Rail Europe
 

I will like to add my own statement of dissatisfaction with RailEurope. They offer poor customer service, bad web site management , even worse direct telephone customer sevice. If expecting a refund on any unused tickets or passes forget it your out of luck. They don't honour them.

Keep away from them!

I use them all the time for years and have always been satisfied. Mayb you bought non refundable tickets. I don't mind paying the delivery fee as it saves me time and I like having tickets in hand before I travel

Avoid RailEurope completely. They very rarely offer any of the discounted fares and schedules they post display only a fraction of the complete train availability.

You interests are most likely better served booking directly with the SNCF sites:

www.voyages-sncf.com (in French only)

www.idtgv.com (schedules are posted 4-6 months in advance, prices start at 19€, tickets may be printed on your home computer.

www.tgv-europe.com (PREM prices start at about 25€ beginning 3 months before any given departure date. If you are from the USA, use one of the other above sites or select the UK or Canada as you home to precluded being bumped to raileurope.)

They offer poor customer service, bad web site management , even worse direct telephone customer sevice. If expecting a refund on any unused tickets or passes forget it your out of luck>

well there is not IMO the whole story here - the first two charges IME may be true but about refunds is categorically NOT true - if you ask for the refund within the time period written on the pass - just return your pass to RE and ask for refund and yes it may take a while to post on your credit card but the charge that they do not give refunds IME is just not true - the OP misunderstands something.

dbwalter - could you please give more info on the refund you were denied? Why wa sit denied? Who denied it?

thanks -

I"ve never heard anything that terrible about their customer service, the only issue is they have a markup, of course, as they are a profit-making agency. For a lot of people who can't figure out websites or are forever making errors and can't read instructions (or somehow don't understand what the words "nonrefundable" on certain fares mean), they serve a purpose.

I thought some passes are refundable if they are totally not used, but not if you use them or have them validated, of course. My niece got a refund on one, but that was a while ago. Now they may not refund individual tickets, sure, but rail companies won't either in many cases, depends on the type of ticket and if it were a reserved seat.

Re does indeed refund individual tickets but only as is clearly stated on them only If returned by the date of travel or with a flexible ticket the first validity day of them if say a 2-month period.

and yes Christina makes a good point about being able to refund a pass if it has been activated - if not activated ALL passes from RE are refundble either for six months after issue or usually one year minus 15 or 20% depending on the pass cancellation fee.

NO DOUBT the OP made some mistake - either activated the pass and then stopped using it and mistakingly thought they would get a refund or something else.

Well hopefully the OP will give more details as if not I would wager that the OP was mistaken and probably did not read the conditions of use, etc.

In terms of passes, the rules are set by the RAILROADS including the refunding measures.

Do we need to remind people here AGAIN, that RE is a wholly-owned marketing subsidiary of the SNCF and the Swiss Fed Railways???? So when you'r whining about RE you're really whining about those two railroads that a BUNCH of you think are oh, so wonderful.

>>>Avoid RailEurope completely. They very rarely offer any of the discounted fares and schedules they post display only a fraction of the complete train availability.<<<

They also make up their own train numbers on Italy routes instead of listing the actual train number.

They also make up their own train numbers on Italy routes instead of listing the actual train number>

and pray tell why this is a capital offense and if you look at RE full fares for Italy they are marginally more than the fare you'd buy in Italy.

Yup anything to malign the terrible RailEurope even if not true! Say something enough and folks will blindly repeat it without checking - yup RE may not offer the online discounts but at stations in Italy I do not think you would find them either - RE offers fully flexible tickets usually just like ones you would buy at stations in Italy - so do not compare apples to oranges. Re has recently decreased its fares for Italian regional trains - they did indeed used to add on several bucks to every regional ticket and thus a ticket that may cost $8 would leap to say $15 but now I notice that the differential is much lower.

I thought RailEurope was primarily to serve North American (U.S. and Canada) travelers -- am I wrong? If I'm right, I'm not getting why DbWalter would register on Fodors to voice one complaint, using the English spelling "honour".

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

If this is a sincere post, I've had my ups and downs with RailEurope, and I've had to train them (no pun intended) from time to time with their own product, only because I've used rail passes with add-ons so many times over the years, and bought so many of the Thomas Cook European Timetables over the years that I had some mild expertise in what I wanted and when I could purchase it. I didn't mind sharing my knowledge with them -- I don't expect employees who sell these things to become experts overnight, especially if they've never used the service themselves.

I use them when I need them, knowing I'm paying more than I ought for the sake of convenience. On the other hand, if I'm not traveling all over the place, and have specific journeys, say from Paris to Avignon, I use the SNCF website (for France) and book directly.

