Replies posted by jameswanless

10 Replies

J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

LOL, yes, but wouldn’t it just be easier for the companies to all agree that aligning behind simpler reservation experiences could still get them revenue and be much better for the customer? These supplements exist between Italy and Austria (Brenner and Tarvisio lines) because the company running these lines isn't part of the Eurail/Interrail scheme and would like to receive "some money" too, so to speak. Or so they claim. That supplement may have started because of that reason, but times have changed. If companies like Regiojet and Westbahn can get their share of the pass revenue and don't need to charge additional supplements, then surely others can also do that. And maybe they already do, but just keep the supplement in place because it's easy money. Anyway, I think I’ve finally got it all. Reserve Firenze to Venice, leave Monterosso earlier and enjoy some Florence sightseeing. Buy the supplement for Venice to Salzburg and I should be good to go. Still 4.5 weeks until we fly

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

I’m liking this idea a lot 👇 as, aside from travel between cities, we generally walk everywhere and love it. Our travel plan is generally mid-afternoon and later trains, to get most of the last day in any given place we’re staying, but getting a couple hours to walk around Florence a bit would be very nice (gathering Firenze is Florence on the trains). Monterosso - Venice : if you're worried about missing the reserved train, you could leave Monterosso early, leave your luggage at Florence train station and then spend a few hours walking across the city before taking the last train. The train station is really close to the city center. It's an easy 10-min walk between the station and the famous Dome, a bit more to Ponte Vecchio. Just an idea ! :)  Agreed. I’m a planner by nature and prefer this. I’ll just do the reservation process again, but choose one-way tickets instead of reservation-only, and get the option to buy the supplement, while just keeping the reservation I already have

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thank you @thibcabe and not only is the route through Florence better, but it appears to be faster. So, it sounds like ... I won’t worry about any reservations from Nice to Monterosso. I’ll take the Florence route from Monterosso to Venice, and I guess I’ll have to note the stops and search individually to reserve. I’d hate to reserve the last leg and miss it because I got delayed on earlier legs. Just to have it sorted, wondering if I should get the supplement in advance or just hit the desk at the station before we travel.I really do appreciate all this help, particularly since this is effectively one massive train tour. I honestly don’t know how people could plan this kind of trip without advice on these forums. Seems like reservations across the companies and regions still needs some work for the benefit of customer experience.

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thank you again @rvdborgt. Hopefully I can wrap this up with one more response and clarify what I have left to do. If I’m understanding everything above  ... My reservations for Brussels-Paris and Paris-Nice should both be fine, as should my reservations from Munich back to Amsterdam through Germany. Not seeing any need to reserve Salzburg to Munich.Italy - I have not reserved any seats so far from Nice to Venice:Nice to Monterosso - No reservations needed, even from Ventimiglia onward? I’m assuming the train passes through Monterosso first, so nothing on the trains between the Cinque Terre villages, or La Spezia central back to Monterosso? Monterosso to Venice - Using one way tickets, yes I can see what you mean, certain legs with connections, but not end-to-end. Fees are anywhere from 6E to 20E on per leg. ie, Monterosso to Milan on the longer trip or Firenze to Venice on the shorter trip. I guess I really wonder if we’ll be fine as walk-ons, or I should reserve individual legs. Per

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thank you @rvdborgt and you are correct. I used ‘reservation only’ because I understood the Eurail pass to be my ticket. So, now a couple questions on that:Are the ‘reservations only’ I’ve made no good and I need to go back and rebook them as one-way tickets? I think it’s too late to get a refund (not that they’re terribly expensive) or is there a way to add to the reservations that I already have? Also, if the OBB site doesn’t work correctly, I’m not at all clear on how to book multiple trains correctly, since my trips do use multiple trains to get to my destinations. It sounds like you’re saying that once I see the train trip and connections I want to take I’d need to search each of those legs individually and add one way tickets. That seems, uh, cumbersome. We are staying on the Santa Lucia side of Venice so that’s the better station for us.I figured adding anything to the pass risked activating it, and once I’ve added a train when we get to the station, it’ll just be the same thing

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thanks @thibcabe. To reply …Monterosso - No, looking up May 30th we have no reservation for that voyage at all on any leg so far. This is a sample of the itinerary and on the previous page there’s no option to pay for a reservation on this leg. Same thing if I use the faster route through La Spezia central, Pisa and Firenze. So, if there’s an option to pay for a reservation, I’m simply not seeing it. I’m not particularly stressed since there do appear to be lots of trains, but just odd that I can’t see any option to pay for a reservation on that route at all. It would be nicer to just know what time I need to be there and have it booked. Venice to Salzburg - ‘ticket already exists’ was pre-chosen for me at payment time since I chose ‘Eurail Global Pass discount’ for each passenger for the trip. It never mentions a supplement at all when searching for trains from the initial Timetable & Tickets screen. As long as it’s clear how to get it on the train, that’s fine, but I was just su

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thank you again all. I think I got through all my reservations successfully, but in the course of booking, a couple new questions arose. Just posting my itinerary again, with reservations and a couple quick questions to follow:Amsterdam to Brussels May 16th - no reservation, will take one of the hourly IC trains Brussels to Paris May 20th - reserved high speed Thalys, 2:45pm Paris to Nice May 24th - reserved TGV, 1:55pm Nice to Monterosso May 27th - no reservation, Monterosso-Ventimiglia, then Ventimiglia-Genoa-Monterosso Monterosso to Venice May 30 - no reservation options listed (including 3€ per @thibcabe), 2-3 trains per hour Venice to Salzburg June 2 - reserved OBB, but didn’t have the option for 15€ supplement incl. seat reservation per @thibcabe . Just 6€ for 2x adult with Eurail Global 1st class Salzburg to Munich June 4 - about half the trains were no reserve/reserve options, haven’t booked Munich to Cologne June 7 - reserved OBB for 3:28pm, as all trains offered the option an

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thanks again @thibcabe, I think I’m good for now, but you never know what I’ll run into when making reservations. Appreciate the help.Oh, per my OP for the reservations that do require a pass cover, can I book both my and my wife’s reservations with my pass cover, or should I generate one for her as well?

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thanks for the clarification @thibcabe, I’ve got enough to get me started, possibly with the exception of figuring out reservation-free slower trips through France if we decide to go that route.

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
jameswanlessKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Researched forums for answers, still a couple questions on reservations and supplements

Thank you all for the details. Going to sit down on the weekend and start reserving what needs to be reserved. The flights and accommodations have seemed easy in comparison to figuring out the trains, but we travel 6 weeks today, so I need to get them done.I’m assuming since no one disputed it, avoiding the app for doing this is the right call. Also @thibcabe, prior to using tickets.oebb.at for Italy, Austria and Germany back to Amsterdam, will https://travel.b-europe.com/ help me with any reservations from Brussels through Nice?  Thanks again for the help.

27
T
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
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