Artesia Night Train

Old Apr 18th, 2008, 09:37 AM
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Artesia Night Train

I need HELP! My friend and I need to book a ticket for the Artesia Night Train from Paris to Rome on April 28th, 2008. We have a eurail pass so we should be able to get the discounted price (we are youths as well). I tried to buy the ticket from eurorailways.com but they said "We can only make reservations, as passholder fare, for travelers who have purchased rail pass or tickets through our system."

I would greatly appreciate any and all help.
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 09:50 AM
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Yes such reservations pay nearly no commission and entail i understand a lot of work

thus you should go thru the agency you bought the pass from and make the reservation thru them.

You can also do it online at www.raileurope.com and click "already have a railpass"

Just curious why you don't have the company you bought the pass from make it?

Some like Ricksteves.com won't make reservations but only sell the pass and then tell you to go to raileurope.com to make it - then you have a hefty extra mailing fee to pay

For others, when buying a pass make any reservations you need at the same time and if the agency won't do it find another who will.

These trains can be very hard to book even thru raileurope.

An alternative would be to book a Paris-Milan night train and connect from Milan to Rome in the morning
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 10:29 AM
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It is super easy to call sncf. I did this just last month. You have the English option almost immediately upon connection. Use 10-10-987 or any 10-10 number then dial 011 33 89 2353539. It cost me $1.19 to call. I made reservations from Paris to Venice on Artesia.
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 10:31 AM
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this is important info to me

just to make sure - you made a reservation for Artesia trains with a railpass? A passholder rate - what did you pay?

thanks
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 10:38 AM
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Yes, I told her that we will have a railpass 1st class. The cost was 45 per person in a 4 person cabin. Total was 180€ for all four of us. The amount charged to my credit card was $283.97. That was on March 29. We pick up the tickets at any train station in Paris.
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 11:20 AM
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Interesting

But it seems Raileurope.com might have been cheaper than that?

You paid $70 a p.p. and i believe RE charges significantly less - not sure but used to be about $55 p.p. in 4-person compartment plus a $15 booking fee and $18 mailing fee. I always advise calling Budget Europe (www.budgeteuropetravel.com) as they work thru RE but won't charge the $18 mailing fee except for rush orders, i think - and whoever you talk to there knows a lot IME - i believe RE charges an extra 10% or so for phone orders but not sure.
Bus don't assume sncf.com will always be cheaper on things like this is the point and also you'd have the paper tickets in hand before you left - some folks don't feel comfy picking them up though i've never heard a problem with that
Again i'll have to look up RE pricing on this - i'm going on prices for RE from last year - $60 p.p. with pass in 4 person compartment
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 11:34 AM
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PalenQ

I tried that on RE, but I found $308 for four in a 4 person compartment. The total came to $348. Did I do it wrong?
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 11:43 AM
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No i'm sure not - Raileurope has apparently raised its prices as these were $55-60 not very long ago

I can't get RE.com site to work on my computer or i would have checked.

thanks - i thought you would have checked from your past posts but i was curious.
thanks
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Old Apr 18th, 2008, 11:52 AM
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I had checked on EurAide site and the prices quoted for just the couchette alone was 45€ for 1 person. So I knew what to expect from sncf. I was hoping I hadn't screwed up, which wouldn't be my first time.
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Old Apr 19th, 2008, 08:03 AM
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I did this train in reverse with a railpass a few months ago and i paid 35 euros at the station in Italy - so i guess the price went up 10 euros since then.

for the 6-person compartment it would have been 25 euros if i recollect.

4-person IMO is infinitely better than 6-person ones - well worth the more euros.

The toilets however at the end of the trip were incredibly filthy.
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Old Apr 19th, 2008, 08:18 AM
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drookemi,

Since you already have a railpass you don't need a ticket. What you need is a bunk reservation for which you pay a supplement. Same price for a bunk whether you have a full fare ticket or a rail pass. Bunk prices depend on class and how many bunks are in the cabin. Discount? I would make a bunk reservation at any train station in Paris as soon as you get there.

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Old Apr 21st, 2008, 08:58 AM
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RE charges $172 for four adults in a T-6 or six person couchette and like scat says over $300 for a T-4

If you have 4 people then the T-4 makes sense as it is then a private cabin

but if you are solo then you could save about $40 by going the pass holder T-6 rate. And since it's not private for a single or couple in a T-4 than a T-6 because you will be in with strangers in either case a couple could save about $80 or so by suffering thru two more folks in a couchette
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