Thanks for all the great responses.

FYI, the prices quoted above were for two first class reservations.

But I think what I'll do is look a little more into the Euraide option, especially if they can save $ on the pricier portions of the trip (i.e. overnight trains).

Will report back with my progress.

Have a great rest of the weekend,
Chris

Eurail Pass
 

By all means get your seat reservations ahead of time as they often are unavailable during peak travel season if you wait. However, be sure to watch in both France and Italy for possible strikes or schedule changes. In France we lost our seats due to a quickie 24-hour strike; spent the night in a Paris railway station and while it seems funny now, it wasn't at the time And on another trip we were blind sided by a schedule change on Italian railways and had to stand in long, slow lines to get seats reassigned; by the time we were able to get to a railway station to remake the seat reservations, all the 1st class seats were gone & we ended up in 2nd class, which was much more crowded. So, be sure to watch the newspapers and TV, as they will usually have details about that type of situation, should it occur.

Disagree: second class is fine
 

I'm going to dissent from the majority opinion here: I've taken quite a number of trains in Switzerland, France, Germany, and Italy, always in second class, and only once have I found myself wishing I had paid more. (That one time was on a Friday night sleeper train from Zurich to Rome: sharing a second class couchette compartment with five adult Italian strangers and one baby was a good way of not getting any sleep.)

The other agency is EurAide, http://www.euraide.de

They charge you the actual price in Euros plus US$45 for shipping and handling the entire order. Their US (Florida) contact is at 914-480-1555. Have your trip details written down before calling - they may ask you to fax or email your info to them.

Here's their "how to reserve" page.[/QUOTE]

PDH (and others),

Thanks for the info. I have been in contact with Euraide - however, they want me to send a credit cardnumber before they quote me any rates on reservations, sleeper costs, etc. This strikes me as a bit odd. Is it normal protocol for this sort of deal? Am I supposed to rely on blind faith with respect to the cost savings?

Has anyone else used Euraide to book advance reservations from the U.S.? Would appreciate advice and insight of other travelers. Are there any other similar services around?

Thanks,
Chris