Experiences of buying passes through RailEurope?
 

Hi!

We (two adults and one infant) are heading to Languedoc in the next few weeks and i've been looking for ways to save on our rail travel from Paris to this region. I've found railpasses through RailEurope (combined rail and car packages) and am curious to know, since i've never used this kind of service, if others have purchased passes this way and been satisfied w/ their ability to get tickets for their trains afterwards. My husband is insistent that we take the TGV for the sheer experience and RE has assured me that we only have to pay $15 Cdn each, in addition to the passes, to reserve our TGV seats before our trip.

Our planned rail itinerary is: Paris-Montpellier; Montpellier-Carcassone; Carcassone-Toulouse; Toulouse-Paris.

Also, i've never been to France and don't know what to expect from the rail service. Would you purchase a seat for an infant or are there typically empty seats available that we could snag once on board? Since we've bought our daughter a seat for the flight over, i pretty much know the answer to that question, but call it pre-trip jitters.

Claude:

RailEurope offers services for the purchase of train tickets/car rental combos. But they do so at a surcharge of approximately $11 USD per ticket. I have found that either www.TGV.com or www.sncf.com is just as useful and there is no fee for buying online. Furthermore, you can find some real bargains by going to TGV.com. You can buy PREM tickets which are highly discounted seats on mainline TGV trains. i.e I have traveled from Paris to Bordeaux for $25 Euros each way. The downside of a PREM ticket is that it is NOT refundable and NOT valid on any train except that one you book for via the schedule.

If you feel confident that you will make your 1st train without any delays or unforseen difficulties, then book via the TGV.com site. With careful planning you can book the Paris-Montepellier and Toulouse-Paris trains buying a PREM ticket via the TGV site then simply buy train tickets as needed for your other destinations.

Rail service in France is fast, timely and generally hassle free; save for the ever present threat of a strike.

Drop me a line if you need more info..

Regards.
Luis

Rail Europe also has a toll free number where you can call and ask them all your rail questions. I did several times. It's 1-877-257-2887 in the US.

I can't see any good reason to purchase a railpass for the itinerary you have outlined, especially with the prevalence of PREM and other deeply discounted tickets these days. Even non-discounted point-to-point tickets for that route would likely be less expensive than a rail pass.

Go to www.sncf.com and price the individual tickets and compare - I'm almost positive it will be cheaper than a pass.

Look into some of the family discounts, too. It's been years since I traveled on the TGV or trains with an infant, but I do recall there was either no charge or a very small fee for a baby.

You'd have to compare fares, but I think it is possible you could save money with a railpass as you have a couple expensive runs on your itinerary (the long ones). The advantage of a railpass is you don't have to make a lot of specific nonrefundable advance-purchases.

I would check out the family thing, though, I don't know about that.

As for the railpasses, I did have one (a France railpass, not general Eurailpass) about ten years ago and had no problem whatsoever getting seat reservations for the TGV when I wanted. YOu don't get tickets for trains with a railpass, that's what the pass is for. YOu can just hop on a train if you want, whenever you want, just making seat reservations when required (only TGVs that I know of).

I doubt if you have to worry about any seats for any of those runs except the TGVs. I know infants are free but I don't know if you will likely find free space on those runs or not. Generally, I think so, but you haven't said the dates you plan to do that which affects things a lot (as well as possibly time of day). People going away for the weekend or returning home at the end of the weekend can really fill up some of those TGVs. As one example, I know a mid-morning TGV I took from Avignon to Paris last July was completely full, every seat, as people were going on vacation and that was a popular time.

I'm buying a railpass for this summer in France because I will save money against regular fares through only two of the TGV runs I plan to make (and the pass will give me two more "free" rail days) and I want the date and train flexibility as I'm not sure of my exact itinerary or timing.

If you know your exact travel dates and desired times, you could save more money by buying special fares or discounts, though. Paris-Montpellier and Toulouse-Paris are the only expensive ones you need to check.