Few Europe travelers know that North Americans can book and pay for city-to-city rail tickets at the websites of several national European railroads, including Germany and Switzerland. Though purchased-in-the-USA rail passes continue to be the best deal for most, those who require only one, or perhaps two, point-to-point tickets, the cheapest place to buy them is probably at the website of the railroad of the country where travel will commence. The German rail system, for example, offers long-distance fares as low at €29, based on advance purchase plus restrictions on refunds and changes. (Watch out, however, for the French Rail website which works hard to direct English-speaking users to the Rail Europe website where point-to-pont tickets are often priced higher.)
In an attempt to force customers to buy online, European railroads, like the airlines, have substantially reduced commissions to U.S. wholesalers such as Rail Europe and Wandrian. Those companies have, in turn, slashed commissions to retailers. This means travelers must purchase online from sellers such as www.gemut.com or wind up paying a fee to order by phone.
Rail passes are no longer priced the same everywhere, so we suggest checking the rates at www.gemut.com; in many cases they are lower than you’ll find from better-known rail purveyors. The second-class German Twin Pass is sold at www.gemut.com for $206 per person ($ 279, first-class). The price at Rail Europe is $215 second-class and $291, first-class.
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