I thought RailEurope was primarily to serve North American (U.S. and Canada) travelers -- am I wrong? If I'm right, I'm not getting why DbWalter would register on Fodors to voice one complaint, using the English spelling "honour".>

perhaps some Anglo Canucks used 'honour' but RailEurope has offices all over the world, including on Piccadilly St in central London, servicing the British market as well as one in Australia - RE being the SNCF and Swiss Federal Railway's wholly owned subsidiary selling not only train tickets and passes - a minority of their business I suspect but also doing package tours, catering to groups, selling hotels, the whole kit and caboodle.

and where do you think RE gets their Italian train tickets, that for some sinister reason they chose to renumber, no doubt for some internal purpose IMO, well duh from Trenitalia!

RE IMO has a lot of faults, especially being able to talk to anyone when a problem comes up that knows much but it is also a punching bag for some so-called experts who pass on misinformation about it - like the OP I would wager though in OP's case I would wager it is a misreading on the conditions of use or whatever.

raileurope.com was incorporated in New York state by the SNCF and Swiss Rail to sell their products in North America and the Caribbean but the SNCF has established other Raileurope entities including one in London (which I believe uses the raileurope.co.uk URL).

The SNCF has differing arrangements with each geographical location of Rail Europe but there are indeed more than just the US office (none in France however, not even a raileurope desk anywhere).

I cannot in good conscience recommend RE to anyone but PalenQ likes them. There is a nice balance of opinion on this subject.

You did not read my posts carefully - I said that RE has poor customer service above - that it is hard to talk to anyone who knows anything - but they do not I believe rob people of refunds that are due to them. and no I do not especially like RE anymore than I like the SNCF or Swiss Railways who own them and are the ultimate folks who should be the subject of the constant barbs.

Now I do defend RE from mindless blathering of repeating things like they mark up everything 30-40% which I have seen more than once - I buy railpasses every year and as RE, along with ACP Rail, their biggest competitor in North America (who has the BritRail franchise as well and is located in Quebec though they serve all the U.S. (also operate the RailSaver site many recommend here though it is about the same as RE's pass to regular ticket comparisons!) which ironically I believe was started by execs who left Rail Europe, pretty much has a lock on their sales in this country, being I believe one of just a handful of authorized railpass and Eurail Tariff (point to point) tickets in North America for the Eurail Committee, sitting in Utrecht, Holland, I ultimately have to buy a pass issued by them with their conditions, etc. But I would never buy from RE directly - I do use an agency I have dealt with for years and who I can always talk to and have someone help me if I have problems, which on occasion I have had - for example once a conductor in Belgium thought I had changed one of my flexipass dates - to use it again. I had not - he was mistaken for reasons not germane to this discussion but the agency I always went thru then went to bat with me and dealt with higher ups in RE they work with and indeed I did get a refund of one day's cost on a Eurail Flexipass - I would have never gotten it from RE I am sure. So I do not love RE and think their customer service bad - you can rarely talk to anyone when ordering and if you did they do or at least did tack 10% onto the price to order by phone, wishing to force folks to buy online - where IMO they hope that people overbuy as they more than a few times do from Fodorite postings.

But I just do not like folks giving out blatant misinformation from a Fodor's mantra they have read and repeat without thinking - Re is a business and I consider it like that - not the monster that many consider it to be - and if buying RE products seek out one of their agents that you can contact and talk to, etc. the pricing is always the same but service can be much better IME.

<I cannot in good conscience recommend RE to anyone but PalenQ likes them. There is a nice balance of opinion on this subject.>

And this is exactly the type of hyperbole, given without any details, that I am talking about! If you want to buy a railpass often you have little alternative - your local travel agent usually works from RE - so I guess Sarastro could not recommend anyone buying a railpass - and that is about right from his/her many bromides in the past against the idea that indeed a railpass can indeed be a good deal.

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater - no I do not recommend that.

You did not read my posts carefully - I said that RE has poor customer service above - that it is hard to talk to anyone who knows anything - but they do not I believe rob people of refunds that are due to them. and no I do not especially like RE anymore than I like the SNCF or Swiss Railways who own them and are the ultimate folks who should be the subject of the constant barbs.

