MorganB your post for buying Prem tickets was great and concise. I have 2 questions. Can I buy 3 tickets for myself, husband and brother at the same time on my visa and print them.Is there a place to enter 3 different names. If I buy these tickets will we be assigned seats together. I am hoping for 1st class Paris-Avignon on the 24 of September so I presume I buy them June 24 at or around 6.00PM EST
Thanks again for your help.

Hi R,

You can buy up to 6 tickets at a time.

Usually, the seats will be together. It depends on how many seats have been sold.

You are correct about when to buy.

1 cl PREMS are 45E.

Thanks Ira, the Fodor folks are the best. I like that price!!

Rosie,

Ira covered alot already. Yes you may use one visa. You will put in the names after the transaction has been completed and you have a booking reference. The names are required when you "create" the tickets for printing. You will also need to put in birthdates, day/month/year format.

Beyond Prems you can also get tickets on the iDTGV to Avignon TGV. Right now iDTGV tickets are on sale through September 14th. They open the sales up alot earlier. iDTGV travels only once a day between Paris ans Avignon so the time may or may not work for you. 1st is around 39 euros if you grab the tickets early enough.

Note: Avignon has two rail stations, Avignon TGV and Avignon Centre. The TGV one is outside of downtown but an inexpensive shuttle is available for transfers.

Thanks MorganB. I guess then that I will start looking in about 2 weeks for the dates that I need. More questions!!! Only 2 of us will be returning Avignon to Paris, brother doing more travelling so is it best to book one way tickets each way. Also you mentioned birthdays we are all in the "senior" age group but I think that the Prem's and iDTGV prices can be less money than the senior's discounted rate. Can we opt out of taking that rate?

Rosie,

As I understand it, the birthdate requirement for Prems has nothing to do with the senior discount tickets. The birthdate is required to match the date on your I.D. (Passport), so that the conductor can check it is really the person who perchased the ticket. They don't want folks buying up bunches of the Prems and then selling them for a profit.

You will enjoy your TGV journey.

Rosie,

Prems and iDTGV are priced as one way fares so it wont be a problem booking your outbound and return seperately. I dont really know when iDTGV will open up to a latter date as they just recently opened up to Sept 14th. Its not a rolling date opening like the classic TGV. However, it is a minimum of 4 months in advance as opposed to 3 on the regular tgv. You dont have to book a senior fare, you can just go for the PREMS etc. Whatever is cheaper is allowed

Thanks for all the replies to my concerns about booking train tickets.My file of copied tips from Fodorites for Paris and Provence is growing daily.I can't wait to get on the plane.Will try to keep a good journal and report back in October.