JillDavis

I have been waiting for my train tickets to become available for purchase - it should be another few weeks. I have noticed the cost from Paris to Cannes is running about 54 Euros for 2nd class and 64 Euros for 1st class on a Saturday departing at the 7:46 am time. There seems to be no Prems tickets for the iDTGV train. When it comes time for me to purchase, should I grab the 54 Euros price? Or will it go down?

Also, do you think it is worth 20 more Euros for my husband and I to go 1st class?

kerouac

The cheapest possible price is 19 euros, but your price isn't bad. Any fare on id-TGV is a Prem's. It is a 100% Prem's train.

Full fare is 106.60€ but even tomorrow morning there are tickets available at voyages-sncf.com for 58.90€.

JillDavis

Oh wow! Good information Kerouac! Let me ask you this - how do you know the cheapest fare is 19 Euros for this route on a Saturday at this time? Don't you think I should wait until it drops to that price? Should I just check TGV-Europe.com every day?

altamiro

Why should it drop? If the cheapest tickets are sold they are sold.

kerouac

The lowest possible fare for Id-TGV tickets is 19€, even if it is from one corner of the country to another (i.e. Lille-Perpignan). Ticket fares change every day according to the computer program, just like with airlines. If an agency cancels an option on a block of 50 seats, that obviously affects the fares. Travel agencies do such things every day (I work for an airline, so this is one thing that I know intimately.). Recently, the SNCF has even started "last minute Prem's" to fill up trains in the last 3 days if they are still showing a lot of empty seats.

But it's a lottery, obviously.

JillDavis

Kerouac - based on your extension train travel - what price do you think I should jump on and which price do you think is too high based on the Paris to Cannes route?

kerouac

Anything under 50€ would be a good price for that distance, so a few euros more is not bad. In any case, since Cannes is not on TGV tracks (which only go as far as Marseille for the moment), it is not a 'popular' TGV destination, since a lot of people prefer to fly to Nice instead. So you do not need to fret about booking exactly 90 days in advance. General voyagers are not going to be obsessed with that since a lot of them are thinking about the Easyjet fares instead, or even the Air France internet sales at midnight on Tuesday (for flights one week in the future only).

JillDavis

I see an iDTGV track that goes from Paris to Cannes direct, leaving at 7:46 and arriving at 12:56.

kerouac

TGV trains often travel on non high speed lines. The fact that a TGV goes somewhere doesn't automatically mean that it goes at high speed for the entire distance.

JillDavis

Kerouac - very interesting. Thanks for the information. I will keep checking the TGV-Europe website for fares under 50 Euros for Paris to Cannes. Thanks!

ironfever

yes , excellent price, buy them

JillDavis

Is 10 more Euros a person worth it for 1st class on this trip?

cls2paris

About 1st class being worth it - my personal rule is that if the ride is more than 3 hours, I get 1st class. You are in a smaller compartment so it isn't usually as noisy as a typical 2nd class car. Also I think the seats are more comfortable. For 10E each, I'd jump on it.

kerouac

Yes, for a long trip, pay 10€ more for 1st class.