I'm just about done planning this trip, and I have to admit I'm running out of steam, so many logistics! So, please help me here. Is Rail Europe and SNCF the same thing? I need to get from Sarlat to Paris on October 7 leaving mid morning, and it looks like they are the same trains (of course), but is it better to book through one vs. the other? And, what's the difference between 1st class and 2nd class? Should I make the reservation now, do the trains fill up? Thanks, signed excited but weary. annieladd

Well, RailEurope is the SNCF's US booking agent. In general, RE charges alot more for the tickets than if you purchase them directly from SNCF.

No. SNCF is the French rail site and has the actual prices. It would be better to make a reservation with SNCF as Raileurope's prices are inflated, they add extra fees and they don't always show all the possible routings.

Hi A,

Raileurope is a marketing organization.

SNCF, one of the owners, is the French National Railway.

Buy your tickets from SNCF.

>.. what's the difference between 1st class and 2nd class?<

About 50%.

Seats are wider in 1cl.

To get from Sarlat to Souillac, I suggest that you take the train changing in Libourne. It is a smaller, more user friendly station.

SNCF has PREMS fare for only 53E.

RailEurope is owned by SNCF (70%) and Swiss Rail (30%) and is run by the SNCF - President of RailEurope always comes from the SNCF. That said RailEurope is an independently operated subsidiary of SNCF/Swiss Rail and pricing bears no resemblance to SNCF, which is usually much lower.
SNCF in France runs huge deficits usually and the need to make a profit is not important i guess so they discount tickets, especially online, for domestic sales but decide to sell tickets thru RE at whatever the market will bear.
But the France Railpass can be a good bargain if taking very many long train trips - can be used on any train any day, though some require reservations. Check on current France Pass prices at: www.budgeteuropetravel.com - i always recommend them for passes and info - they work thru Raileurope as most agents do but give far better service.
You should be able to buy your Paris-Sarlat tickets without problem upon arrival in France - train to Libourne (TGV) then switch to local train to Sarlat from there. Libourne is on Paris-Montparnasse to Bordeaux line.
25% less seats in same space in first class and likely to be more empty seats - more room for luggage. With the France Pass the difference in price between 1st and 2nd is not that great, making the pass a much better deal in 1st class. But if you are only do a few rail trips better buy point-point at www.voyages-sncf.com or at station in France.

Wandrian Rail is the U.S. outlet of Trenitalia and sells things like RailEurope does - could check their prices for comparisons but i think they are basically identical.
They run www.railsaver.com - often referred to here as a good tool to see if you need a railpass - though this is like saying check RailEurope's similar service, no one here would ever recommend checking RailEurope prices to see if a railass were good for your plans. Yet railsaver gets mentioned over and over - weird perceptions always don't meet realities.
(Originally there were three official Eurail/Eurail Tariff outlets in the U.S. who could issue passes and tickets - the German Railways, Italian Railways and RailEurope - the French and Swiss railways. RailEurope ate up the German arm (DER), now renamed Destination Europe Resources i believe, and Trenitalia licenses its railpass concession to Wandrian Rail, whose current CEO used to be CEO at RailEurope!
I always chuckle when i see railsaver.com presented as some panacea and RailEurope ubiquitously trashed here when in fact they are basically the same creature!

>no one here would ever recommend checking RailEurope prices to see if a railass were good for your plans. Yet railsaver gets mentioned over and over - weird perceptions always don't meet realities.<

Because you can click "only if it saves money" at Railsaver. If it tells you that PTP tickets are cheaper, you definitely know not to get a railpass.

But on the contrary if it tells you the pass is better it's based on bogus fares that are now much higher than you'd buy at the station in Europe.
As Wandrian is a large railpass wholesaler it's a great marketing strategy - use inflated prices to see passes.
You're right - if it says point to points are cheaper than you're nowhere near the value of a pass but on the other hand you still don't know if a pass is best if it says otherwise.
I believe Raileurope now does have the exact same service.

Thanks, everyone for your help, you've educated me again, as usual.

annieladd

I don't think the "bogus fares" characterization is accurate. What railsaver.com compares pass prices to is the "rack rate" tickets that are fully refundable and unrestricted.

The complexity of the railsaver engine would increase exponentially if it had to tell you "your AMS-FRA fare must be for a Tuesday after 16:00 and purchased 60 days in advance" or something like that.

One can frequently put together an itinerary that works out cheaper than a pass, but it's never certain that one can and always a lot of legwork.

But if it tells you ptp tickets are cheaper, you can rely on it.

<What railsaver.com compares pass prices to is the "rack rate" tickets that are fully refundable and unrestricted>
many of the tickets sold are not fully refundable or unrestricted changes - check conditions - you may be right as i haven't checked Wandrian rail, who run railsaver.com for their conditions but since their fares are often identical to RailEurope i assume conditions may be as well. RailEurope tickets are at best 80% refundable and changeable until 3 days before the train, zilch after that. This is their 'flexibile' tickets - they have now gone to a two-tier pricing in places like Italy and France, offering lower prices on non-flexible tickets which are not refundable or changeable at any time - i assume railsaver.com if doing what they say would figure in the cost of the non-flexible tickets when comparing to a pass.
I may be wrong and stand to be corrected if railsaver.com does offer fully refundable and changeable tickets - sincerely.
Raileurope and i assume Wandrian Rail until this year did sell unrestricted tickets called Eurail Tariff that were truly unrestricted but this is no longer the case totally as many are not - regional train tickets may be.