V-Love’s Lonely Planet

·        First class/second class:       Under 26 can purchase a second class ticket, but any older (unless a senior citizen) you are required to purchase a first class pass.  This costs a few hundred Euro more.  While on the European trains, I discovered there is absolutely no difference between first class and second class other than a hefty price.  The seats may be a little bigger but it’s not five star. 

      I discovered that this first class/second class thing according to your age is only something the non-European citizens get to deal with.  European citizens laughed at this and said it was crazy when I told them I had to purchase a fist class ticket because they have never heard of it.

Let me just give you a nasty example.  After the loss of my Eurial pass I had to start buying ticket to ticket.  When crossing the border on a train they will often check your passport.  So when buying the ticket they asked if I was under 26; I lied and said yes so I could get the cheaper second class ticket.  When the guy came along he asked to see my ticket and passport.  When he discovered I was 26, he said “that will be an extra 41 Euros please because you are over 25.”  I looked at all of the 40-something year olds around me and forked out the money in disgust.  ·        No identification:      When you buy a Eurail pass they never check it to an ID.  This makes it very easy for anyone to use the pass.  So if it is stolen, most likely the thief will likely get by without ever being checked for an ID.  ·        Hidden costs:      So after spending hundreds of dollars on these tickets you end up still getting to pay extra money!  I did anyway.  I took a few overnight trains from country to country.  Any train that requires any kind of reservation, whether it be an overnight train or high speed train requires you to pay roughly an extra 50 Euros on top of having the Eurail pass.  ·        Country prices:      Just do some research before you head out.  Several countries offer very cheap train tickets.  Italy for example.  I never spent more than 25 Euros and they were fairly long train rides (3 hours).  But Switzerland, a one hour train ride can cost up to 60 Franks (roughly 40 Euros).  And for those curious on what happened afterwards with my Eurail pass.  Well, fortunately I did purchase the pass protection plan which protects me again loss or theft.  What I was not aware of was that I needed a police report within 24 hours which was impossible seeing as in the tiny town of Empoli, Italy nobody spoke English.  And when I arrived in Cinque Terra it was a ghost town with barely 5 people in site.  I eventually got a police report 3 days later and have put an extensive description together with every single receipt and train pass to send off to the Eurail Company.  We’ll see what happens.