Trying to Buy Train Ticket

Who operates the first leg of the trip? Deutsche Bahn or SNCF? You usually can't buy tickets for trains that originate outside of Germany from Deutsche Bahn unless they operate that particular train (ex, the ICEs that originate in Brussels and Amsterdam).

The first ticket is a TGV so I guess that means it's run by SNCF? So if you can buy tickets for trains that originate outside of Germany from Bahn, then I'm not sure I understand why they are listed? I'm trying to book the 9:47 train. Any suggestions what to do? Being from Canada, I get routed through Rail Europe and they only offer an evening train.

Hmm... I checked on the DB website and I see that the fares are listed, which usually means that you can buy the tickets directly from DB. The problem might be the portion operated by SNCF. I believe I've read previously on this website about people using North American-registered credit cards being forcibly routed from the SNCF to the Rail Europe or EUrail websites(I forget which one SNCF partially owns). Solution? Perhaps try to purchase the longer route that takes the S-Bahn from Strasbourg to Offenburg, then intercity trains to Karlsruhe and on to Munich. This avoids using SNCF, and hence, avoids the credit card issue. EDIT: Oh, but I see now when I check your travel dates the difference in cost between the two options. OK, so the solution I proposed probably isn't that favorable. There's some other rail gurus who hang around this website who might be able to guide you further.

Kathy,
I would try www.budgeteuropetravel.com and get in touch with Byron. He gave me some very good advice even tho I didn't purchase anything but seat reservations ... Good luck!!

I've been playing further with this and I believe the TGV train is the issue. If I try the SNCF site, I can only show the 9:47 train if I book it only to Stuttgart and it's listing only 1 first class ticket at $113 and not showing any under economy. If I go to go to Kehl or to Offenburg as you mentioned, I'm thinking I could buy a Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket for 62EU for 4 people so it would end up a lot cheaper, but as you said longer time to get there and extra train change. Is this correct?

Tom: The RailEurope bump comes well before the credit card phase of the SNCF procedure. It originates in the designation of country of residence as US. Avoid by choosing Antarctica. Don't worry; tickets won't be sent to the ice cap.

I just did a dummy booking for 20 December on the Bahn site and could have booked four Europa-Spezial Frankreich discount fare tickets at €39/person for the whole route (TGV from Strasbourg to Stuttgart and ICE from Stuttgart to Munich).

I also did a "dummy" booking for that train and had no problem right up to the time where I said I was using a credit card, and they wanted the number. I'm not willing to go any further because I would have to pay for a ticket. Did you have the problem after giving them your card number?

Lee, Same as you I can go right through to the end and put in my credit card and then I get a page showing all the details including my card information and then the last button to confirm and then the message comes up. My daughter has tried with her card as well with the same problem. We booked an earlier train ticket with no problems. I think maybe the problem is Bahn's website is not up-to-date with SNCF's. When I go on their sight I couldn't even pull up this particular train until I tried just with it going to Stuttgart and then it came back with the correct train but saying only 1 ticket available in first class.

One other thing to try, although it's not the best connection, is to book Offenburg to Munich as aa Savings Fare. It's all in Germany, so maybe you would have more luck with the booking. I see it listed for 169€ for four adults for three connection times in late morning. If you can book that, a local ticket for Strasbourg to Offenburg is 8,10 per adult and is always available.

I think I have found a solution. The day before this, we had wanted to rent a car to go out & travel around the Alsace region. But looking the last couple of days at the cost of renting for the day from Strasbourg for an automatic (necessary) was really expensive & had given up on the idea. Now with this situation & the mention of Offenburg, I looked at what the cost would be to rent a car there. Ends up very reasonable & so one or two of us could ride out on the $8.10 ticket to Offenburg, pick up a car & then have it to enjoy for the day out to Alsace. Going the wrong way a bit, but it would work. Keep the car over night & return it in Stuttgart the next day at the train station. Then take the train from there to Munich. The other half of our group was looking for a place to return the car as they will have it for a week beforehand (picked up in Germany) & was going to drive to Munich but now could do the same thing dropping off in Stuttgart & everyone travel to Munich together. Cost of that ticket appears to be $29 - $39 pp depending on the time. We can even visit Stuttgart for a few hours this way.

I'm glad you found a solution that fits. I can't help but wonder, though, exactly why you couldn't buy the ticket. Just so you're aware, the A8 Autobahn between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart is extremely Stau-prone. I've also found that A35 on the French side of the Rhine sees much lighter traffic than the parallel A5 on the German side, so you may want to consider crossing the river at Karlsruhe. If you have some time, you can consider stopping in Karlsruhe to see the Schloss complex, or if you have a lot of time, check out the medieval abbey at Maulbronn.

Tom, FYI, my tickets are now purchased for Stuttgart to Munich but I did end up calling Bahn as there was a glitch with my tickets not showing up after purchase (all resolved now). So I asked why I had the trouble with the original purchasing from Strasbourg to Munich. The operator looked up that particular train and said the TGV train was completely sold out so no reservation could be booked so that's why I couldn't purchase. But I couldn't get an answer why they were still offering that ticket on the site - and looking this morning it is still the case.