As a footnote at the moment (till 31 August) it is possible to buy a ticket for any rail journey in

If you re planning a rail trip in Europe you ll probably need to decide whether it s worth buying really cheap airplane tickets a rail pass or getting individual tickets as you go. Choosing the wrong option can leave you heavily out of pocket.
While arranging a recent trip from Rimini in Italy back to London it soon became clear that getting a rail pass was not a financially sensible option. However it was only when I dug a little really cheap airplane tickets deeper into the details that I discovered just how poor value an InterRail pass is these days.
Bavaria ticket bought at station €26 covers two people for travel anywhere in Bavaria on train or bus for the day. Cost for one person €22; for three people €30; for four, €34. Astonishingly good value, really cheap airplane tickets especially if travelling in a group.
I paid £45 for this leg, but have left it out of the comparisons really cheap airplane tickets as it is a ticket that almost all travellers will book in advance and even those with an InterRail pass will need to reserve and pay for.
In addition I would have had to buy my Eurostar ticket, pay reservation fees of €10 each for two of the Italian trains (I could avoid these by waiting for a slower train) and would still have paid the ferry ticket to cross Lake Constance.
More surprisingly, I would have saved over €100 if I had just turned up at each station and bought my tickets immediately before departure, compared with buying an InterRail pass . Even someone under 26, who enjoys a hefty discount for their rail pass, would only just cover the cost of their pass when compared to walk-on fares.
really cheap airplane tickets I love rail travel and am a big fan of the idea of rail passes. Some of my fondest teenage memories involve me travelling with my InterRail pass and exploring the far-flung corners of Europe. But the costs now appear really cheap airplane tickets to have risen to a prohibitive level.
I recognise that my itinerary is only one example (I have done a breakdown of a Lisbon really cheap airplane tickets to London trip last year and found a similar result) and that there are some routes where the pass might be a better option. But these are, I suspect, few and far between.
I hope there will be many more European rail trips for me. Train travel is without doubt the best way to see the many highlights and the unsung surprises that our wonderful continent is blessed with. But with the high cost of a rail pass and the additional supplements on one side, and the fabulous deals such as the Bavaria Ticket and the €9 advanced fares on the other, I can t see myself splashing out on an InterRail pass anytime soon.
As a footnote at the moment (till 31 August) it is possible to buy a ticket for any rail journey in Belgium for €7.50, but if travelling on a short journey such as Brussels to Leuven it is cheaper to buy a standard ticket at the station.
Suspect that you re right about getting on the rails pretty much every day to make a full month pass pay. You can get passes that cover 3 or 5 days in a two or three week period and if you make really long journeys on those days then perhaps it will pay. But then, those examples where it does pay to use a pass are the exception rather than the norm.
I think RailEurope (only available for non-Europeans) is a little better deal. The 6 Day Germany Pass + German Extension would cover pretty much everything between Bologna and Brussels. For a pair traveling together it would be $343 USD each (£219 or €279)
I sell both point-to-point and RailEurope passes but when clients ask for the cheapest really cheap airplane tickets it s almost always point-to-point. Rail Passes have lots of bonuses really cheap airplane tickets (like hotel discounts and such) that only make financial sense if you re going to use them.