I have been researching trains from Paris to Munich on December 2 2009. How come when I check the price at bahn.de it is about $150 but at raileurope.com it's almost $300 (for 2 people)!? I realize eurorail has some additional fees, but twice the price! I wasn't sure if I could wait until I get to Paris on 11/29 to buy because I thought you need reservations for high speed rail. Thanks!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
They don't sell point-point tickets on Eurail.com. You must be looking at RailEurope. There is a difference! Eurail is a consortium of the national rail companies of Europe organized to package and market railpasses. RailEurope is an American chartered company (lit. a travel agency) owned mostly by French Rail. They resell point-point tickets at a price considerable higher than the European counter price of the tickets.
You could buy those tickets at European prices from a number of places, including the French or German Rail websites.
Of the two, I think German Rail (the Bahn) is far more friendly. You can order the tickets online at the European counter price, maybe even lower if you get one of the many discount prices, pay with your credit card, and print the tickets on your home printer.
On the other hand, with French Rail, you have to pretend you live in the U.K., or sncf will automatically route you to RailEurope and their higher prices. Then you have to arrange to pick up your tickets at a station in France.
Posted by
OP
indianapolis, in, us
2 posts
My fault. I just typed it wrong above. I meant that I had checked "raileurope.com", not "eurorail.com"
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Definitely book your tickets at www.bahn.de. If you book NOW, for certain departure times on 2 December you can still get a Europa-Spezial Frankreich fare of €39/person.
Posted by
St. Cloud, MN, USA
59 posts
We just did this trip a few weeks ago. We booked on DBahn before we left the states and printed out tickets. We saved a ton of money by booking in advance.