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Hidden benefits of a Eurail Pass

I just got back from a 5-week trip through Europe with a Eurail Pass, and as someone who usually gets bogged down in all the tiny financial details about whether something is worthwhile or not, I’m pleased to report that having a Eurail Pass came with several hidden benefits that really made it worthwhile. I wouldn’t say they will always make the passes a great deal, but I can say that if you think it’s a close call that you should probably get the pass.

When a Eurail Pass is worthwhile

Before I discuss the benefits I am referring to, it’s worth noting that for many people the choice one way or the other will be obvious. Generally speaking, if you will be traveling mostly in the northern half of Europe, and especially if you are planning on some long journeys, then the Eurail Pass can be a great bargain anyway. Conversely, if you’ll be spending much of your time in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal, then it’s almost certainly best to go point-to-point once you get there.

The luxuries of having a Eurail Pass

I was blasting through Belgium, Germany, and France for a couple weeks there, and I can’t tell you how nice it was to figure out that I wanted to take, say, the 9:30 train somewhere, and know that I could enter the station at 9:20 and still have time to buy a coffee on the way to my seat. And if I wanted to take the 8:30 or the 10:30 train I could do so without worry.

Without a pass I’d have to show up at least half an hour before a train to be sure I got a ticket in time. That process usually only takes a few minutes, but just when you assume the lines will be short, you’ll almost certainly be faced with serpentine lines and/or most of the ticket sellers on a break at the same time. Buying individual tickets can be stressful and confusing even when things go right, so being able to just jump on any train without a ticket is an awesome luxury that is worth something.

Another thing that can make Eurail Passes worth more than you think is you can combine day trips with our longer journeys to save even more. It seems the Flexi-pass option (which gives you a number of travel days within 30 or 60 days) is the more popular way to go these days, and you can get the most out of these days by being creative.

Let’s say you take the train from Amsterdam to Berlin one day, arriving in Berlin at 2pm. You can put your bags away, and then jump right on another train to Potsdam or even Dresden or Leipzig, returning that same evening. Using this trick you not only save the train fare on the short journey, but you also save all the time standing in lines for each ticket. So you might save an extra €30 or more this way on that day, and have complete freedom with no lines to stand in as well. Think about this when calculating the total cost, because it makes the passes an even better bargain.

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