Hello fellow travelers,
We our a group of 6 traveling by Tgv from Dijon to Paris on a Saturday in August. We have to return the travel car first so we are unsure how long this will take. Question, should we go ahead and purchase our train tickets through rail europe before we leave home? Thanks for any feedback.
Posted by
Green Bay
20289 posts
Do not purchase tickets through Rail Europe. Get them from www.capitainetrain.com. Same price as on the TGV site with no credit card hassles.
Edit - For instance, I see a 1st class ticket for 40 euro ($54 US) on Sat August 16 at 11:01. The same ticket is for sale at Rail Europe for $82 US.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Also, get the tickets from Capitaine Train ASAP - the cheapest tickets may already be sold out, but they will only go up in price.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
I just want to emphasize what the two posts above have said.
Do NOT buy from Rail Europe, but from Capitaine Train. Rail Europe is a reseller; they do not list all tickets, and mark up tickets they do sell (sometimes substantially).
Buy as soon as you can; TODAY is not too soon. Once the lower fares sell out, they're gone, and the price only goes up. Full price (like for last minute tickets) is very high. On the other hand, if you buy quickly, you can get first class for little more than the price of second class. Do be aware that the cheapest tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable, so be sure of your plans, and be careful not to make any mistakes with dates and times when buying.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16894 posts
Every agent except SNCF is a reseller. Do buy wherever it's cheapest and as soon as you can commit.
Posted by
Paris
9719 posts
Tickets will not cost you any more at capitaine train than at SNCF, and you'll have an easier time of it with your American charge card, from what we're reading on the Helpline from all sorts of folks lately. It definitely sounds worth a try. And yes, buy as soon as you can, the prices will only go up from here.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
It probably won't take long to return the car, but leave a little extra time.
You'll want to top-off the tank, if you have time, to avoid getting dinged for a refill at premium rates. But it's not a big deal.
Posted by
OP
California, USA
11 posts
Thanks for the replies. I followed the tip to purchase tickets through Capitaine Train. Was lucky to reserve 6 first class tickets for 40 Euros a piece. I checked Rail Europe and for the same trip it was 96 Euros a piece. Could not be happier!
Thanks once again for great feedback. RS travelers are the most helpful of all!