lol

I am confused, which one is most reliable, hassle free, and has the best rates?

thanks a lot

StCirq

The best rates are available through SNCF. It is not the most hassle-free, though.

PalenQ

Depends - it you travel enough then a France Railpass, sold only by RailEurope or their agents may be the best

for many PREM fares on the very fickle www.voyages-sncf.com are the best but hard to make site work often as scores of Fodorites have complained that after hours they were still perplexed. For lots on French trains and railpasses i always refer to two good sites: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - two sites that have tons of objective information and not just the pass prices and an add to cart button. eurail.com and raileurope.com should have identical pass prices - passes IME are always exactly the same - a cartel no matter where you buy them. You can add on mailing fees like ricksteves.com i think does but otherwise prices for pass are universal IME.

Dukey

Be aware that RailEurope is SNCF's North American marketing arm.

Often they will sell you tickets with a considerable mark-up over getting them directly thru the SNCF site (and this is the reason the US is one place you usually cannot get tickets mailed to you directly by the SNCF site).

All agencies such as BETS (another US firm) use the RE computer connection for tickets and reservations but they may not charge you as much as RE does.

If POSSIBLE, I would TRY to get the tickets directly thru the SNCF site, especially if you have the option of printing the ticket yourself or picking it up at a machine or ticket window once you arrive.

They're all pretty reliable but prices and the "hassle" can vary considerably.

lol

Hi all,
Thanks so much for the info. I did book from the sncf site for a day trip from paris to dijon. It was pretty straight forward, i paid online and printed the ticket but the price did change from one day to the next. Another question please: is it allowed to bring bulky luggage on board of these trains. i ask because on this trip to Dijon, I hardly saw anyone carrying large bags.

thanks

Underhill

The people you see with little luggage are probably making trips of short duration and are unlikely to be tourists (unless very self-disciplined). But it's perfectly all right to take all the luggage you want, especially if you get on at the first stop of the train so there is room in the racks at the end of each car.

PalenQ

If you really have a ton of luggage then consider first class where there is more luggage space since there are usually 25% less seats and thus passengers in the same size train car as 2nd class. And on voyages-sncf.com there are some great PREM fares even in first class. But the site can be a real slug for many it seems. RailEurope has begun introducing some discounted French fares itself and hopefully will expand that in the future.

Barbara_in_CT

Rick Steves charges $15 for shipping in the US and $25 in Canada. He also includes "important instructions for using your pass, a rail map and timetable, and Rick Steves' Travel Skills DVD and Europe Planning Map."

BETS is also highly recommended although I have never used them.

Price your intended itinerary from point to point to see if a railpass is advantageous.

xyz123

Every so often, Rail Europe runs a special and it is possible ticket prices will be lower on Rail Europe...possible but not likely but it means to do all you can do to get the lowest fare available, you do have to check Rail Europe.

Bear in mind, they have a $15 delivery charge for the tickets.

The other problem with Rail Europe is their display is not a real time display...you might think you're getting a real good fare, book it, and the next day get an e mail the fare and the train is not available and offer you a much much higher fare...happened to me several times and I accused them of bait and switch...don't really know if it is but this jerk tried to tell me they were offering me a good fare (twice as much as I was able to get on the web site of the European railroad).

PalenQ

Yes one frustration with RailEurope is that there is a gap in processing your request and it is not unusual to get a message in return that the fare will be higher

and RE IME lists some trains as SOLD OUT when in fact they are not loaded. This often happens in first class whereas 2nd class is available - the opposite of the real world IME. That's why i always suggest having someone do a manual search for the REAL fare and that's one reason i often recommend BETS because they are the rare agent who you can talk to and have that done. Raileurope.com is not doing a bait and switch i think but rather it's the way their computer is on a time delay - what was available no longer is, etc. But i don't know but indeed i always say to check both RE (or their agents like BETS) and online sources in Europe.