prem tickets
 

Is the cheapest way to get prem tickets to book exactly 3 months before your preferred date? and is it on raileurope.com.au - prices seem to be "all over the place" !

It's better to use the country's own rail site...
France = www.sncf.com
Netherlands = www.ns.nl
Italy = www.trenitalia.com
and so on....

Also www.thalys.com

Since you mention PREM'S specifically, I assume you will be traveling in France. SNCF recently revised its Web site and there are now some special tricks to booking in English without being bumped to the RailEurope site where PREM'S are NOT sold. If you can handle French, it's much easier. if you want help with the English tricks--or with booking in French--just ask.

TimS, further to my triumphant ravings in another thread the other day - I have since been unable to access the site in English at all from Australia. I still don't understand how it came and went??

I think plandelatour is also from Australia (?) so I will be following this thread with interest.
Good luck!

Do a search for MorganB's "tutorial". Awesome.

djkbooks, I have used this in the past but it now requires a little "tweaking" I think since the changes TimS referred to on the sncf site.

Hi All,

I just tried this out.

I went to www.voyages-sncf.com.

Went to the lower left corner and clicked the British flag.

I was transferred to TGV Europe.

I clicked the British flag.

I entered Paris to Dijon, one way, for 04/04/08.

I was transferred back to SNCF.
IN FRENCH.

I was offered a 17E PREMS fare.

The rest of the transaction was in French.

Went back to TGV Europe.

Clicked German.

Ordered a ticket from Stuttgart to Munich.

Stayed at TGV Europe. 45E.

Went to www.bahn.de. Clicked English.

They offer a 29E discount ticket.

((I))

plandelatour, ozgirl, and other interested persons:

Yes, with the changes on the SNCF site, morganB's tutorial is out of date--unless you can get to the booking page in English as I will explain.

I take no credit for discovering the "trick." A poster on the Helpline at ricksteves.com played around on the SNCF site until he was successful.

Here are the steps:

1. Clear your cookies on your Web browser so the SNCF site won't recognize what country you're in.

2. Click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/2shmfn. You'll get a page on the SNCF site with the heading "Document non trouve."

3. Click on the British flag icon. It will look like nothing has happened--the page won't change in appearance.

4. Wait a few moments and click on the link for "consulter le plan du site."

5. You'll get a new page. Under the Train heading click on "Reservation billet train."

6.If everything works, you'll get a booking page in English. Book your tickets leaving France as the default country. If you get a PREM'S fare, do NOT choose cancellation insurance. Print your ticket. If you get a standard fare, choose the option of picking up your ticket at a station or SNCF boutique.

Hi Tim,

You can now print your PREMS ticket even if you buy the insurance.

((I))

ira,

It's been my understanding that if you choose the cancellation insurance--which has conditions that most tourists won't be able to meet anyway--you have to give a mailing address. And if that address is in North America, you'll be bumped to the Rail Europe site where PREM'S are not sold.

Has this changed?

bookmarking for later this month! I just got so I could jump through all the hoops to get these fares and now they have changed it!? AAARRRGGGHH! Hopefully I will be able to book reasonable tickets for Paris to Amsterdam in May. But if I encounter problems it's good to have my Fodor friends!

Since SNCF revised their website recently it is very user unfriendly.

Hi Tim,

If you go online and book a ticket, you are given the option to print your ticket even if you choose the insurance.

It's been this way for a few months.

((I))

Thank you Ira for choosing Dijon as a destination! ;-)

suec1,

Thalys has just introduced a new single (one-way) fare of 25€ for Paris-Amsterdam (and some other points) called Mini. Book up to 90 days in advance at www.thalys.com. Book as soon as the 90-day window opens to have any chance of getting this fare.

I don't know what I'm missing, but I don't seem to have any trouble booking prems from the SNCF site. Admittedly I am taken to the Voyages-SNCF site for the booking, but no bumping to RailEurope at all. I plan on booking 4 tix for travel from Paris to Avignon on Feb 24 (3 months before our trip on May 24), and the price I'm seeing for prems for that trip is 67 euros/person. I haven't gone to the point of seeing about printing out my ticket since I'm not ready to buy yet.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Sam

For round-trip Basel-Paris-Basel, will I be able to purchase tickets at the PREM price if I order on-line throuh SBB? That is, if I order three months ahead of travel dates?

Thanks.

