We're about to purchase this pass but wondering if it's better to make reservations when I order the railpasses or in Paris? I assume the reservation pricing is the same.
We'll be using the pass for the following dates:
Have you priced point-to-point tickets and compared them to the price of a pass? P2P tickets actually may be cheaper, particularly if you can commit to specific dates and times and book well in advance online to get discount fares. For example, the standard 2nd class fare for Paris-Bordeaux is €68.20. The cheapest discount fare is €19.
Unfortunately, I'm old so I don't qualify for 2nd class railpasses. I'm over 26 so I need to purchase 1st class tickets. But thanks anyways.
Kevin...actually, the France-Spain saverpasses are available to all ages in second class. But I would suggest you follow Tim's advice and check tgv-europe.com for Paris-Bordeaux and Bordeaux-Madrid....and renfe.es for Madrid-Barcelona prices. The saver passes are minimum 4 days.....with 3 days of travelling, your pass would cost you more than $100/travel day. Advance bookings on the above websites can cost far less than that. If you do go with a pass, the company you purchase it from can make the reservations for you, altho they'll cost more than just waiting until you get to Paris, if you don't mind running the risk of not getting on a particular train because it's full. For Madrid-Barcelona, of course, you'll have to wait until you get to Madrid, with the same proviso.
Thanks for the suggestion. I just found out the age restriction to 1st class is for Eurail Global or Selectpass.
I tried the tgv-europe.com but it always default to the voyages-sncf.com site (all in French) when I enter Paris to Bordeaux. Is there any way to default to English?
Is there any disadvantage to using 2nd class except for the more cushy seats in 1st class? Will they be standby tickets or they are guaranteed too if you reserve ahead of time?
Kevin...if you use the TGV-Europe website, select "Great Britain" on the second page, where it asks where you plan to retrieve your tickets (lower left.) That'll keep the site in English, and you'll get one or both choices of either picking up your tickets at the station or even printing them at home (for certain discount fares only.) Second class tickets give you the required reservations as well, so don't worry about that. First class gives you more room (3 seats across instead of 4), but, to me, it's not worth the extra. I'm a big guy and I find the 2nd class seats more than adequate.
Thanks Norm.
I tried it and it works but I couldn't get any results from Bordeaux to Madrid on TGV site.
Also the renfe.es can be changed to english initially but results are in Spanish. Any tips?
What is the difference between these sites and raileurope.com? I did some random searches and compared the two:
raileurope 2nd class from Paris to Bordeaux
38 USD
tgv
about $28 USD
Rail Europe is a marketing company owned by SNCF (French national rail) and some other national rail companies. It sells tickets in North America, usually at a higher price than if you were to book on a national rail site or walk up to a ticket window in Europe.
Bordeaux-Poitiers TGV standard 2nd class fare is €36.10 and a Loisir fare is €25.90. The standard 2nd class fare for a bunk in a four-person couchette on the Poitiers-Madrid Chamartin Elipsos night train is €158. The Prem's fare is €70.
The 2nd class fare for a day train from Bordeaux to Irun is €25-€35. The 2nd class fare for a day train from Irun to Madrid Chamartin is €47.50.
The online Tourist class fare for Madrid-Barcelona is €105.30.
You can fly Madrid-Barcelona on Vueling for as low as €40.