Now I do defend RE from mindless blathering of repeating things like they mark up everything 30-40% which I have seen more than once - I buy railpasses every year and as RE, along with ACP Rail, their biggest competitor in North America (who has the BritRail franchise as well and is located in Quebec though they serve all the U.S. (also operate the RailSaver site many recommend here though it is about the same as RE's pass to regular ticket comparisons!) which ironically I believe was started by execs who left Rail Europe, pretty much has a lock on their sales in this country, being I believe one of just a handful of authorized railpass and Eurail Tariff (point to point) tickets in North America for the Eurail Committee, sitting in Utrecht, Holland, I ultimately have to buy a pass issued by them with their conditions, etc. But I would never buy from RE directly - I do use an agency I have dealt with for years and who I can always talk to and have someone help me if I have problems, which on occasion I have had - for example once a conductor in Belgium thought I had changed one of my flexipass dates - to use it again. I had not - he was mistaken for reasons not germane to this discussion but the agency I always went thru then went to bat with me and dealt with higher ups in RE they work with and indeed I did get a refund of one day's cost on a Eurail Flexipass - I would have never gotten it from RE I am sure. So I do not love RE and think their customer service bad - you can rarely talk to anyone when ordering and if you did they do or at least did tack 10% onto the price to order by phone, wishing to force folks to buy online - where IMO they hope that people overbuy as they more than a few times do from Fodorite postings.

But I just do not like folks giving out blatant misinformation from a Fodor's mantra they have read and repeat without thinking - Re is a business and I consider it like that - not the monster that many consider it to be - and if buying RE products seek out one of their agents that you can contact and talk to, etc. the pricing is always the same but service can be much better IME.

<I cannot in good conscience recommend RE to anyone but PalenQ likes them. There is a nice balance of opinion on this subject.>

And this is exactly the type of hyperbole, given without any details, that I am talking about! If you want to buy a railpass often you have little alternative - your local travel agent usually works from RE - so I guess Sarastro could not recommend anyone buying a railpass - and that is about right from his/her many bromides in the past against the idea that indeed a railpass can indeed be a good deal.

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater - no I do not recommend that.

Man in Seat 61's commercial site has a commercial link to Raileurope, U S and rick Steves also I believes is a RE agent - throw your venom at them as well Sarastro!

I cannot in good conscience recommend RE to anyone>

Sarasstro - could you explain why you cannot recommend Re in good conscience. What do they do that is offends your soncsience - what crimes to evoke such a strong reaction?

You make RE sound like scoundrels by such comments - details please?

sincerely wondering what your reasons are.

It sounds like Sarastro think there are other agencies with better serivce who sell railpasses. They aren't the only one, I think I've heard of at least 3 who sell them (RE, Rick Steves and some other website with rail in its name). But those passes are the same price everywhere, although customer service might differ, as well as mailing fees. If it's their markup, I have no problem with that. I think it is strange that so many people expect foreign railroads to give them free mailings of tickets to the US, to answer all their questions in English, etc., when their railways are subsidized a lot by local or national taxes or funds and then they probably aren't making a lot, if any, profit to begin with. Their main constituency is their own population, not some tourist in Florida who wants a real cheap rail ticket on their European tour. The idea of Amtrak paying for offices in other countries and a staff of people for customer service to foreigners, or mailing tickets abroad for free is laughable. I've seen people on here who expect foreign rail companies to mail them tickets in the US for free.

<i>I've seen people on here who expect foreign rail companies to mail them tickets in the US for free.</i>

What I think Christina is that the best way to obtain tickets on French railways is using the direct SNCF websites:

www.voyages-sncf.com
www.idtgv.com
www.tgv-europe.com

Further, these websites offer pricing and schedules that raileurope, in its various forms, does not.

The fact is that the SNCF will indeed send tickets to anyone anywhere on the globe except to the residents of one country and that one place is the USA.

Sarastro - why is not your complaint with the SNCF (majority stakeholders of RailEurope then - if SNCF refuses to send tickets to U S - are not they the fault of that. ???

Using RE is like going to a 7-11 or any convenience store - you pay more and usually you are willing to pay more for the convenience. Capiche?

I still have not seen you say what things RE is doing are unconscionable? That implies dishonesty, etc. Once again just saying things without any substance to back it up - what is un-consciousable (sp?) to you about what RE does?

I suppose it is because they do not offer generally the online discounts? Well then to be fair you probably should only shop at Wal-Mart or Aldi as all other stores that charge more for the same product to you would be engaging in un-consciousable practices?

RE, Rick Steves and some other website with rail in its name). Rick Steves I do believe has RailEurope as the engine of their railpasses - so Rick Steves is an agent, at least to my knowledge of RailEurope - there are indeed only two to my knowledge major retailers of railpasses - RE and ACP Rail and a few others that I think mainly serve groups.

On the suggestion of my Costco travel agent, I just purchased Venice - Paris rail tickets through Rail Europe. The price for 2nd class tickets was $117. After reading this thread, I decided to check the Trenitalia site to see how much I had overpaid. Well, Trenitalia is selling the same seats for 130 euro, or about $180.

