Went to Seat61 which said to use RailEurope.com to check schedules and prices.
Several people on this site said that it's cheaper to buy site-to-site tix, but when I went to look it seemed that a one-way from Paris to Bayeaux is well over $100; another from Paris to Montreaux is well over 100 (plus reservation costs)... so maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?
Where do you guys find your rail info?
Thanks!!
Actually, I use the rail site of the country I am looking up.
France: https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/tgv
Switzerland: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Gerrmany: https://www.bahn.com/en
You can also look at one stop shopping at: https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us
I stay as far away from Raileurope as I can get.
The prices you see include any required reservation fees.
I should add that Switzerland needs a little finagling. First, they only give a price 2 months out so just pick a date that far out. Next the price they first show assumes you have a Half Fare Card, so if it is in a white box, double that. If it is in a black box, it is a Super Saver Ticket which is only good for that train on that date, so forget that. In the end you have to click through on the red box, then select "Point to Point" and no discount. Then you get the walk-up price.
Yes, use the site of the company that actually runs the trains. For Paris to Bayeux, use www.sncf-connect.com and for Paris to Montreux, use www.sbb.ch
Note that long distance trains often use dynamic pricing, so you need to look at a date a few months from now.
The pricing is not like US airlines where the prices will change day to day or even hour to hour. Most European trains will offer a set number of discount tickets per train. When those ticket are sold out they will no new discounts. The price of ticket do not increase day to day. But if the discount tickets are sold than you have to buy a more expensive ticket. The discount tickets will come with restrictions while full fare does not.
We used thetrainline.com to compare shop all the different competing train companies. Only some of the tickets have an extra booking fee which is not significant. Last time I checked, I believe the ticket prices for trenatalia in Italy and the trainline were the same. In Spain, the official ticketing website renfe.com is a few Euros cheaper then the trainline. However, the renfe website can be frustratingly difficult to use. Try the different options and see what works for you. Good luck.
Some railways give the Trainline a commission, other don't. That explains why there is sometimes a booking fee. But I do not have the impression they are overcharging you. Trainline (the European one, not the UK one) was started by a group of French train enthousiasts that were getting fed up with how bad the SNCF website was. It was originally called "Capitaine Train".
The current incarnation of RailEurope started as Loco2, a UK shop that basically did the same thing as Capitaine Train. This explains why Seat61 likes them. They asre usually quite good.
However oddly they appear to be a lot more expensive than SNCF themselves for local trains in France.
My golden rule is: Book train tickets with the national railway of the country where the trip starts, or the one where it ends.
When reservation costs are listed separately on a ticket that means that the reservations are not compulsory. I would reserve long distance trains in Germany, but in Switzerland this is not necessary. Nobody does that here.
Paris - Bayeux you buy at sncf-connect.com. If you buy those a few days in advance you get a nice discount. A full flex ticket bought at the station is however 43,- so that is where that 100USD return RailEurope offered you cam from.
Paris - Montreux buy at www.sbb.ch, or www.trainline.com as the SNCF cannot sell you tickets for local travel in Switzerland.
