My family and another will be traveling by train from Basel, Switzerland to Paris in early July. I'm researching options and am going crazy trying to figure out the cheapest way to handle this. I went to the TGV website and used the Britain country of residence and saw various fares. The non-flexible ones were cheapest, but we are worried about our arrival time to the Basel station since we will be traveling from Engelberg and sightseeing that morning. However, it is about double the price for a flexible ticket. My question is, should we just wait and buy them at the Basel station (there are 11 of us)? Will they be cheaper then? Might we not get on if we don't have reservations? Also, there doesn't appear to be a discount on the TGV site for children, is this correct. Thank you!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
The special fares that you see online are the best you can do. You usually won't see these special PREM fares at the Basel train station. They will have long been gone. If you want these great fares, you better grab them now.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
There is a discount fare for children ages 4-11. To enter the ages of all six passengers, click on "More criteria" in the booking area on the tgv-europe.com home page. If you had booked ASAP (up to three months in advance), you could have gotten Piccolissimo fares for everyone which are cheaper than the fares for children 4-11. As it is, it looks like you can get Piccolo fares for the adults and children's fares for those of the right age. That will be a little less than Piccolo fares for everyone. If you wait until you get to Basel to buy your tickets, you certainly will have to pay the full fare for everyone, based on their ages.