I saw the price in raileurope.com and booked the ticket for $54 under Economy Restricted 2nd Class. After a day they call me on my cell phone and inform me that my tickets cannot be processed and the ticket is only available for $180 and they would not mail my tickets untill I buy this new one with the latest fare.....If the ticket is not available for the previous amount...why does it still show on the website for booking....
Has anyone encountered such a thing before....or this is a fraud...?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32206 posts
CD,
I can't explain why RailEurope is charging you $180 for a $54 ticket. There may be a logical explanation, but it does sound like a "ripoff".
Could you elaborate on which ticket you're buying and the country? My advice would be to simply wait until you get to Europe and buy the ticket then. It's usually much simpler and often much cheaper!
Good luck!
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Charging inflated prices isn't fraud, but advertising a fare that is not available may be. (It's called "bait and switch.")
If you are concerned about this you should take it up with your state's consumer protection agency, possibly part of your attorney general's office.
In the mean time, why buy from Rail Europe when there are so many cheaper options?
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
6 posts
I am flying to geneva and going to italy from there....The ticket I was looking was to go from Geneva to Venice and then from Florence back to geneva....
It still shows me $54 on the website but they are asking me $180 for each ticket now.
What are the other options?
I wanted to book something for geneva-italy and back so that I dont miss my flight from Geneva on the way back home...
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
6 posts
What are other Cheaper Options of Rail travel other than Raileurope?
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
You can book this trip on the TGV website:
http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/home/
For the "Your Country" box use Great Britain or they will send you to the Rail Europe site where, as you found, the prices are higher.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
368 posts
I would suspect it works quite the same way that airline consolidators work. They have a cached price that they knew of X amount of time in the past. A customer comes along and requests the ticket, so it goes back to the airline and asks for the latest price. 99% of the time, the price is the same, however on rare occasions there is a discrepancy and the customer will be informed of the price change and given the option to purchase or not.
Whether this is automatic and on the website for raileurope.com is probably the biggest issue.
Rail Europe Policies
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
6 posts
This is so weird though...the ticket on the website shows something else and even it lets you book and once you book they come back and increase the price 3 times over and say that they cannot issue the ticket.
There is something more than tickets not available for that class...
Posted by
Roseville
53 posts
After all that just remember....keep it simple...pick up the phone and call them! Ask for a supervisor and get your info direct. Be sure to write down who you are speaking with and their extention number in case you need to call back.
Do it the old fashion way....pick up the phone.
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
6 posts
I did call them after all this mess...they told us once we book they see if the tickets the available and if they are not available they dont charge the credit card and they would keep the new fare ticket on hold.
I guess there is not other option for me rather than going to geneva and booking the tickets...
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
As I noted earlier you can book this online from the TGV site.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
CD....Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the French rail website, TGV Europe, because the only option for delivering tickets for journeys outside France is the mail...and as soon as you tell it you're in the U.S., it will kick you over to the RailEurope site again.
One option might be to compare prices at the Swiss national rail website. For mid-October, I see Geneva-Venice for about $135 and Florence-Geneva for about $150. You may get cheaper prices if you're travelling farther out, but they may be non-refundable.
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
You absolutely CAN use the TGV website - I did it a couple of months age. Tell it your country is Great Britain and you will be able to pick up the tickets at the train station in Geneva.
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
6 posts
Thanks Jeff..I did see the TGV site and thanks for the tip I used my country as UK. It did show me tickets which I need but they are not as cheap they are kinda pricey and also in euros...
Will the tickets finish by the time I reach there and then I have to buy tickets at exorbitant prices...I hope not... :(
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Jeff....that was true a few month ago, but it isn't now. SNCF seems to be in the midst of a change, trying to implement an "e-ticket" sort of thing. It doesn't appear to have been rolled out to all destinations as of yet. As of today, the only option available on TGV-Europe.com for CD's routes is to have them mailed....and if he/she sets it to the UK, then a UK address must be provided. It's too bad, since some of the Smart fares are very low. It's something we'll probably have to put up with until they roll out this "e-ticket" thing to the whole system.