Rail tickets from Paris to Basel
 

I have been trying to buy a Paris to Basel ticket from www.voyages-sncf.com, but cannot seem to do so. Its asking me for an address (for delivery) and doesn't have America or USA on the list of countries to select from. Are they just European agents? Where can I buy such tickets in America? RailEurope is ridiculously expensive, compared to the prices i'm seeing in www.voyages-sncf.com. Are there other sites I can buy the point to point tickets from France to Switzerland?

Thanks all.

>bhavin

Simply leave the country in the selector box as France - then go ahead with the purchase and save/print the pages, also save and print out the email confirmation you will get, and take note of which credit card you use in the process.

When you get to France, go to any station's ticket window and show that same credit card and - if there is any question - the email confirmation, and you will be issued a real printed ticket.

Worked for me a few weeks ago.

WK

Hi WK,
Actually it doesn't allow me to select the method of delivery (i.e. mail, or pickup etc.)..It assumes that I need them to be mailed. It doesn't allow me to proceed without giving my address info.

If I do enter an invalid address, it will take it. But it will assume that the tikcets need to be mailed to the address. I don't know if I should just go ahead and buy them with a fake address.

I don't know if this is a special ticket that won't allow me to print it.

Clear out your cookies and history and cache - you must have at some point selected something that now causes this to pop up again and again.

Then start over - do not select the English site, do it on the French pages, do not select USA or anything like that, it works, is all I can tell you.

WK

Were you trying to buy a PREM'S ticket? I just did a dummy booking and discovered that even though the PREM'S fare indicated the usual option of printing the ticket, when I got further in the process, like you, my ONLY choice was to have the ticket sent in the mail. And that was true even though I did NOT choose cancellation insurance because I know from experience that doing so removes the printing option. However, when I pretended to book a regular fare ticket, I could have chosen to pick it up at a ticket machine, ticket window, or ticket boutique as well as having it mailed.

Even though SNCF "officially" doesn't mail tickets to the US, some people have reported getting their tickets when they "broke the rules" and entered a US address. Rather than taking that chance, you could have the ticket sent to your hotel in Paris (after clearing it with the hotel). Or you could call the SNCF English-speaking number. Dial 011 (US internationl access code) + 33 (country code for France) + 08 92 35 35 39 (but omit the initial zero because it is only used for calls originating in France). If you get an automated response, press 2 and you should be connected to someone who speaks English.

Hi bh,

If it is a PREMS ticket do NOT choose the insurance (default) and you should be able to print the ticket.

At worst, have your ticket mailed to you c/o your hotel in Paris.

((I))

Ira - You were probably writing your response while mine was being posted. As I indicated, for some unknown reason not choosing cancellation insurance does NOT allow printing (for this particular route, at least). Some glitch in the SNCF computer, I suppose.

TimS,
Yeap, that's exactly my experience. It just doesn't give my any option to select on PERM tickets. I have emailed my hotel to find out if I can have those tickets mailed to them. Lets see.

Thanks for passing on their phone number. I will try calling them if all things fail.

Thanks.
>bhavin

There's really no need to worry about buying a ticket in advance unless you are angling for a Prem fare or are planning to travel over a peak holiday. Otherwise, just wait and get it when you arrive in Paris...you can buy the ticket and reserve a seat.
There are several trains a day, they all take around 5 hours or so and the ones I checked all cost the same for a one-way ticket--roughly 52€ for second class. Is that the "ridiculous" price you've been quoted from RailEurope? Looking under the "Toutes nos offres Prem's" it doesn't even list Paris to Basel (Bale) as a route where you can get a Prem ticket. You could, I suppose, hunt for a Prem fare to Mulhouse or Strasbourg and then pay for a regular ticket to Basel SBB from there.
FYI, it's not the world's most exciting train ride. And the trains I've ridden on that route don't have restaurant cars, so you'd do best to bring along your own picnic lunch, wine and water.

The "Toutes nos offres Prem's" list is from the sncf site, not Rail Europe.