Alanna
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hi,
I am researching the possibilities of going on Interrail (10 travel days within 22 days) with our family (husband and three year old son). So far I have been checking out the cities that we want to visit and which trains are most suitabale when traveling with a child.
It seems to me that with the steep reservation costs necessary it can hardly pay off to buy an Interrail ticket.
For example the Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train cost 30 Euro p/p (!), a three hour train ride ... I was in chock to read these prices : )
Would it be a cheaper option to try to find single tickets for the stretches?
Is there anybody who have the same thoughts and considerations?
Some feed back is much appreciated! : )
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
In deed it depends on the route you travel. Sometimes it is cheaper by point to point ticket if booking early in advance and having a fix route without flexibility.
We always list options here in our railcc schedules on how to avoid such expensive trains like the Thalys on Amsterdam to Paris: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/amsterdam-to-paris[/u]
There are connections free of extra fees (but it is a long trip) or examples where you use free IC trains until Lille (France) and from there a cheap TGV train (EUR 3) to Paris.
You only have to know how to use the trains, then Interrail is a good option - that's also one reason why we run our railcc project, not only to sell Interrail tickets like some ticket outlets do, but mainly to help travellers to find an inexpensive travel route.
If you give me details about your travel route, I can give you some more hints ... :)
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yeah, for adults it is worth checking prices to see whether InterRail or standard tickets is cheaper. In general, InterRail will be cheaper than the standard fares, but it usually is a close match if you compare prices to cheap advance fare tickets (which, similar to low-cost airline tickets) usually cannont be refunded or exchanged.
I have an example of a trip I made two years ago in February: Graz - Paris - Lisbon - Sevilla - Granada - Petit Train Jaune - Hamburg - Graz
I travelled with a Youth InterRail 10in22 and plus reservations I paid 542€ for the whole trip (tickets only). With regular tickets (bought the same amount of days in advance as I got my reservations for InterRail) it would have cost me over 1000€.
Tell us your route and we can have a look what will be the better option. :)
Flo 8)
nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments
beside the Standard fares most trains also have DISCOUNT fares-f.e. Ams-Paris on the Thalys is FROM (not always for!) 35€-yes, for THIS train (thats an exception) about as much as the ''supplmt''. But these ask you to prebook and stick to the chosen dates then.
As said-there are many, many trains that do not require supplmts nor reservations-sometimes its optional, IF required-mostly like 4/5€/pp./p.ride.
generally in EAST Europe (the old communist block) fares are much lower-there you have to do the math yourself-in WES Europe IR-if used wisely, is often a good investment.
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
IR is good when:
- you are below 26 years old
OR
-dont want to see only the biggest cities
OR
-want to make longer trips, using more trains; lets say more than 10
in other cases you always have to calculate the prices...
remember that IR also gives you some flexibility i.e. when you lose train, in case of accident, etc..
if you are going to travelling with your little boy i suppose it wont be quick trip but you want to do some longer stops. then you have to remember that longer working IR Pass(22days,...) will cost more.
so, as you can see, there is lot to things to think through. but it's only one day and the memories will stay for years!