The new Interrail / Eurail Global Plus Pass

The fact that many types of European train services require rail pass users to understand, process and book seat reservations, as additional steps and costs to the purchase of a Eurail / Interrail pass, has been a barrier to taking advantage of a pass to explore Europe by train.
Hence the very welcome launch of a new type of multi-country 'Global' pass, the Global Plus Pass, as it includes the cost of seat reservations - albeit with the caveats that are inevitable when the terms of a pass have to be laid over the complexities of how trains are operated in 33 countries.
Read on to discover the details of how to make the most of this new type of pass: And also why it may not be the automatic best option for your trip.

Until now booking seat reservations, whether they are mandatory or optional, has been an additional cost to a Eurail / Interrail itinerary, because what are now the standard types of pass, don't include them.
The idea being is that once you have purchased a pass you can choose to take the trains which require a reservation and pay for them, or you opt to avoid them and therefore additional costs.

But in the summer months, June to August, rail pass reservations are now mandatory on most of the international express train services, because during this time they are now required on all express trains to and from Germany, except trains between Germany and Switzerland.
Hence planning an itinerary that avoids reservations has become trickier in western Europe.
So the Global Plus pass simplifies this, but it also opens up new opportunities to save money on the total rail travel costs of a trip.

Once a Global Plus Pass has been purchased, the reservations can be added to the pass by using the Eurail / Interrail seat booking system.
Reservations booked on alternative online services or at stations will still incur their usual fees.
A ** list of train service reservations** covered by the pass, has beenpublished on the Eurail / Interrail websites
Though what isn't wholly clear by looking at the list, is that that if a reservation can be booked on the Eurail / Interrail seat booking service then it's covered by the Plus Pass - albeit there are some limitations, which are explained below.

Hence the train services / routes on which reservations can be booked at no additional costs, includes these international services (and more) that aren't specifically mentioned on the list:

• Lyria services; Paris ↔ Switzerland
• TGV France / Espagne; Paris ↔ Barcelona
• TGV France / Italy; Paris ↔ Milano
• EC Switzerland ↔ Italy
• Railjet Austria ↔ Italy
• AVE Barcelona ↔ Lyon and Marseille ↔ Madrid

Plus, as is made clearer on the Eurail / Interrail website, the pass 'covers' these other international train services:

• all Eurostar services, the routes to/from London and the routes to/from Paris
• seats on Nightjet trains
• seats on European Sleeper trains.

Also included are the national high speed train services in France, Italy and Spain.

The 'credits

Though how the Global Plus Pass can be used has one significant caveat, which is that when the cost of a mandatory rail pass reservation is evidently more than €20, these reservations become 'credits' - which are capped as a maximum of three credits per pass per person.

• A journey by any Eurostar service = 1 credit
• Lyria services = 1 credit
• TGV France / Espagne = 1 credit
• TGV France / Italy = 2 credits
• a seat on Nightjet train = 1 credit
• a seat on a European Sleeper train = 1 credit
  Credits aren't applied to any other daytime train service.

The reservations that aren't covered by Global Plus Pass, so will incur an additional cost, include:

• Beds, bunks and pods on night trains.
• Scenic Swiss trains not operated by the national rail company SBB, such as the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express,
• The mandatory and optional seat reservations which can't be booked on the Eurail / Interrail seat booking system - this includes seat reservations on the trains in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia* Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania*, Serbia and Turkey
  *= international trains are covered.

Aside from how the Eurail and Interrail Plus Pass can be used in terms of seat reservations, the other key things worth knowing are:

• The pass is currently being offered in Beta mode meaning that in effect Eurail / Interrail is testing live bookings of the pass and the adding of reservations to it - the expense won't be at risk, but Eurail / Interrail is being upfront that everything may not work seamlessly.
• It is only available for 7 days of travel.
• How the pass can be used differs from the other types of Eurail / Interrail pass, because 'travellers must activate their Pass and begin their trip within 3 months of the date of purchase' - The other types of pass have standard T&Cs which in effect stipulate that a purchaser will have 11 months in which to activate the pass and take the first journey,

The price of both the 1st and 2nd class Plus Passes are around €100 more expensive than the equivalent standard 7 day global passes.
The lack of difference between the additional cost of the 1st and 2nd class pass, is partially justified by the mandatory reservation fees for users of 1st and 2nd class pass users being similar on multiple train services.

