I checked the TGV-Europe site today since it is getting close to 90 days before I will be needing a ticket. Now they only show 2 trains available (not at the times I had wanted.) How do trains fill up if you can't buy tickets until 90 days before you need them? I guess I should buy them immediately or there won't be ANY tickets left!
Posted by
Katy, Texas, USA
204 posts
Experienced travelers rarely buy tickets in advance, especially so far in advance. The exceptions are usually sleepers (night trains), Passes and Excursion Trains such as the Bernina Express, the Glacier Express, etc. In traveling in Europe since 1951 I have never bought tickets in advance and never failed to get the ones I wanted. We ususally buy our next leg of a trip at the station when we arrive at a stop. It is cheaper, easier and you run little chance of losing a ticket and having to re-buy.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Don't worry....with TGV trains, they won't even be posted until they're at or inside the three month limit, so they won't appear if you're looking ahead more than three months. What you're seeing are iDTGV tickets, which are available 4 to 6 months in advance. It's a service aimed at young people, but the rates are astronomically low if the times fit your schedule. I don't know where Charles gets the idea that experienced travellers don't book ahead. If I know my schedule, I ALWAYS book ahead these days to save as much as my hard-earned money as possible! The model they've adopted over the last couple of years is now following closely that adopted by the airlines, especially the discount airlines....certainly much more computer and load controlled than in previous decades.