We are traveling from Bruges to Paris on 12/29 and I got on the Voyages-SNCF website to buy tickets from Lille - Paris Nord. I thought we could buy point to point tickets for the Bruges - Lille leg of the trip. It asked for the number of travelers, but not for each persons name. Is this right? I am nervous about finalizing the sale and then finding out we can't use the tickets because they don't have our names. Is this the least expensive way to do the trip from Bruges - Paris? My last trip I had a car and the only train I took was the Eurostar from Paris - London. I am confused by all the train info, but I did find that on Rail Europe it was more expensive, plus they wanted an $18 fee for the booking. Help!!!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32351 posts
Andrea,
My preference would be to buy the tickets for the trip to Paris when you arrive in Bruges. Except for Rail Passes, I never pre-buy Rail tickets.
Happy travels!
Posted by
Chicago, IL
103 posts
I did this a few months ago - names aren't important on that train (or most trains), just that you have a ticket.
If there are two of you, one ticket will have your name on it and one will be for Deux. (e.g. Anderson/Andrea and Anderson/Deux, or whatever your last name is.)
My girlfriend didn't appreciate being named Deux, but eventually she got over it...
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
519 posts
Hi Andrea! We did this exact thing this summer. My wife and I bought off the SNCF site PREM tickets from Lille to Paris and bought separate tickets from Bruges to Lille. That was the cheapest way I found to do it. Trying to remember, I think it just had my name on the PREM tickets, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that.
For Bruges to Lille, there was no advantage to buying earlier, so we just bought when we arrived in Bruges. We did space an hour layover in Lille just in case of something going wrong (it was only our 2nd train trip in Europe, so it gave us a bit of a buffer since the PREM ticket was non-refundable).
My suggestion is to book directly on the SNCF site and avoid any additional fees. Plus, you will get more times available then what is shown on Rail Europe.
Enjoy your trip!
Jed
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
There are more routes and price ranges for Bruges-Paris than you may realize.
There is one direct Bruges-Paris Thalys train that departs Bruges at 06:26. If you book far enough in advance at www.thalys.com, you can get a Smoove fare as low as €25. Or you can take an IC train from Bruges to Brussels for €12.30 and book a Smoove fare on a Thalys train from Brussels to Paris.
Or you can take IC trains from Bruges to Lille for €14.80. If you book far enough in advance at voyages-sncf.com, you can get a Prem's fare as low as €18.00 for a TGV from Lille to Paris. Some Eurostar trains stop at Lille so you can also take the Eurostar from Lille to Paris.
Standard fares for Thalys trains are higher than those for TGVs.
New European timetables will go into effect on 14 December. As of today, updated timetables appear on thalys.com but not yet on voyages-sncf.com. Until all updates are loaded, enter a dummy date prior to 14 December to see your full range of choices.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10601 posts
Thanks to all for your advice. I bought our tickets from Lille - Paris tonight and when I got far enough into the reservation it asked for all passengers names after all!