However the costs of optional reservations is typically around €3-7 per journey and on many services with mandatory reservations the charge is around €7-13.
Trains with mandatory reservations in this second price bracket include, the TGV InOui services in France and the Frecce services in Italy.

So you don't need to a mathematical genius to calculate that taking 10(ish) trains with reservation costs of around €10 in only 7 days, to justify the cost of a Plus Pass, is actually a fairly tricky feat to pull off.

Though the costs of the reservations which are designated as 'credits are €20-45, so if an itinerary uses two 'credits' it's more likely that the Plus Pass will be value for money.
If an itinerary uses the full allocation of three credits, it's almost certain the Plus Pass will be the cheaper option.

The day trains which require the use of a credit, all travel on routes from and to Paris, so if the French capital is a must-see destination, it's worth crunching the numbers to check if the Plus Pass will be a money saver.

For example a Plus Pass user will save around €30-40, compared to the cost of a standard pass + the cost of the mandatory reservations, on these two itineraries, with the arrow representing a day of pass use:

(1) Amsterdam → Paris → Barcelona → Valencia → Madrid → Marseille → Strasbourg → Amsterdam

(2) Amsterdam → Paris → Turin → Rome → Venice → Vienna → Berlin → Amsterdam

Note that itinerary (1) involves taking multiple journeys by the AVE / Euromed trains in Spain, on which reservations are mandatory for rail pass users.
Also itinerary (2) involves taking multiple journeys by the Italian Frecce trains, on which reservations are mandatory.

In contrast a standard 7 Day Global Plus Pass + paying for the mandatory reservations, will save around €20 compared to the cost of a Plus pass on these two itineraries which don't include Paris, but do include multiple journeys by the Italian Frecce trains

(1) Amsterdam → Basel → Florence → Venice → Vienna → Prague → Berlin → Amsterdam.

(2) Amsterdam → Basel → Florence → Naples → Genoa → Venice → Munich → Amsterdam.

A return journey from and to, or to and from, London requires two credits for the journey each way on the Eurostar , so if the itinerary includes another journey which uses a 'credit', the balance firmly tips towards using a Plus Pass.
The Plus pass will be cheaper in these scenarios:

• A return to / from London + using a credit to take another Eurostar train to/from Bruxelles + two of the any other train services with mandatory reservations, but which don't require a credit.
• A return to / from London + using a credit to take train between Paris and Barcelona / Italy and Switzerland + two of the any other train services with mandatory reservations, but which don't require a credit.

The train services which require the use of Plus Pass 'credit' are also among the services on which the mandatory rail pass reservations can either sell out, or be taken off sale if the ticket prices become too high to justify the availability of places to Eurail and Interrail pass users.

However, the Plus Pass is not a 'magic bullet' and despite in effect paying in advance for the reservations which are 'credits', there is no guarantee that you will be able to make the reservations on your preferred departures - particularly if you buy a Plus Pass less than a month before your travel dates
If the seats / reservations are not available on a specifc departure(s), that will apply to all Eurail / Interrail pass users, including the bookers of Plus passes.

So it becomes particularly prudent to check the availability of the rail pass reservations on your preferred trains, prior to booking a Plus Pass.

Confirming Availability pre pass purchase

The availability of rail pass reservations can be looked up on RailEurope without the need to already have the pass numbers that are assigned when buying a Eurail / Interrail pass - though you will need a pass number to go ahead and book.

The steps to take are:

1. On the RailEurope home page above the Search button, there is an 'Add rail pass' button.
2. When clicked you can select the type of rail pass you will be travelling with - Eurail or Interrail, First Class or Second
3. Then look up the journey, as when booking tickets.
4. The prices you will see on the search results is the price of the rail pass reservation.

Though if you will be travelling with first class Eurail or Interrail passes, there is a quirky aspect of using RailEurope to look up reservations on certain services - including the Eurostar trains from and to London.
Namely that despite having selected that you will be using a first class pass, prior to looking up a journey, the reservation price which will be initially shown on the search results, can be the price to travel in 2nd class / Standard Class, regardless.

So if you will be wanting to travel with a First Class pass, you may need to be proactive and use the drop down arrow in order to access the first class 'Standard Premier' reservations - because they will be listed below the Second class price.
Though this is subject to availability, if the first class reservations are sold out, you won't see the arrow - though if need be First Class pass users can book Second / Standard Class reservations and travel in that class of accommodation.