Does the Amsterdam CS have a SNCF counter/window to pick-up tickets ordered on-line using the voyages-sncf.com website and selecting "France" as the "receiving and collecting tickets" option? The reason for selecting France is; you are able to order on a English language web- page, whereas if you select The Netherlands you are redirected to a Dutch language page.

Someone has stated, on another forum, that tickets can be pick-up at any SNCF office or ticket counter, but not from machines in the stations. Hence, my question, does AMS CS have a SNCF counter?

Amsterdam C.S. does not have an SNCF ticket counter - does have an International Ticket Window but only handles tickets involving trains from Holland they tell me.

As I said in one of your other posts: Have you tried booking the tickets through www.nshispeed.nl/en? Since that is the Dutch railway site it makes sense that you can pick up those tickets in AMS.

I don't think there are any SNCF agencies in the Netherlands, although there are a couple in some othe countries than France (like in Brussels).

However, I have read that travel agencies in some European countries (incuding Netherlands) can write and print SNCF tickets because of arrangements SNCF has made with Amadeus, an online ticketing network. So it's possible you could get them printed at a Dutch travel agency, as long as they will sell SNCF tickets. But I wouldn't count on it, as they may be able to sell them but not necessarily print ones you've bought elsewhere.

The SNCF office, formerly on Rokin for many years has been gone for some years now - have not heard of another one but could be

www.thalys.com another source for delivery/pick up in Amsterdam

Hi hetismij:

Yes, I did thanks to your suggestion and found the nshispeed.nl site to be not difficult to obtain schedules and fares. However, at this point in time with the best PREMS no longer available for my departure and the remaining best fare only a few dollars less than BETS - budgeteuropetravel.com/, I decided to book with BETS. By doing this, I avoid the ticket printout issues, the currency exchange rate factor and the offensive add-on (usually 1 -3%) by US credit card companies, for foreign transactions. When you book with BETS you speak with a live person located in Ann Arbor, MI, who is very helpful and informative. They send you real tickets by certified mail. Also, they allow you to book and hold the reservations for a few days before making the payment, thus enabling you time to change your mind, if you choose. I have until Monday, 18/08/08 (booked on Friday), to make the payment.

So in the end I took the easy way out. Nevertheless, if I were starting from scratch with my trip 90 days away, with the really great PREMS were still available, I would take the time to work my way through Nshispeed.

Thanks for your help.
Lori

Lori - just curious as to what you paid? If only a few bucks more than French or thalys or nl rail sites sounds like a great deal for peace of mind.

Yes, as best I can after 5 days – from my not scratchy notes:

Thalys was 63E “Optway Fare” each pp or ($97.65 @1.55USD/Euro) = $195.30 for 2 persons one-way, for the 12:26 departure from Ams CS to Paris on 28/09/08. The senior fare was 73.50E. The real factor here was; you can not print out a ticket, if you live in the US, and simply go to the station and board the train.. I explained this in more detail on another forum (possibly TripAdvisor).

Voyages-sncf was 60E. The math = $186.00 for 2 persons. Again, this system does not seem to allow one to order on the English site of sncf and print-out actual ticket. Requires going to a sncf office or station window/counter. I could not do this as I was starting out in AMS.

Nshispeed was virtually the same (60E to 64E – not sure at this point), though generally a more user-friendly site, despite being in Dutch. I believe if I had continued to work with this system, I could have eventually printed my own tickets allowing me to go directly to the train without standing in a long line inside the station. I did not do this, but instead called the BETS toll-free telephone number. I had just learned about BETS a day or 2 before, here on Fodor’s from someone who responded to one of my other posts.

BETS was $91 each x 2 = $182 plus $18 service fee (no taxes, etc.) for a total of $200. The big difference was the ease and problem free process of calling someone and discussing various other options, i.e. different departures vs. a refundable fare vs. senior fares, etc. As I said above, I was able to avoid all of the ticket printout issues, the currency exchange rate factor and the add-on % by US credit card companies, for foreign transactions.

As above; I took the easy way out. Nevertheless, if I were starting from scratch with my trip 90 days away, with the really low promotional fares still available, I would take the time to work my way through Nshispeed. I would be willing to tackle SNCF also if my trip originated in France and not AMS. Hope this helps.

Lori.

thank you for taking time to answer in such detail. Bon voyage.

Oh, I forgot to give you the RailEurop[e fare which was $246.00 for the exact tickets that I purchased from BETS. One of the problems with RE is that they do not display all of the promo fares whereas BETS will tell you all fares that are currently available. Strangely, as I understand it, BETS uses the RE reservation system to book the trip, but has its own fare schedule.
Lori