[freeflight]

> a simple there-and-back-again journey those passes tend to be somewhat on the pricey side

A simple there-and-back-again journey should easily be able to be planed ahead, which usually gives the most affordable ticket choices. Many countries even offer weekend passes for those needs, tho they will not always cover all and everything, particularly not more exotic privatized public transport.

But on regular there and back again tickets, the pricing ranges there can be extreme; As long as you are willing to book some days in advance and stick to a specific connection and specific trains. Savings on that directly translate to international routes, and those savings are usually quite extreme.

[iggldiggl]

Yes, but then you're back again with the original problem, i.e. that there's often no through-ticketing available, especially if you need to make connections on both sides of the border. E.g. while the DB–SNCF cooperation means that both companies will sell tickets for the direct trains between France and Germany, at least online DB doesn't sell through-tickets involving a connection in France, and SNCF likewise doesn't sell tickets involving a change of trains in Germany.