UPS has already confirmed that I will receive my tickets on Monday...RailEurope seems to have worked for me. I don't understand why so many folks are reporting markups and bad service.

<i>I don't understand why so many folks are reporting markups and bad service.</i>

Why you ask azzure? I just checked the Venice to Paris price on the SNCF website and tickets were selling for as low as 65€ or about $90 and those were for 1st class. Of course the second class tickets were less, only 55€ or approximately $77.

I am not suggesting that you should or should not use any specific agent, only illustrating that it´s quite easy for anyone to beat the price at which Raileurope sells tickets.

@azzure Just out of interest, I did my own comparisons for the same train (i.e. 12:50 departure from Santa Lucia)
1. Railplus (agent for Raileurope in Australia) fullfare - A$210 (or €160 at today's rate at Oanda)
2. Trenitalia - fullfare €130.50 for the same train (see conditions: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/h...n.html#97_12_5

Discounted fare for this Artesia train from Trenitalia would be €62.50
So, the markup is roughly 30 Euro, plus handling+delivery (in Australia) of A$18

On Italian train tickets IME RailEurope at times can be competitive and some folks are the worry wart types who want a paper ticket with seat reservation in hand and do not want to trust an e-ticket or wait to there - not saying that there are problems with that just the mentality of some folks and for them the services of RailEurope or agents are priceless. Thankfully on Fodor's we have folks like Sarastro who point out how easy it is to use trenitalia.com (in spite of the scores and scores of complaints that are perpetually posted about that fickle site and the frustrations is seems to cause novice users at least.

The website to which I refer, the SNCF website www.voyages-sncf.com, is a French website, it is not an Italian website. I make reference to it only to illustrate the pricing strategies of the various ticket sellers and to underscore that Raileurope seldom, if ever, offers pricing as competitive as is offered elsewhere.

I have, on rare occasion, found in specialized circumstances, tickets purchased through Raileurope to be more competitive than tickets purchased through any other source. Such an example occurred this spring when Eurostar tickets were available up to 5 months in advance through RE (vs. the normal 4 month advance ticket sells window for Eurostar tickets) at prices just under what was then being offered on any of the SNCF sites (to include www.eurostar.com).

However, the least expensive tickets available to train travellers within France have consistently been those available on iDTGV trains. Neither iDTGV tickets nor the discounted PREM tickets available for TGVs, Téoz, Lunéa, Corail, or Intercité trains are available through Raileurope.

Whether one pays the Raileurope price or the price for PREMs obtained through a different source such as www.tgv-europe.com, the trains are identical. Just as with airfares, people within the same compartment or cabin will pay vastly different amounts for their tickets.

RailEurope sells full fare tickets generally so compare those prices to full fare tickets in Europe for a fair comparison.

I have found this thread when I was reseraching point-to-point train tickets in France through RailEurope and was wondering if they have markups, because the train fares displayed on RE seem pretty outrageous. This is the first time I use RailEuopre.
I'm thankful to have seen this thread because when I check through tgv-europe's website, I found that the price for the same train is so much more reasonable.
For example, I was looking up a train from Paris to Caen on November 11. The same train: St. Lazare to Caen at 7:45am
RailEurope sells it at $50
TGV-Europe sells it at about $20 (15 Euros)

I haven't gone that far to see how much the handling fee from each website is, but just the train fare itself is a pretty big difference. That's an over 100% markup.
Granted, the TGV site only offer non-refundable tickets (as far as I can tell), and I believe RE is more flexible (I could be wrong). For my particular travel plan, however, I don't need that much flexibility to justify overpaying more than 100% for a train ticket.

I cannot vouch for rail passes or any other agencies. I just want to add my observation from checking for this particular trip.

There is no handling fee on tickets purchased through the TGV-Europe website. The price displayed is the price you pay but discounted tickets may be limited and prices will rise as seats are sold. If you live in the USA, tickets will not be mailed to you so unless you purchase non-transferrable or non-refundable tickets, i.e. PREMs or iDTGV tickets which may be printed at home, you will need to pickup your tickets in France at any SNCF Boutique or train station service window.

Two things:

1. In my experience Rail Europe pricing is lots higher within a single country, but not so much more when crossing borders.

2. We bought tickets through them for a Perpignan, France to Barcelona trip last fall. After getting stuck in traffic on the way to the station we missed the train. There was one more that night and I took my story (and tickets) to the SNCF counter. Not only did they get us on the train, we got a refund, since the tickets had been for first-class but this train had not first-class cars.

