Hi there! I'm going on to the UK/EU from June 10th to July 10th and got the Eurail global pass 2nd class as I'm visiting nine locations (there are two pairs of locations in the same country).
I think I've figured out everything that I need to know to make seat reservations but there's still a bit of confusion. I know Eurail is not truly up to date with their timetables, so I'm trying to figure out how to make a seat reservation when Eurail's timetable doesn't match the official train operator's website. For example, I'm going from Glasgow to London on June 15th, but the timetable for that date won't be available until April 24th, yet, Eurail is showing times for that date. What should I do? Wait until the official tran operator releases their timetable or just book it through Eurail?
Many people say don't book through Eurail to get seat reservations and go directly through the train operator. Should I actually follow this practice? Is this recommended just because of the additional fee or is it due to another reason?
It's been 50/50 trying to see what's actually up to date and what's not. I've even run into the issue where the train operator shows a time for the train but isn't showing up on Eurail, so I'm unsure if my pass will cover that time. Also, am I still early? Should I just wait till a month before I leave to make seat reservations?
Here's my itinerary (these are set dates due to check out for my hostels, all departure times are before 2 pm, and most are between 6 am and 9 am):
Glasgow to London: June 15th
London to Toulouse: June 21st
Toulouse to Zurich: June 24th
Zurich to Munich: June 25th
Munich to Vienna: June 27th
Vienna to Rome: July 1st
Rome to Milan: July 6th
Milan to Frankfurt: July 8th
These are all the trips that I have between the major locations that I’m staying in and am most worried about getting seat reservations for. Other trips I should be taking are Glasgow Inverness, London to Oxford, London to Dover, Vienna to Knittlesfield, Rome to Pisa or Florence, and Rome to Venice or Verona. Is it easy to make seat reservations (if necessary) on the same day for locations in the same general area?
Thank you!