June 16, 2003 -- It's hard to stand still in Europe. With the continent's speedy and efficient train system, it's easy to take a weekend trip from Amsterdam to Berlin, or to fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Rome. Some of Europe's trains, like Switzerland's Glacier Express, are so fabulous that they're tourist attractions unto themselves.
But tickets on highspeed and overnight trains can be costly, especially once you've shelled out thousands of dollars for high-season airfares. So Rail Europe's in-house travel agency, e-vacations.com, has a solution: if you buy $2,495 worth of travel from them by June 30, you'll get two 15-day, first-class Eurailpass Flexis free. That's a $1,828 value. Look at it another way, and it's up to a 40% discount off the total price of your vacation.
Now, $2,495 may seem like a lot, but it's not -- especially if you consider how high summer airfares to Europe are. Tickets for two during the summer to Europe will generally run you at least $1,200 for the pair. Add two weeks in $100/night hotels, and you've already hit your $2,500. It's even easier to spend the $2,495 if you're bringing kids along. (E-vacations won't give you free passes for your kids, but at least they're half-price for children under 12.)
E-vacations specializes in selling combined air-and-hotel packages, they've got pretty good rates, and letting them pick your hotels takes a lot of stress out of vacation planning. But you don't need to buy your hotels from them to get this deal -- on their online planning screen, pick "On your own" as your city destination if all you want is air.
Select a Flexipass
Rail Europe seems to try very hard to make its pass types difficult to understand, so we'll explain. The Eurailpass Flexi you'll be getting with this deal covers 17 countries, from Ireland to Greece but not including Great Britain. (It gives you a discount on the Eurostar Chunnel train, though.) All travel is first class. You can use the pass for up to 15 days, consecutive or non-consecutive, over a two-month period. Overnight trains only count as one pass day, as long as they leave after 7 PM.
The pass doesn't cover everything. Most high-speed trains will charge you a reservation fee, often around $11. On overnight trains, sleeping accommodations cost extra; the cheapest kind, a couchette, costs $28 if you book it through e-vacations in advance. But a surprising number of European ferries are included in the pass, and there are discounts on other ferry lines that aren't included.
(Other popular passes include the traditional Eurailpass, which is issued for a stretch of consecutive days, and the Eurail Selectpass, which covers 3, 4, or 5 countries for various periods of time. There are single-country passes, regional passes, and cut-rate youth passes for those under 26, too.)
To get this deal, book your vacation by June 30 for departure from the US by August 31; you've got to complete your rail travel by Sept. 15. You must book online to get the free railpasses, so go to www.e-vacations.com.