a train that requires a reservation without having the reservation in hand. The cost will be much higher on the train since you’ll also have to pay a substantial fine. Intercity trains do not require a reservation, so you could get on one of those and try to find an open seat – you could end up having to stand for the trip, but that’s fairly rare here.
Eurail only covers the basic fare – you’re dealing with a 3rd party seller. You can use it to hop-on and hop-off trains if you stick to the slower regional trains that make many stops and may require train changes for longer trips. It is often cheaper to just get point-to-point tickets directly from the various national railroads particularly when you have a specific itinerary and can buy tickets in advance. Those same trains you are paying a 10 euro charge for on top of the pass often have significant discounts for early purchase of tickets. Right now, you could get 60% off the standard fare for 30 day advance purchase on many trains. (Or 30% for 15 day advance purchase, or 15% for 7 days).