To Purchase
To Begin Travel On Your Pass
As You Travel On Your Pass
Seat Reservations and Overnight Travel
To Reserve Your Car
To Reserve Your Olympic Air Flight
To Purchase
Purchase your pass in North America before you leave for Europe. You can purchase it securely from the website if you like, or you may call Rail Europe toll free at 1-877-456-RAIL in the U.S. or 1-800-361-RAIL in Canada.
Additional travel days must be purchased at the same time to qualify for the special rates quoted here.
Passes can not be purchased or used by residents of a country for which the pass is valid. Residents of CIS, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia are not eligible to use any of the Eurail Global Passes, Eurail Select Passses or France Railpasses.
To Begin Travel On Your Pass
Have your pass validated on or before your first day of use. Your pass must be validated within 6 months from date of issue. Some passes offer discounted rates for youth, child or senior travelers. In order to qualify for these rates, travelers who are children or youth must be the maximum age or younger then the required age for each pass on 1st day of travel. Senior traveler must be the minimum age or older on the 1st day of travel. This must be done before boarding a train, bus, boat or renting a car for the first time. Please do not write on or fill in any part of your pass before it has been validated. All services (rail, rental car, air travel and travel bonuses) must be used within the validity of the accompanying railpass.
As You Travel On Your Pass
Before boarding the first train or ferry of each day, write the date in ink, in the appropriate box on your pass. At the time you rent a car, present your pass and 1 car voucher for each rental day.
Seat Reservations and Overnight Travel
A pass allows the boarding of a train, bus or boat, but does not guarantee a seat. Seat reservations are optional for most trains but are mandatory for all TGV, Thalys, Cisalpino, Elipsos, AVE, and Italian Day trains and selected EuroCity and InterCity trains and for all sleepers and couchettes. Reservations are subject to availability so reserve in advance. Reservations for all seats, sleepers, couchettes and trains noted above are subject to an additional fee for pass and ticket holders. Seat reservations, sleepers and couchettes can normally be purchased from Rail Europe at the same time that you buy your pass. Use the special notes box on the Order Form to specify reservations when you book your pass. Travel on certain high-speed trains (such as the Italian Day trains, AVE in Spain, Thalys and Eurostar) require a supplement.
To Reserve Your Car
Reserve your first car rental at least 7 days prior to your departure for Europe by calling the appropriate car company (see below for which companies serve certain passes.) Confirm drop-off conditions at time of reservation. Be sure to reserve your car in advance as they are subject to availability.
Avis rental cars are provided with the following pass: France Rail 'n Drive. Phone numbers for Avis are: 1-800-331-1084.
Hertz rental cars are provided with the following passes: EurailDrive Pass, Eurail Select Pass n' Drive, BritRail Pass 'n Drive, Italy Rail 'n Drive, Spain Rail 'n Drive, German Rail 'n Drive, and Scandinavia Rail 'n Drive. Phone numbers for Hertz is 1-800-654 3001.