So in my experience you should go to the railway ASAP and try to get satisfaction there.

That's an over 100% markup.
Granted, the TGV site only offer non-refundable tickets (as far as I can tell), and I believe RE is more flexible (I could be wrong)>

Well yes RE has fully flexible tickets often (and also on some routes less flexible) but if you compare the cost of full fare tickets in France with RE prices you may find they are not too out of line - but you are comparing apples and oranges with the discounted online tickets that are non-refundable non-changeable - RE tickets should IMO be compared to full priced fully flexible tickets sold in France and then the discrepancy may not be as great.

There are basically two problems with using RailEurope:

1. RE displays only partial train schedules omitting a large number of trains which are otherwise available for booking on tgv-europe.com.

2. RE offers none of the discounted tickets otherwise available; i.e. PREMs, iDTGV tickets, discounts offered to families with young children (I am not referring to <i>famille nombreuse</i> discounts which are only available to French citizens), and well as many last minute deeply discounted fares (<i>Promotion Dernière Minute</i>). There are also discounted tickets available for those who purchase senior citizen cards, youth cards, and frequent traveler cards (escapades).

The SNCF uses sophisticated revenue management models just like the airlines use and offers an array of different types of fares: full fares, vacation fares (tarif loisir), and special service fares (tarif pro). Very few of these many options are available to those using Rail Europe. Depending upon the fare one choses, tickets may be refundable or not. Some fares are fully refundable, some partially, some are non-refundable.

Perhaps due to the many ticketing options offered by the SNCF, posters may be confused by what is available and how to best utilize the many choices. Rail Europe does offer a simplified approach for those unwilling to familiarize themselves with and take advantage of these many options. However those willing to navigate and use the tgv-europe.com will not only find a greater number of travel options, they will most likely save a lot of money.

Rail Europe does offer a simplified approach for those unwilling to familiarize themselves with and take advantage of these many options. However those willing to navigate and use the tgv-europe.com will not only find a greater number of travel options, they will most likely save a lot of money.>

Well said IMO - and for some the easy option is priceless - the reason many folks still have travel agents book their rail tickets thru RailEurope - they just do not want to do any work or take any risks - to some giving credit card to a foreign entity is not comfy (though completely safe IMO) and the full fares are not always so out of kilter and at times may even be cheaper IME - like on German trains and things like Swiss Passes, which RE has often sold for the past several years at significant rates lower than the exact same pass is sold for in Switzerland.

RE is a business and tries to maximize profits - just like any business.

I agree with the OP here. I bought two sleeper tickets from Prague to Krakow through RE as that was the only was to purchase from Australia. In the end my plans changed and I didn't need them but despite their terms stating that I would be refunded if they were returned at least 3 days prior (which they were) I have received no refund.

When purchasing tickets I had queries which RE failed to answer. When I initially needed to cancel they again failed to answer my questions. Since then 5 months has past and they either ignore my queries or just brush me off and tell me their refunds team will be in touch. Extremely disappointing.

I find it very unprofessional that they don't respond to queries and don't have a contact number. Definitely some of the worst customer service I've experience in a while.

<< I find it very unprofessional that they don't...have a contact number. >>

From their web site:

Need help? Rail Europe offers live help 5 days a week: Monday - Friday, 9:00am to 7:30pm Eastern Time. Call 1-800-622-8600 in the USA, 1-800-361-RAIL (7245) in Canada.

Jesspapillon - did you contact them at [email protected] ??

FWIW my booking problem earlier this year resolved by email in the absence of a local phone contact -

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...pe-booking.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-countries.cfm

Good luck!

Sorry I meant an Australian contact number. I booked through the Australan website which is run by Rail Plus in Melbourne. Yeah that is the email address I used.

Thanks. I've put in a formal complaint with the Dept of Consumer Protection so I'll see how that pans out.

If you want to talk to someone who knows everything about RailEurope USA and their offerings and current discounts, etc call the folks at www.budgeteuropetravel.com, who I always buy passes from and whoever you talk to there seems to be an expert in any question - unlike the typical person you may talk to at REurope who may not know that much per se about European trains and products, etc.

Just btw -

"French railway firm SNCF to launch pan-Europe e-travel website
State-owned company aims to provide easier and faster booking for passengers travelling across continent"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...europe-website

Note that "Customers outside Europe will continue to be directed to websites with the Rail Europe brand".

farremog - thanks for that info!

Note that "Customers outside Europe will continue to be directed to websites with the Rail Europe brand">

And RailEurope at least outside of UK or Europe is doing very well, my sources say so why tamper with over priced sales of tickets to clueless folks using clueless travel agents blindly suggesting railpasses, etc.?