Trying to get from London to Bayeux in a few months. I've found sites like Rail Europe, but I'm not sure of their reputability. Would it be ok to buy from Rail Europe or is it generally best to buy individually from the train lines themselves? Thanks!
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8050 posts
I think it best to buy from the operating company, but that is me, I am fairly adept at using the various sites, and know for the most part what site to go to.
Your journey will require you to take the Eurostar from London to Paris Gare du Nord, then French Trains (SNCB) to Bayeux. There may be other options in France, but most of the competing companies only run on high speed routes.
There might be some high quality Third Party sights, some people like Trainline for example, but the main reason to use a third party site is for convenience, a one stop shop, which comes at a price. The thing to watch out for, is that many third party sites only sell the premium trains where there is a profit in reselling, not showing many cheaper regional and intercity options.
Posted by
Lake District, England
7837 posts
French Railways are SNCF- SNCB are Belgian Railways!!
You can also book this as a through ticket on SNCF connect- and the through fare, looking on a couple of sample dates, seems to be the same as the sum of the parts.
The benefit of a through booking is that it would give you a basis to take a later train from Paris if the Eurostar was delayed.
Posted by
3439 posts
There is nothing illegal, immoral, or fattening about Rail Europe. The prices on that website include a surcharge, but the site itself is easy enough to use. I like Trainline.
Posted by
914 posts
I've found the SNCF app to be very user friendly, which is not my usual feelings with most apps. Easy to use, tickets purchased, easily accessed. Can make changes or cancel.
Posted by
Chicago
8550 posts
I find trainline.eu most user friendly and easiest fo rme to quickly load a ticket to my phone for travel. I have found SNCF less useful. While it ought to cost more to use trainline, in my experience sometimes oddly it is cheaper.
Posted by
Wengen
2493 posts
Rail Europe is a travel agent that is linked directly in the distribution system that the main european railways use. So the tickets they will deliver you will be genuine, and you are less likely to encounter issues with US credit cards etc...
The disadvantage of Rail Europe is that you will only see trains and tickets there that are in the European system. So you will not see private operators, and you will not see some fares that the railways only sell directly.
So for trips including high speed trains you will normally get a ticket + reservation (an so called IRT ticket) for the high speed part, and a ticket at TCV tariff for the remainder, and that may not always be the cheapest option.
Train Line is another travel agent, but they connect directly to the railways own system. They also connect to private operators, and will try to get you the cheapest deal possible. So for example on a trip from Paris to Wengen they will split the ticket for you in Basel, get you a TGV Lyria ticket for the first part, and a SBB supersaver ticket for the second.
Trainline is useful for tickets in/out of France, and is useful In Italy and Spain because it also sells tickets for the private operators, and it recognizes English place names.
I would stay clear however from Rail Ninja. They are just a bunch of clever people exploiting seat anxiety in order to relieve inexperienced train travellers from their cash...
Posted by
262 posts
Although I've successfully used the individual systems I tend to trailnline. For the reasons above and convenience of having tickets for travel on different systems in one place.