luvparee

I want to go from the TGV station at CDG to Avignon. I was on the RailEurope site this morning and the only place you can put in as "From" is "Paris" and all that comes up are trains from Gare Lyon. I tried Roissy, CDG, etc., etc., and there is no choice for the station at the airport.

Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks!

StCirq

Why are you using RailEurope? Use www.sncf.com and enter "Roissy" in the departure box.

bob_brown

As said, use Roissy as your origin. That is the name on the French rail site for CDG airport TGV station.

if you don't read French well, there is a version with English captions. Look for the little Union Jack flag in the lower left corner. It is at the bottom and it is quite small.

ira

ttt

luvparee

I would PREFER SNCF. However, their fares appear very confusing on-line. We are a group of 4 60-year olds and 3 younger. When I input all my "practice" information, check the box for "60," and choose the train departure time, what comes up is a senior fare and a regular fare (2 passengers) for the same price. Somehow, I don't believe that's correct?!? The senior fare shows as non-refundable, etc., and then there's the cheaper fare as refundable, etc.
Then, there's the regular fare (no PREM and no 60) for a higher price.

Is reserving tickets by telephone more expensive? I work on the computer all day long and I find this website VERY confusing for what I'm looking for.

Any suggestions?

Luv

Christina

It's hard for me to say what you are looking it that appears like that as I haven't seen anything that way. I don't find SNCF that difficult to manage online if you make sure to read the instructions and don't assume you always get discounts for various things, as there may not be reduced rate tickets available for certain trains and/or times. For one thing, they don't allow you to book more than six at one time, so I'm not sure how you got them to do that. I wonder if that's a problem.

I just checked a random date for 3 adults and 3 seniors from Roissy to Avignon, and the results made sense -- when a reduced senior fare was available (senior decouverte), the combination of that with 3 normal tickets was always cheaper than just 6 regular tickets. Some times of day will vary in price from others, also, as some are more popular and thus more expensive. When it showed 6 PREMs as an alternative to 3 senior plus 3 regular, those 6 PREMs were cheaper in total.

I don't think you should find a fare marked as "senior decouverte" that was more expensive than a regular adult fare which is refundable, at least not for one person. I think it is possible if you are looking at the total for six people, one group of tickets with senior fares could be more expensive than the regular fares if it were a different time or type of train.

YOu might try separating these into two purchases (which I thought you had to, anyway, for seven) -- one just the group of seniors, and the other the regular fares.

StCirq

It's kind of a pain in the neck to try to use the SNCF site to book for more than 6 people, unless you do two separate bookings and it doesn't really matter if they're all on the same train (it probably would never happen, but it's theoretically possible that by the time you booked for the four seniors there wouldn't be three seats left to book for the others).

So, I'd just pick up the phone and call. That's what I did last summer when booking for a party of 8, and it took about 2 minutes. While on the phone you can ask the operator if he/she recommends you go online to book PREMs if there are any - he/she can check to see how many PREM seats are available, which should give you some idea of how risky it will be to go back online and book them.

The operators are very helpful, I've found. The number is (from the USA direct): 011-33-8-92-35-35-35. There is an English-speaking operator option if you need that.

PalQ

And if your cost is $200 or more for round trip then look at the France Saverpass as i mention in your previous post. 4 days unlimited travel in month. Under 26 age in your group - then the pass costs about $180 - youth pass - individual pass. And good on any TGV no dealing with non-refundable non-changeable tickets that seem hard to book from US on French site. Of course if can get cheap PREMs that will save lots of euros then go for that.

ira

Hi St Cirq,

I have in my notes that the SNCF number is .....35-39, not .....35-35.

Are you sure of your number?

If so, I shall change my notes.

Thank you.

PalQ

Raileurope is also offering a TGV, Teoz and Lunea train promo in January:
valid for travel until apr 30, 2006
must buy by Jan 30, 2006
1st or 2nd class seats
or reclining seats or couchettes with rail fare on night trains
valid on 395 TGV destinations, 46 Corail Teoz and Lunea destinations
Prices start at $25! and promise "45-78% off regular fares
max six people can book at once, like Christina said with SNCF site
min 7 day advance booking
non-exchangeable, non-refundable
So check with Raileurope as well and you may match PREM fares in France and have your tickets before you leave.
As for any RailEurope product i always recommend BETS (800-441-2387; www.budgeteuropetravel.com, a RE agent with reliably great service and expertise (which you don't always get from RE) and lower handling fees.
How available these fares are to obtain in actuality remains to be seen but give it a try to compare.

PalQ

My notes, perhaps outdated, have the SNCF English line as: 08-92-35-35-39; as usual i think you don't dial the first zero if calling from outside France.

PalQ

And my notes have 08 36 35 35 35 as the SNCF info number, but again outdated perhaps.

StCirq

Hi, ira:

I called the 35-35-39 number the other day and got a recording saying "bienvenue au Eurostar," the an announcement that the call would cost 35 (euro) cents per minute (how they'd charge that to me, I have no idea), so I hung up and posted on Fodor's and someone gave me that "new" number - 35-35-35. It seems to be the correct one now.