Planning Next Year's Trip to France (oops)
 

Well, you can tell I'm a newby here. I posted, but didn't tag my query. So, here it is again.

We're planning a trip to France in September 2014. Right now, we're in the initial stages, reading guidebooks and working on an itinerary. I've been reading through some of the threads here and am a bit confused about something. When is the best time (fare wise) to purchase airline tickets? Ditto for train tickets within France. Thanks!

We have been to Europe many time (and France several times). I usually use Rick Steves for itinerary and lots of good information and cross reference with Frommers for hotels, etc. Airline tickets are a moving target. They're available 330 days in advance and if you're using miles that's a good time to book. Otherwise, there are no rules. I usually book early (look at Expedia and then book directly with the airline). I've never had a problem. You have plenty of time for train tickets. First, get your itinerary down to see where you're going and whether a country pass makes sense or just city to city. (Actually you can't even book until a few months in advance - Rail Europe tells you if you're too soon and will e-mail you when available.)

I am planning an anniversary trip for July next year, so I'll eagerly await the replies to your question. However, I have never been to France, so hope to find lots of ideas as a beginner on this site too.

Rail Europe are much more expensive than the French train sites.

http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/

Invaluable guide
http://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm

Enjoy planning

Airline tickets are a crapshoot. Sign up for alerts from your favorite airlines or Kayak and just watch them.

I have never used, and never will use, Rick Steves for anything.

And FORGET RAIL EUROPE! It's an expensive marketing arm of the French National Rail System (SNCF), which will seriously overcharge you for most tickets and won't even show you all the trains on its website. Use www.voyages-sncf.com, and when it prompts you for the country you're coming from pick Antartica - then you won't get shifted over to the Rail Europe rip-off site.

If you are traveling in France on the high-speed trains and some intercity trains, start looking for your tickets starting exactly 3 months (not 90 days - 3 months, there is a slight difference) from your dates of travel. That is when you will find the cheapest tickets available. They will continue to rise in price from that day forward. If you are traveling on short-run TER trains, there is no need to book in advance as the ticket prices never change. The SNCF site will tell you what kind of trains you are booking and all the options.

If you don't already have the Michelin Green Guide to France, that's my top recommendation both for recommended itineraries and general sightseeing information.

I just got my train tickets 3 months ahead for our trip this Oct. Since there are 5 of us traveling, I wanted to make sure I got our seats together for the best fare so became a bit OCD about this: for Oct. 6, I went online at 6:05 EDT on July 5 (already July 6 in France), etc. I did this twice more for the next legs of our journey. When I came to the Strasbourg-Paris leg yesterday, I was surprised to see that there were only a few seats left at the lowest price so I was glad that I had been "pro-active" about this!
I should mention that, even though I had notified my Visa card that I would be making the purchases, my card was rejected. I was successful with my Amex, though. But that's a subject for another thread!

We bought our airline tix in May,and although the price was not good, it has not come down since then.

I commend you on reading guide books and thinking about an itinerary; so many do not bother to read the books and come on here with vague questions and then are disappointed when they don't get helpful responses. Underhill's reco of the Michelin Guide is right on. You are doing your homework, and that's great!
Happy planning!

grammyx6:

I think the most useful activity now is to collect empirical price data. It does not mean the same pattern repeats next year, but at least you have a data point to reference your decision next year.

For airfare, start collecting the data NOW using any of the fare alert that emails you the best prices. That creates a log of price trend. I programmed Kayak alert me to track ALL the possible destinations at least once a week. For France, you should set alter to both Paris and Nice and also on several possible travel dates.

For train, set a reminder to check www.voyages-sncf.com so you can see how the prices change as you get closer to the departure dates. The 2013 Sept price trend you captured in July and August 2013 will be useful next year.

There is no best time in terms of "day of the year." If there is such a thing, everyone will try to buy it on that day and the airlines will increase the price to capture revenue from buyers who does not know about the market prices.

The time to buy is when an itinerary you are comfortable is available at the price at the lower end of the price trend for that year. This you cannot done without careful observation of how the prices moved the previous year and how the prices are moving in 2014. You can gamble by trying to capture the "best" price. It is a gamble where you can win or lose. In 15 years I have been traveling, I have hit that best price just once. If you wait too long, the desirable itinerary may no longer be offered. Also you can get stuck in the middle seat.

peet_eca:

Unlike grammyx6, you are traveling during the peak season where the prices usually only go up. If you have started looking at prices starting around Dec 2012, you would probably have a better idea if you can wait until 2014 to buy the tickets. I would recommend you start looking at August 2013 prices, then starting late August 2013, program Kayak.com to send you best prices for your 2014 trip. I would also recommend you to look at other months if that is not out of the question. Mid June to July are usually the most expensive time to fly if you are coming from the US. The accommodations also charge the peak season rates also.

Here's a little anecdote which reinforces grandmere's advice.

My sister and a friend will be in France in Sept and Oct.

They emailed they had found TGV tickets from Strasbourg to CDG for Oct 5 for $103 each on RailEurope, was that a good deal? Well, short answer, "no".

I found the same train on voyages-sncf for 42.50€ each which included reserved seats as it's a TGV.

I agree with those who advise to buy your TGV tickets through SNCF, not RailEurope. Keep in mind that if you're in the US the SNCF website will direct you to Rail Europe. You can avoid that by entering Great Britain as your home country.

You need to check airline sites every day--maybe more, particularly up to 6 or so months. You'll see some ups and downs. When you see a fare you can live with, jump on it and don't look back.

Thanks to all of you for your great advice and suggestions. I will start tracking airline prices now. And I have bookmarked the sites you've mentioned about the train fares. Now, it's back to the guidebooks, along with boning up on my French! Thanks again!

Ditto for train tickets within France.>

90 days out to start if you want the deep discounted ones and then are OK with not being able to change or refund - if taking several train rides then actually a France Railpass could be the cheaper way and you would not have to decide until you get to France to ride most trains (except TGV trains to Nice - hard to get railpass holder spot on them on the spot many times) - for a lot of great info on French trains yes www.seat61.com as well as http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id8.html and www.ricksteves.com - and yes many folks resent Rick Steves and his success and constantly diss him but his site does have a wealth of good info if traveling by train!