Buy TGV tickets now, or wait to see if prices fall
Feb 12th, 2005, 07:39 PM
#1
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Buy TGV tickets now, or wait to see if prices fall
I'm looking at going from Paris to Toulon on the TGV. Right now, from Paris, first class, I can get tickets around $100 USD rt. I'm wondering if I should purchase now, or wait to see if prices fall or special fares show up. We're traveling the first week of June.
Feb 13th, 2005, 01:29 AM
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You are travelling in the first week of June. For a try I put 02June PAR/TOUL & 04June TOUL/PAR on SNCF site and got EUR39 per each trip in 1st cls. 39x2=78. Is this the 100USD you mean? Then grab it as long as you are sure about your travel dates (these are non refundable tickets). There won't be any better deal. This iDTGV tariff which should be the lowest price you can get. I did not know iDTGV has 1st cls. Prem's is only for 2nd cls.
Feb 13th, 2005, 03:04 PM
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Well, I went to purchase the tickets, and the only glitch is that on the confirmation page, the date is correct; however, the actual day is off. We're traveling on a Saturday, and the date on the confirmation page is correct (June 4 and June 11); however, the actual day on the page shows Friday, not Saturday. Since these are nonrefundable, what should I do. Would I be safe booking even though the day, not the date is wrong?
Feb 13th, 2005, 03:47 PM
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Yes, note the different convention that is used for days and dates on European sites. While U.S.-based people are accustomed to seeing the date for June 4, 2005 expressed with the month shown first, (06/04/2005), a European site might likely show it as 04/06/2005. It's easy to pick up on if your date falls on the 13th or later or you are accustomed to it, but it can catch you if you have something that might "work" either way. It looks like a ticket for April was nearly purchased there, so good spotting. (I often forget it myself, but by testing the selections, you'll know you're on the month by the fact that it only has choices up to 12.)
Feb 13th, 2005, 04:09 PM
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I have always wondered how that happened. I mean, how did the people in the U.S. come to abbreviate dates differently than was done where they came from? Did everyone on this side of the pond wake up one morning and start writing m/d/y? Or did they start doing it when they passed the 50th meridian on the way over? Or what?
Feb 13th, 2005, 04:51 PM
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I was booking for 04/06/05 while I was on the site; however, I was on the English portion of the site. Thanks for the heads up on going to the French portion of sncf and booking there. THe right day should come up (I hope). I'll try it, and hopefully the fare will still be low. Thanks again!
Feb 13th, 2005, 05:27 PM
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It does that to me on my Mac. It made me concerned as well. Just make sure the calendar date is correct. Dont worry about the glitch with the day of the week. As long as the calendar date is fine the tickets will be fine. I have bought them without issue.
Feb 13th, 2005, 06:13 PM
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I tried the prompt in French, and it lists Samedi all the way until I get to the confirmation page, then it reverts back to Friday. I emailed sncf about the problem. If I don't hear from them, I'll book w/ the correct dates, but w/ the wrong day. Thanks Morgan B and all those who responded!
Feb 13th, 2005, 07:37 PM
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We are not going to Provence until May, however the Prem TGV tickets started showing a warning sign indicating that only limited seats were available on one part of the trip. So I purchased them last week and printed them. I also encountered the problem of day of the week and date not matching. My tickets say lundi le 17 mai---which is really a Tuesday. I've noticed this on other schedules and decided to just go with it. I believe I should be going by the date and not the day of the week. I hope there isn't a problem. Has anyone else encountered one?
Feb 14th, 2005, 05:40 PM
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Well I bought tickets, EUR 39.00 one way. When I printed the tickets, the date was correct, 04/06 and 11/06. There is no place for the day on the tickets I printed. I think I'm ok, and I'm happy w/ EUR 78.00 RT first class for Paris to Toulon.
