The rail planner app can't book anything. You can only register your journeys in there, which is the digital equivalent of writing a train in the trip report of a paper pass. By doing that, nothing is booked. There's also no need to do that a log time in advance. The only requirement is that you do it before you board your train.

Although the rail planner app contains a lot of timetables, it is incomplete and not updated frequently enough to be reliable enough for planning purposes. To plan, it's best to use national apps or websites or the operators’ own apps/websites. For international travel, bahn.com or the DB Navigator app is a good choice.

To book reservations, you can use the DB app for journeys from/to/in Germany. tickets.oebb.at also works and is cheaper when booking only 1 train. An overview of where to book is here:

https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

Dear rvdborgt, thanks for your quick response. !!

1. I have already purchased an Eurail Global Continuous Pass. I have also downloaded the Rail Planner App to help me find what trains are available. I have keyed in my Eurail Global Pass to this Rail Planner App. I plan to go from Paris Nord to Palace of Versailles and Château de Versailles. I cannot find the train station name at Versailles in the Rail Planner app. Can you please kindly advise me how to use my Eurail Global Pass to visit Versailles and what is the name of the train station should I key in in my Rail Planner app ?

 I cannot find a train from Paris Nord to Versailles in the Rail Planner App. But I can find a trip in the DB App. DB APP – from PARIS NORD to Versailles Château Rive Gauche STATION is 1 h 39 m with 2 transfers. May I ask can I use DB App to for train trips using my Eurail Global Pass ? If the answer is yes, please provide me with the steps to connect my Eurail Global Pass to the DB App. Thank You 

2. I also plan to go from Paris Nord to visit Mont Sant Michel and the Loire Valley on separate days.  Can you please kindly advise me how to use my Eurail Global Pass to visit Mont Sant Michel and the Loire Valley on separate days, and what are the names of the train stations should I key in in my Rail Planner app ? In Loire Valley, I would like to visit the Amboise Castle and Chenonceau Castle.

Thank You Very Much for your help !

The RER network in Paris (suburban trains) is not included in Eurail. Tickets are very cheap. You can take RER C from St-Michel - Notre Dame or elsewhere to Versailles-Rive Gauche or Rive Droite.

There are a few TER regional trains from Paris-Montparnasse going further than Versailles-Chantiers -> your pass is valid on these but it wouldn't be good value to use a pass day. The station is also quite far from the castle.

Mont-St-Michel : there is a daily connection from Paris-Montparnasse to Pontorson (mandatory reservation, 1.70€ through Rail Europe or at ticket machines/counters). There is a connecting bus for the last bit, pass valid.

Loire Valley : TER trains are quite infrequent but it should be doable with some planning. Look at train station names using a map. There is a helpful morning train from Paris-Austerlitz :

- TER Paris-Austerlitz - Amboise 07:28 - 09:19

- visit the castle

- TER Amboise - St-Pierre-des-Corps - Chenonceaux 11:37 - 12:30

- visit

- TER Chenonceaux - Vierzon 17:56 - 18:52

- TER Vierzon - Paris-Austerlitz 19:12 - 20:57

Times depend on travel date and could vary a lot (it's SNCF after all!). Please do not plan with mine!

Maybe take a TGV high-speed train between Tours/St-Pierre-des-Corps and Paris to save a bit of travel time : note the 10-20€ mandatory reservation though. It would be 18:29 - 20:15.

DB is for planning. You don't have to link it in any way with Rail Planner.

RER C to Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche is 4€05 one way, but since you have a continous pass you can take one of the TER Paris Montparnasse Chartres or Paris Montparnasse Le Mans or Paris Montparnasse Tours that stop in Versailles ad no additionnal cost, the castle is 20 min away by foot. The station you need to search for is Versailles Chantiers. Don’t search from Paris Gare du Nord, Search from Paris Montparnasse.

Hi, may I ask whether I can use the Deutsche Bahn DB App to buy tickets outside Germany ? For example, I want to buy a train ticket from Luxembourg to Brussels or from Brussels to Amsterdam- can I use the DB App to do this ? Thanks

Hi, I tried to use the DB app to check the price of the trip below. But it showed me S2 and buy ticket. But no train type and price are shown. May I know how do I know the price of this ticket and buy it online ? Thanks

Hi, I tried to use the DB app to check the price of the trip below. But it showed me S2 and buy ticket. But no train type and price are shown. May I know how do I know the price of this ticket and buy it online ? Thanks

 

It's possible to buy a ticket up to three hours before departure (it's valid from the moment of buying up to three hours).

But there's no need to do so. You may buy it from a ticket machine at the station, too.

The price is 5,80 € (doesn't change).

(Just in case you plan to visit Dachau memorial: The ticket is valid for the connecting bus, too.)

That won't work.

Hi rvdborgt, when you reply that won’t work, so I cannot use the DB app or website to buy tickets for international travels outside Germany. Am I right ? Thanks

For some routes it that may work, but the DB app is geared towards journeys in and from/to Germany. Outside of Germany, it may sometimes work but not always have the best offers. It's always best to check with one of the operators.

Just a reminder. If you travel with a Eurail or an Interrail pass, you don't need to buy any tickets as the pass is you ticket.

You must buy seat reservation where those are mandatory. When seat reservations are optional, you buy a seat reservation if you want. This can be wise if you travel during high season. 

Then there are trains where seat reservations are impossible, like on the S-Bahn or regional train as  between München and Dachau in the screenshot above. 

Hi , below is a ticket from SNCB International. May I know why the departure and arrival times are not shown ? Will it be shown on the QR code ? Thank You Very Much

No seat reservation is possible on that train. You have bought a ticket,  not a seat reservation. And you already have a ticket as you have a Eurail pass. Unless you have decided not to use your Eurail pass for this journey. 

If the you look at eurail.com or interrail.eu for your route and it says "you are ready to board", then you should not buy anything. 

This is a regular, open ticket for people over 65, no pass needed. You can use it on any train on the day of validity, so that's why no departure time is mentioned.

Reservations are not possible on this route.