Sure, you can use the global pass with no obligation to use it in your country of residence, from any station you want.

I'm not really sure how Cologne can be the nearest station to any Dutch place though, are you aware you can also use it on local trains (including the trains from Venlo, Viersen, Mönchengladbach and Aachen)?

Thanks for your reply. The schedule from Cologne to Vienna is much better than going from Heerlen or Aachen.

We have a 40min ride to Aachen and 50min ride to Cologne...going from NL will boost travel time from roughly 8h to 12h…

It should only be a weekend, so I assume the 4 travel days are okay? As long as I can start from Cologne instead of NL I am fine…

Sorry for bothering. But finding useful information on their webpage is more than impossible!

If you're just making one return trip, then check prices of normal tickets and compare with pass (+ reservations).

The regular ticket without any Bahncard is roughly 550...

Where are you checking the price ? On bahn.de there are often saver tickets unless at short notice

Ah OK. A BahnCard would amortise immediately (especially a Probe-BahnCard)… but a pass could still be cheaper.

So far the global pass is still the best bet, to get to Vienna on time! Just wanted to make sure, that the pass fulfills our requirements! But will check again for regular tickets...