I plan to visit Paris, Colmar, Beaune and Nice by high speed TGV train. In searching ticket prices I read to stay away from U.S. Rail Europe. I have searched both that site and the French sncf site with a date 90 days from now ( don't leave until Sept. so put in fake dates) and there is a significant diff. $100 from Paris to Colmar difference for 2. I put in Australia as the country to avoid being sent to the U.S. site. My question is I assume I will be able to request either to print my ticket or get an eticket. Has anyone else done this and run into any problems with lying about the country?
Posted by
Green Bay
20980 posts
Use France as the collection country. You can still print at home. We did a nearly identical itinerary last September and printed all the tickets at home. Don't think of it as lying, it's a creative work around for SNCF's lame attempt to direct you to their own USA travel agency. In fact we had a nice chat with the conductor on the way to Colmar about our itinerary.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You can indeed buy your ticket from either the RailEurope or SNCF website. Please note a couple of differences between the two. 1)RailEurope shows their costs in dollars. The French website shows the costs in Euros. 2)RailEurope doesn't show all of the runs possible and, they definitely don't show the French PREM fares which are nicely discounted fares that are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Right now, I see a RailEurope fare for Paris/Colmar at $59 ($118 for two). On www.tgv-europe.com (which now seems to switch to www.voyages-sncf.com), I see various runs and various fares depending on the types of train and the time of day. I also see fares as low as 28Euro (56Euro for two) in mid-June. Again, you won't see these PREM fares on RailEurope. I don't see any situation where there is a $100 difference between the two websites for the Paris/Colmar run. Also note that you can print a TGV ticket at home within minutes after purchase. If the train run is combined with a TER or other regional train, you can't print at home. You will have to pick up at any staffed train station in France. RailEurope says that you can print this particular ticket at home.
Posted by
OP
Scottsdale, az, us
40 posts
I must remember that--I'm not lying, just being creative!! Since you did similar itinerary, have any suggestions or highlights of your trip?
We are staying in an apartment in Paris for one week, then Colmar for 3 days, Beaune for 2 and then Nice for 5.
Posted by
OP
Scottsdale, az, us
40 posts
Thanks, that's good info. I think I was not looking at the difference between the refundable policies on the fares as well as not converting the euro to dollars. I don't travel until Sept. so will try to book the 90 day and go to both websites and see how I do. I am glad you told me that I might not be able to print out ticket if it is combined with a TER train if using the TGV site.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10556 posts
You're not lying Nancy. You are protecting yourself from being "railroaded" into an inferior but more expensive service. You should have the same rights as those buying tickets living in other countries.
Posted by
Tucson
4181 posts
Everything that's been said about finding better times and fares is true and I'm with Bets on this one. I did this for our trip to France last year. I paid for it with my Boeing Credit Union Visa and printed the ticket at home here in Tucson. The TGV obviously didn't care that I live in the US because I continue to get email invitations (to my U of TX alumni email address) from them to take advantage of their just announced discount fares all over France.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4085 posts
The Man in Seat 61 (www.seat61.com) provides two alternative search sites for SNCF travel which appear to be easier. In a posting elsewhere he says:
(1) www.capitainetrain.com (in French, but SO easy to use, same prices as voyages-sncf, no fees, no payment problems, no Machiavellian tactics to divert you to rail Europe) or: (2) www.loco2.com (in English, no fees, same prices as voyages-sncf.com but a percent or two lost in conversion to pounds)