Reservations on High Speed Trains in France, Flexi-pass

What if seats for pass holders run out? What happens?

You wait for a train that has seats available, or you buy a seat at the walk-up rate

Have you priced out passes vs buying the tickets you actually need? Be sure you're using a site that sells tickets at face value such as https://www.captaintrain.com/en.

I guess I'm not sure what a "flexi pass" is. If you are referring to the Eurail Select or Eurail Global passes, you can make reservations for high speed trains up to 90 days in advance in France. It is true that there are limited numbers of reservations for pass holders on French trains. If you make your reservations 90 days in advance you shouldn't have any problems.

The obvious question that will be asked is "If you are confident enough 90 days out to make train reservations, wouldn't you be just as well served using point to point tickets?"

There are quite a few people on this forum that are zealous in reprimanding anyone thinking about using a Eurail pass. I am not one of them. I think that as long as you have done your research and are happy with your choices, you should be able to make you choice without being harassed. That said, I would encourage you to make sure that you have compared the cost of point to point tickets vs. the Eurail pass before you make your final decision. You may really like travelling in the 1st class coach or having flexibility elsewhere in your trip that would make the pass work for you.

If you are traveling with a friend and want to travel in first class, you could save money with a flexi-saver pass. You can go to RailEurope.com and find their toll-free number and call them. They will help you figure out if a pass will be cheaper than point to point tickets. You can make reservations earlier than 3 days ahead. I make mine as soon as my plans are set.

Good luck with your trip. A lot of people on this forum have negative things to say about rail passes and RailEurope, but I have used both and don't regret it.

I am so conflicted now. That doesn't make any sense now, because why would we spend about $200 each person for passes that "could" work?!

Any recommendations on how to go around this problem, while still being money smart?

Thank you!

That is the unfortunate catch-22 of using Eurail Passes in France for high speed travel.

It wasn't always that way, but it is now.

If you want flexibility you get a pass instead of saving money buying tickets at very cheap prices when they are released and treating them like non refundable non changeable airline tickets. Then you can jump on any train with your pass and off you go.

Except the passholder reservations (included with a normal ticket) are so expensive and so fraught with possible problems like the quota running out that you have all that stress and you still get locked into a particular seat on a particular train on a particular day. And that's just what you are hoping to avoid. Plus you can often get early purchase tickets, especially iDTGV and Ouigo as well as Prems, which are not much different in price from just the passholder reservation fee, to which of course you have to add the cost of a day of the pass.

That's why you see people here asking you to be sure the arithmetic works, both in France and Italy where similar arrangements are in place (but regular Italian walk up fares are pretty cheap).

It isn't easy is it?

No, definitely not easy. RS makes it sound so easy, but there are catches. Grrr...

So I guess what you're saying is: Buy point to point tickets, but I should buy them ahead of time to get the best price. BUT add it all up to see if they're more expensive than a pass would be.

"So I guess what you're saying is: Buy point to point tickets, but I should buy them ahead of time to get the best price. BUT add it all up to see if they're more expensive than a pass would be."

Exactly - with the further wrinkle that even if a pass is cheaper, you will need to make reservations for faster trains at the time you buy the pass, eliminating flexibility (formerly, one of the biggest advantages of a pass in the first place).

In some countries, a pass can save time, save money, decrease hassle, add flexibility, or all of these. France, unfortunately, is not one of these countries at this time.

To get the real prices for seats, go to the SCNF (French Rail) website: http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers. Click Tickets and Train Status, then Reservations. If asked, refuse to be redirected to Rail Europe, and choose France as your ticket collection country.

The SNCF site can be erratic in actually accepting US credit cards. If you have trouble, the Captain Train site is easier to book with, and has the same prices as the SNCF site: https://www.captaintrain.com/

Note that if you buy tickets right when they're released, you can often get first class for only a few more euros than second class.

To learn more about French trains, here's a great primer, from rail guru The Man In Seat 61: http://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm#.VqVAgFIYN9s

Go to www.seat61.com and all of your anxieties will be assuaged. What to do, when to do it, and what NOT to do are all explained in depth.

The only country where a railpass actually makes sense is expensive Switzerland....and by railpass I'm talking about some sort of Swiss Pass - definitely NOT a silly Eurail Pass. Advance point to point tickets will be your best best in most cases.

WOW! Thank you so much! Everyone's advice and tips have greatly alleviated this travel stress!

Thank you 100x's over!

@Nigel writes: That is the unfortunate catch-22 of using Eurail Passes in France for high speed travel. It wasn't always that way, but it is now.

What amazes me is the power of marketing and/or memory! A program that was a wonderful deal literally 50 years ago is still the first place people turn. How many posts here start "I'm going to Europe this summer. What rail pass do I need?"

Bill G.,

I definitely agree! The days of "Europe on $5 a day" are long gone, and it's puzzling to see so many questions about "what Rail pass do I need" when in fact using a Pass is likely not the best option in many cases. The increased restrictions of Passes, higher pricing and the advent of the internet and cheap advance tickets are slowly forcing passes into a very narrow market space. I have to wonder if the rail pass marketers may eventually be responsible for their own demise?

Your original question involved misreading our note - it meant that reservations are not available less than 3 days beforehand. We have warned time and again about the limitations on the number of places for pass holders on TGV trains over the past 10 years or so. I heard this fall that there is no longer any artificial limitation (which would be a revolutionary development!) but I have not found further confirmation. The TGV trains can fill up and booking well ahead is encouraged, whether you are buying advance-discount tickets or pass holder seat reservations. The only trains you could hop on with full flexibility are the regional trains (such as between Paris and Normandy).

Also (Carol), a flexipass is the format that most rail passes take, for instance valid for 3 or 4 days of travel within a month (rather than a solid month). The single-country France Rail Pass now offers both flexi and consecutive formats, so be careful when ordering one online. You can make seat reservations in the same booking, to be sure that you get the trains you want on key routes.

The one memory every starving student has of their European adventure is - their railpass. Everyone knows about them. What modern day tourists don't know until they start digging into them is just how they have multiplied over the years and gotten so darned complicated. As noted, ask that man in seat 61 he's the expert.

And then the advent of high speed trains complicated them even further. It is odd to think that you have a pass that you can use anytime, on any train, and then discover that NO, for the "good" trains you need to also buy a seat reservation. FWIW, I got my pass and seat reservation from Rail Europe at the same time so I knew I was good to go. No I didn't get my first choice of train, so I just made it work.

If it's any solace, the railpass in Japan works the same way for the bullet trains.

Thank you Laura for the clarification.