This is a thank you to everyone on this site who helped me become literate in French rail travel. It's also a tale for those who think they should use Rail Europe because it's more familiar/comfortable. We recently spent a month in Spain and (mostly) France and did all of our intercity traveling by train. I decided to use Rail Europe, knowing it would be a bit more expensive, because the site was comfortable to me. Once I discovered just how much difference the ticket prices were between the two sites, I decided that I didn't need to be that comfortable! With the help of several regulars on this site, I found the TGV-Europe site was actually quite easy to use. By the end, I had done so many mock ticket purchases, I think I could have used the site in French! We rode trains from Paris to San Sebastian, Spain, and then to Brive, Albi, Carcassonne and Collioure before returning to Paris - 16 trains in all. I made certain to buy our tickets as soon as they came available online for the best prices and the most options. Even though I was never able to get any prems fares, we each paid $361.56 on the TGV site, rather than the $739 Rail Europe tickets would have cost. (I tracked both sites as I purchased the tickets.) The TGV tickets could be exchanged or refunded up until the day of travel free of charge. The Rail Europe tickets for that price were no refund/no exchange. Our last leg, from Narbonne to Paris was in a first class car; on Rail Europe everything was second class. The TGV site also has far more departures, which made for a much smoother trip. Collecting the tickets in Gare Montparnasse was a breeze even though I don't speak French and the agent didn't speak English. I handed her the reservation numbers and the credit card I had used online and she printed out the tickets and that was it. (continued below)
Posted by
Redding, CA, USA
1568 posts
WOW! It does pay to do your research doesn't it. Without the help (at the time) from the Graffiti Wall we could not have done 8 weeks 8 countries a inexpensive as we did.
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip.
Posted by
Carlsbad, CA, USA
1 posts
Nancy!
I am a former Oregonian and a native Washingtonian who is traveling to France 17 October...less than 2 weeks away. I am very excited, but wanted to make sure that I understood your comment correctly. You purchased your tickets and made reservations on the TGV site as opposed to the rail pass site BEFORE you left and then just had the rail agent validate the ticket? I'm under the gun trying to make a decision on which tickets to purchase....the 'pass' seems to be good, but if using TGV is cheaper, that would be great. I only see the advantage of buying a pass as having the flexibility during travel and then making the reservations as I know my itinerary...
What do you think?
Merci bien!
Michelle
Posted by
OP
Seattle, Washington
681 posts
Michelle, I purchased all of my tickets online through the TGV site. With each purchase, I got a reservation number and that really was all I needed to retrieve the tickets. Being rather obsessive about these things, I printed out both the reservation page and the receipt for each purchase. When we got to Paris, I took the list of reservation codes to the nearest train station (you could also go to a SNCF Boutique, which you can find online) and handed them in at a ticket counter. This is a counter where people actually buy tickets. You can't use a ticket kiosk with a US credit card. The agent then printed out each of our tickets. We still had to validate them before boarding each train. It may be that I saved money because I bought the tickets as soon as they came available, but it certainly would be worth comparing the prices. Charges for shipping and mandatory reservations adds quite a bit to Rail Europe's cost. Our itinerary was set, certain travel times were important to me, some routes were very limited and we needed reservations anyway (with pass or individual tickets) for some of our trips, so purchasing ahead made sense for us. For some reason, all of our tickets were refundable or exchangeable up to the day of travel (maybe because we're seniors?), so it was a no lose situation for us. One important thing to remember is that you must show the credit card used for purchase when you retrieve the tickets. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Michelle,
If you give us your itinerary, those of us who are familiar with the tgv-europe site will help you find the best point-to-point fares for your routes.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
French Rail mails ticket all over the world, even to remote Pacific Islands, but they will not mail them to North America. If you tell them you are from N.A., they redirect your inquiry to RailEurope. So, you have to tell them you are from somewhere else (like UK) and that you want to pick up (collect) the tickets (not just reservations) when you get to France.
Posted by
Lincoln, Nebraska
20 posts
All tickets we purchased for our last trip on the TGV site had the option to print them. We printed all tickets before we left and had no problems using them. On all routes we gave them to the conductor as they came around. Not one had any problems taking them.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15591 posts
I got the bargain Smoove fare for my trip from Paris to Amsterdam and printed the ticket immediately. It was a no refund/no exchange ticket, I don't know if that was because of the bargain fare or because I printed the ticket. Do check before committing.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, Washington
681 posts
On some tickets, you have the option of printing them at home; on others you don't. I would have printed mine if possible, but none of them gave that option. But, really, it was quite simple to pick up the tickets at the station.