iDTGV Sales Open Today for Travel through September 11, 2014
 

Ticket prices are as low as €19 on many routes.
Booking and more info at -

http://www.idtgv.com/en/book

It's a good option on several routes, and the tickets are available sometimes months before the SNCF makes them available for the TGV trains.

Thanks for this! Now if only I knew when we can go back!

Booked this morning for 6/15 Gare de Lyon to Avignon tgv @ 39 euro pp, 1st class. I thought I had to wait until 90 days out which would be tomorrow so maybe didn't save much. Mary

Just curious if 1st class on idTGV trains are comparable to first class on regular TGVs - or less comfy, large or whatever - I heard the idTGV trains were old TGV train cars that have been refitted to hold more people?

any insights would be appreciated - the price is right in any case.

PalenQ - Our iDTGV 1st class car from Paris to Lyon was very modern, comfortable, clean and quiet. We chose the upper level with the single seats facing across a table. We selected the "Zen" car, and before departure the conductor reminded everyone to respect the ambiance and maintain a quiet atmosphere. It was a very pleasant trip.

Our iDTGV 1st class car from Toulouse to Paris was identical to the TGV car we had traveled in a week before from Paris to Angoulême. Not as well appointed as the Paris-Lyon car, a single-level car, and again we had the single seats facing across a table. I bought the tickets within the first few days they were available for sale, and the option "Zen" was not available. I suspect the passengers who had bought iDTGV tickets were just put in with the TGV 1st class passengers. No way to know, of course, but the thought crossed my mind.

One thing I like about the iDTGV site is the ability to choose your exact seat from a seat map. I also found the iDTGV fares to be a little lower than PREMS for the TGV.

This is helpful.

I'll be needing Bordeaux to Paris tickets for Sept.22, 2014.

Do you know approximately when that date would go on sale? (I've read the iDTGV site without being able to figure this out).

Thanks

TGV tickets generally go on sale 3 months prior to the date of travel. There are some exceptions to this, as explained on the SNCF page at the link below.

iDTGV tickets go on sale on a set date for a range of dates of travel. On March 11, ticket sales opened for travel through September 11. Don't know when the next range will be open.

Since you know the date you plan to travel, you can fill out the SNCF "alerte résa" request and they will send you an email the day prior to tickets going on sale for either TGV or iDTGV trains. Just enter your departure and arrival cities, travel date and email address. I've done this a couple of times and have always gotten the notification.

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/services...te-reservation

Unfortunately, that alert from SNCF site never got to me (not even into spam folder).

But regardless, I have been checking idtgv website every couple of days, and I realized on March 12 that my travel date (August 2nd) is now open for purchase. But, to my astonishment, the price for Paris - Nice for middle of a day train is 100 euros per person!?! Where are the "cheap" tickets? I find it hard to believe that ALL of them went in one day.

Now I'm stumped, I don't know should I wait for cheaper, maybe wait for Prem tickets, or just buy these as it is not going to get cheaper for Saturday in August.

Maria

I, too, signed up for the SNCF alerte resa last year, but continued checking daily. The alert email arrived about 3 days AFTER the tickets became available (I had already purchased the tickets the day I saw them become available - the lower priced tickets were no longer available by the time my email arrived.

For information, after checking SNCF daily, I purchased the PREM priced tickets directly through RailEurope at the same price (also purchased the Thalys tickets Bruges to Paris at their reduced price, but through RailEurope).

I, too, signed up for the SNCF alerte resa last year, but continued checking daily. The alert email arrived about 3 days AFTER the tickets became available (I had already purchased the tickets the day I saw them become available - the lower priced tickets were no longer available by the time my email arrived.

For information, after checking SNCF daily, I purchased the PREM priced tickets directly through RailEurope at the same price (also purchased the Thalys tickets Bruges to Paris at their reduced price, but through RailEurope).

The web site seems to be easy to use.

If we were going to Nice from Paris this year, our travel date would be July 5th. [Our actual date next year will be July 4th]

Taking the 7:45am train works well for check-in at the villa.

Will check the price on April 5th and see if there is a reduction.

It's possible we may have to fly, depending upon price.

lazarev - I just checked idtgv.com/en for August 2 from Nice to Paris. There are four trains available with one-way 2nd class fares offered from €39,90 - 59,90.

blueridge & lazarev - How disappointing the alerts didn't reach you. As I said, I have only used that system three times and it always worked for me. Now I'll be sure to double-check around the time I think sales should open.

MaineGG,

Thanks for checking that out, I see the same prices myself, and those are in line of what was I expecting (or, rather, hoping) to pay. But opposite direction Paris to Nice is stubbornly sitting at 100 euros per person.

Do you have any experience on prem tickets being sold this fast on (seemingly) such a high-demand date? I can comit to checking SNCF website every day 130-90 days in advance of my travel date, as long as I have any chance of scoring something around 50€ per person. Does anyone know if tickets get released around midnight CET time, or early in morning or late at night?

Sorry, lazarev, for misreading your direction of travel. The iDTGV tickets for Paris-Nice are indeed expensive for August 2. My guess is that the first Saturday in August is a very high demand date for travel out of Paris for summer vacation.

There is hope, however, if you're willing to wait for SNCF to offer the regular TGV trains for that date. If you go to the voyages-sncf.com site you will see that for August 2, only the iDTGV trains are offered as of now. At some point there will be regular TGV trains listed with fares, and according to the information in the side box on the "alerte résa" page, I would expect that to happen around April 2 based on the statement
"l'ouverture des ventes été (ouverture à 4 mois)."

Of course, there is no certainty the fares will be any lower for that date. As far as I know, the new schedules and fares appear for sale at or just after midnight Paris time. For us here on the East Coast of the US, that time would usually be 6:00 p.m.; but until France goes on DST March 30, that time would 7:00 p.m. here. Good luck!

Thank you so much, MaineGG - I will be clicking on sncf website every night around 6 to 7 pm for next coule of weeks.

The worst possible weekend to travel from Paris to Nice is that weekend.. August 1st is the beginning of the August migration for Parisians to go south..

Can you play with your dates at all?

Justineparis,

I wish I could, but this just one leg of complicated plan where my kids go to their grandparents in south Europe, I'm catching up to them later, and "abusing" over-Atlantic flight to Paris to visit France. I now understand that that weekend is by far the worst for south france travel. Even the following weekend is not THAT bad.

Schedule opens tomorrow!

Has anyone successfully purchased online using NA credit card? I tried on SNCF last year. Succeeded for one set of tickets. The others did not accept any of our Canadian CCs.

Yes, I called the bank, credit card company etc etc

It's 3 rejections and your card is blocked forever (or until you get a new card with a new expiry date, I suppose) so I think iDTGV is closed to me for the foreseeable future.

Which is a bummer cuz I want to buy tickets NOW
:-(