Pricing train travel
 

I know this has been answered before, but can't seem to bring it up with any word combination on the *&%%$ search function.<BR>I mainly use the European Rail website which I like for schedules and times for rail travel, but it always says "pricing not available". What site will show me actual prices? Particularly looking at Holland and Belgium to compare for a Benelux pass.

The French site, www.sncf.com, will sometimes give prices for rail travel even outside France, but it's rather temperamental.

Top this for Ben Haines every now and then. He'll be able to help you.

You might also try the Belgian site, www.b-rail.be, and the Dutch site, www.ns.nl.

Call your travel agent.

You might also try the Belgian site, www.b-rail.be, and the Dutch site, www.ns.nl.

The Eurorail site is notorious for its overpriced fares. You shouldn't rely on it to find out the price of the tickets, anyway. And their schedules are incomplete. As other posters wrote, you should check the national railways sites. <BR><BR>Also, the german railways site gives all the schedules in Europe, but unfortunately not the prices.

Hi Patrick,<BR><BR>Actually, I was just looking up some prices myself a few moments ago! Here's where I head:<BR><BR>http://www.raileurope.com/us/<BR><BR>This site gives you exactly times and prices and you can buy online! Btw, this is for residents of the US only.<BR><BR>Jennifer

Oh, no, no, Jennifer - - as Patrick already knows - - the raileurope.com site gives prices (and will sell you the tickets at) prices that are "exactly" 20-70% higher than you will pay if you wait to get to Europe.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

www.raileurope.com is actually the site that Clairobscur was referring to, I think. The prices are egregiously inflated, and the schedules are incomplete.

Hi Patrick,<BR><BR>Actually, I was just looking up some prices myself a few moments ago! Here's where I head:<BR><BR>http://www.raileurope.com/us/<BR><BR>This site gives you exactly times and prices and you can buy online! Btw, this is for residents of the US only.<BR><BR>Jennifer

Hi Rex,<BR><BR>Oh really? I haven't used the trains much. Online, it says an adult ticket from Amsterdam to Paris costs $US96. Do you really think it would be lower if I bought it there?<BR><BR>I will leave from Amsterdam just two days after arriving. I wanted to make sure that there were still reserations available.<BR><BR>Btw, it's really weird that my previous post was posted twice -- with two different times!<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>Jennifer

The Belgian Rail site, www.b-rail.be, gives a price of $73.66 for Amsterdam to Paris 2d class.<BR><BR>As for the double post, the same thing happened to me tonight on another thread. Must be something in the air.

I just found something!<BR><BR>I was last in Europe in June, 2001. I went searching through my "stuff" I brought home and have "Le guide du voyageur" that was in effect from 10 June to 29 September 2001.<BR><BR>Currently, I looked up the price for a one-way ticket from Amsterdam to Paris on the eurail.com website. The price was (in US dollars) $96.<BR><BR>In the book with the above dates I gave you, the price was $76.59 in Euros, which is approximately $68 US dollars. It's possible that the fees have gone up somewhat since September, but I seriously doubt $28!!<BR><BR>Is buying a ticket in Europe probably the lowest fee I can find?<BR><BR>Jennifer

Yes, Jennifer, on the SNCF website - - www.sncf.com - - you will see that the fare from Amsterdam to Paris Gare du Nord is 81.30 euros, or $72.73 USD. Thus. the raileurope.com is marked up 32% - - and that's before you count their "postage and handling" of $15 USD - - PLUS an additional $7.00 booking fee, since it's the Thalys.<BR><BR>That brings it up to a 62% premium you pay there.<BR>

Well, this is interesting!<BR><BR>In "Le guide du voyageur" that expired just a few months ago, the price from Brussels to Paris is Euro$57.75.<BR><BR>On the www.b-rail.be/ site, it's Euro$61.2<BR><BR>On the eurail.com website, it's Euro$76.!!<BR><BR>I'm very grateful for this thread because I was getting ready to make my reservation online! I think I'll wait and simply buy the tickets when I first arrive in Amsterdam.<BR><BR>Thanks to everyone!<BR><BR>Jennifer<BR><BR>And on the

Rex is sooo right. So everybody, believe him on that issue. I learned about Rail Europe the easy way. Before I went to Paris in 1999, I priced a ticket from Paris to Lausanne at the SNCF site and at the RE site. I was shocked at the RE price! <BR>Not only was the base price about 25% less, but I could also get an age discount through the SNCF. <BR>With all of the national rail web sites out there, I don't know why Americans don't use them more. The French, German, Swiss, and Austrian sites all have English versions.<BR>And as my uncle used to say, so does Britain!!

The www.eurorail.com website actually uses the DB (German) rail timetable system. It is the most user friendly site I have found and I'm not sure about being incomplete? You can click the itinerary or intinerary plus feature and it actually lists every stop the train makes, every change and usually even platform numbers, so it seems incredibly complete, and it often lists even more choices than the complete Thomas Cook schedule. I don't use it for pricing, however, and I'm glad to see some of you explaining not to book through rail europe. <BR>On the other hand, I've spent the last hour or so "playing" with the dutch and belgium sites listed above. The dutch one is nearly impossible to navigate, but at least I have figured out how to get prices. On the other hand, I still haven't figured out how to get prices on the belgium site unless I register and be prepared to actually book tickets which I don't want to do. But I am well on my way to figuring all this out. Thanks.

You're right--you have to register on the Belgian site. But it only takes a minute to register and you don't actually have to book the tickets once you get the price. And it's a lot simpler than the Dutch or the French site.

I just went to the RE site and checked on the schedule from Paris to Innsbruck.<BR>It bombed. I went to the German rail site and got the information.<BR>My opinion of RE stays the same:<BR>incomplete schedule information and inflated ticket prices.<BR>