How far in advance should I book train tickets from Rotterdam to Paris? I looked on Loco 2 for tickets, and it says tickets can usually be purchased about two months ahead of travel. Is this true? I thought I read somewhere on the helpline to purchase tickets 6 months in advance for the best fares.
Also, in reading the other current thread about recommended 3rd party sites for travel within France it appears loco2 and trainline are two often suggested sites. Would those recommendations remain the same for international tickets (Rotterdam to Paris)?
I see that tickets are also sold through the Rick Steves Website, is there a reason no one is including it in their recommendations?
Thanks
Posted by
Green Bay
20254 posts
Looking at the Thalys, right now you can buy tickets up until April 9, so that makes it 4 months. Tickets that far out are 35 EUR nonrefundable.
Looking at Feb 5 there are still some 35 EUR tickets available for very early, or afternoon and evening departures. Morning departures are going for 50 EUR, to give you some idea of how far in advance you need to book to get the best prices.
Don't buy at Rick Steves, (sorry Rick), as he just has a pass-through link to Rail Europe and you DO NOT want to buy from them as they charge commissions. Direct through the above link, or www.trainline.eu are better.
Posted by
OP
198 posts
Great advice, Sam. Thanks so much for checking into it and letting me know!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
The best place to buy rail tickets in Europe is direct from the entity that operates the train, unless there is a specific reason not to (such as, your credit card doesn't work on the site).
To find out where to buy tickets on a route, here's a great list, from rail guru The Man In Seat 61: https://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets.htm
As you have been told, the train on your route is operated by Thalys (a multi-national consortium that runs trains between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Cologne). Sam has given you the link. Trains on that route start out affordable if you buy in advance and can use non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets, and go up (WAY up) once the cheaper tickets sell out, or if you need more flexibility. One difference with airline tickets is that prices don't go down; there are a certain number of tickets at each price level for each train, and once that batch sells out, only the higher prices are left.
As for how far in advance tickets go on sale, that varies. For Eurostar (trains from London to Paris and London to Brussels), it's six months. For most other routes, it's three to four months. How long it will take for the cheapest tickets to sell out also varies; for popular travel times or days, they can disappear quickly, while others will be available much closer to travel.