Can you book from the U.S. with no problem if you understand French?

kmbp,

Yes, you can book and print your own tickets on the English vrsion of the SBB site.

images2,

Yes, if you understand French you will have no trouble booking on the SNCF site--so long as you leave France as the default country for retrieving your tickets (either print PREM'S or choose to pick up a standard ticket at a station).

Thanks Tim. In the past we put France in the box, so we've been able to print the tickets at home. I'm glad to hear I don't have to clear cookies, because I'd be lost!

Sam,

For Paris-Avignon the cheapest 2nd class PREM'S is 25€ and the cheapest 1st class PREM'S is 40€. The price goes up as more discount seats are sold.

TimS, once again you've made my day!!! (I think I owe you dinner by now!)

This worked for me with one small adjustment... the tinyurl displayed nothing on the page, but I cut and pasted the address that it DID bring up at the top and opened a new page and put that in and it all followed as per your instructions.

And I've done it twice and it still works!

Many many thanks!!! (
I still have two weeks before I can book but I will be prepared!)

ozgirl,

Australia and New Zealand are on my wish list of countries to visit. If my wish ever comes true, I'll take you up on your dinner invitation!

It's possible that the tinyurl timed out. Here's the full URL: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...mp;_AGENCY=VSC.

This is all one line with no breaks.

TimS, always welcome - we cook a pretty mean "barbie" and live very close to one of the premier wine growing regions in South Australia.
Just let me know!

Are the PREM fares only available on line? Ie, will not be available once in Paris from a SNCF station?

If I have to print the tickets on line, then I'll have to commit to a schedule before leaving which is a bummer. However, the lowest fares are significantly less, so that's the trade off, right?

They're also non-refundable, but if you can commit to a firm schedule they're worthwhile to get.

> Are the PREM fares only available on line? Ie, will not be available once in Paris from a SNCF station?

Prem's fares are only available between 3 months and 2 weeks ahead.

Does anyone know what this error message means, and how to get around it? I'm getting it whatever ticket I try to select:

"No train did match your wishes travel. Thanks to modify them using the search engine on the left of the page or click on the link following trains below."

Johnny366, not sure why you get that message. Could it be that you try too far ahead out of 3 months time?. What train/dates do you wnat to reserve?

Hi Kappa,
I don't think that's it, as I'm trying dates 2 months away. Also when I try for later dates the message specifically says it is too soon to book.
It might be a caching issue, so I'll try monkeying with with my browser.
What a pity the site has these quirks, it's so iseful otherwise.

Hi 366,

What is your route?

Sometimes you can't buy online if you have to change trains more than once.

((I))

I don't think it has anything to do with cookies magically knowing what country you are located in. The cookies may retain the information you yourself put in regarding site of retrieval, but that's completely different than saying the site knows where your computer is located. Also, I don't think booking in English is the same thing as being bumped to Raileurope, either, which has to do with saying you want to retrieve tickets in North America. If you select the English flag, it sends you to tgv-europe.com, but not raileurope.

Bookmark.

I admit that I don't know exactly how cookies affect booking at www.voyages-sncf.com. However, I DO know that the steps I outlined in my previous post allow a person to book in English and still pick France as the retrieval country for tickets, either standard ones at a station or Prem's which are self-printed. This is exactly how it worked before SNCF revised its Web site.

Now if you start out in English and choose France as the retrieval country, the site switches to French. If you pick Germany, the site switches to German. If you pick the UK as the retrieval country, the site stays in English and you can get Prem's, but they can't be self-printed. And just as in the past, if you pick the US, you're bumped to RailEurope.

Sorry, all...very new to European travel. What is a PREM?

Thank you!

A PREM is a low cost non-refundable ticket that cannot be exchanged offered by the French railway system. It is similar to the very low fares offered by Southwest, and they go just about as quickly.

Great, thanks!! :)

Johnny366, I have gotten that same message, and I usually see that the "starting from" time is wrong. For instance, it may say 23h, and there is no train at that hour. If I fix the time, then it proceeds to give me the information. Try again and see if that will fix it. Good luck!

bookmarking. Thanks.

TimS, I followed your instruction and found the PREM fare of 35e for this route:

March 11th, 2008
08h39 - PARIS EAST
10h45 - LUXEMBOURG
TGV 2809 2nd class, 35e

But only get the snail-mail option, no print or SNCF pickup. Can you try?

ira did have some luck with using a different country of resident which bumped me to tgv-europe.