I am attempting to book a trip from Paris to Bayeux. When I book for 1 person it is 33 Euros/person but when I attempt to book for 6, the price goes up to 66 or 71 per person, with no option for non-refundability. Any idea why? Or how to get around it?
Jonathan
There are lots of issues with trying to book trains on the RailEurope site. I would look first on the French Nat'l Railway (SNCF) site - https://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/. I don't know when you are going but I tried dummy date in June and saw seats for €15/person (non-refundable, specific train date/time). I do know that some people here have had problems booking on this site due to credit card issues so if it doesn't work for you, there are other booking sites, trainline.eu is one.
Most people say to avoid RailEurope, a third party that costs more & does not show all the scheduled departures. Other than the actual train site you can also use the former Captain Train now, Train Line, https://www.trainline.eu, to book your trip. As an example I see on 3 June from Paris to Bayeux the prices vary from 20 - 34 Euros on 2nd Class & 22 - 41 Euros for First Class. There are even direct routes at certain times throughout the day.
Train Line has an App you can use & store your tickets on.
Enjoy your trip.
There's probably some misunderstanding in your original question, since Rail Europe/US (or their Canadian site) both sell in dollars, not euros. They have prices from $18 in 2nd class or $26 in 1st on my May test date. However, there are limited seats at the advance discount prices and if Rail Europe's shopping cart doesn't find the discount available for your whole group of 6, then it will revert to booking everyone at full fare. The rates you quote are for 1st class. You may (or may not) find more availability in 2nd class. SNCF or trainline.eu may be able to split the pricing over different rates; I didn't test them.
It's a pretty short train ride, about 2 hrs, so if you don't have to sit together you could maybe book the tickets separately to get the lower price for each ticket - rather than trying it as one booking.
€33–66 p/p sounds very expensive. I always book on SNCF directly http://www.sncf.com (http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers for the English language site, or click the little British flag). Pretty simple. I booked a 1st class ticket the other day for end of May for €20 each way. When I just tried it now on the SNCF site, it came to €75 total for six people for a mid-week, 10:00am train, 2nd class.
Going Paris to Bayeux you take a regional train, which does not take reservations. I've always bought the ticket the day/night before departure. Don't go through Rail Europe, not worth it.
Using Rail Europe isn't the end of the world. I have used them couple of times when my credit card wouldn't work on the national rial sites, and it worked out fine. Advance purchase discount fares were available, also able to select my seats and print out tickets at home. Did have to pay a small service charge, but it was a small price to pay to maintain my blood pressure if I had to call my credit card issuer to figure out the card blocks.
Fred, I'm afraid you are mistaken. I have taken the Paris to Bayeux train numerous times and have always made a reservation (along with Paris to Caen, or Paris to Cherbourg—they all the same train).
On my rides Paris to Bayeux r/t I don't/did not get a reservation, not mandatory on a regional train. That was the train going there. Whether you get a seat on the coach you board is another story. I didn't buy a reservation along with the ticket.
