SNCF vs Thalys
 

I need to buy two 1-way tickets from Paris to Brussels for mid-September. I can't buy it until next week or so, but I want to familiarize myself with the process so that I can be able to book the cheapest tickets as soon as they are loaded.

I went to Thalys.com, and couldn't find any MINI fares at all despite trying multiple dates (within the next 90 days). The summer 50% off sale unfortunately doesn't apply to us as it's only valid until end of August.

I went to sncf.com, and was able to find discounted tickets called "SMOOVE", for just €25 each on Thalys trains. Of course these are non-exchangable and non-refundable. Looks like I can buy them and print them out at home.

Any explanation as to why these cheap tix are available on sncf but not on thalys website?

Lastly, for PREMs tickets, are they loaded 90 days out? I also need to buy two 1-way tickets from Angers to Paris.

P.S., can someone tell me how to pronounce Angers?

With Thalys, what country and language are you using? I went to Thalys and chose France and Francais, and entered dummy ticket info, and I'm brought to a site that looks like it has the same interface as Voyages SNCF, but a different header. I wouldn't worry, though, but would just buy the tickets wherever they are cheapest.

For PREM, I'm not sure if it's 89 or 90 days, and you also have to take into account the time zone. Try looking 90 days ahead, and then going up or down by 1 day until it works.

According to this site, Angers is pronounced "Ah-zay".
http://www.slowtrav.com/france/language/place_names.htm
That is not what I would have guessed.

Sorry - "Ah-zhay".

Hmm... When I first checked it on Thalys, I was initially looking for the summer sale, then I just clicked on "book a ticket". Don't recall having to select a country/language.

Now I just went back to the main website portal, then select France & English: I was able to pull up the same tickets as sncf, with the SMOOVE option available as well.

I can book tickets up until Sept 4 - so I guess the tickets are loaded 90 days (or 3 months) in advance.

Thanks for your help, WillTravel.

That's 3 months and not 30 days, if you can see the difference.

e.g. I bought online my picolissimo
ticket Geneva > Paris for 01 August on 01May. The return PAR > GVA for 03AUG, I bought on 03May. €20 each.

ahn-zhay would seem to better mimic how my french in-laws say it

some kind of n sound in there???

yes, that would be better and understandable (above, not ah-zay which I would say is completely wrong). There is an n, it's just nasalized, but it doesn't completely disappear. Better to just pronounce it as an n than omit it.

Ah-zay - definitely not!

Ahn-zhay - closer, though you need to know that the zh sound mimics a soft "g."

I'm relieved to hear the "n" is not completely swallowed. That didn't make any sense to me.

Thanks for clarifying the pronunciation. I assume the accent is in the first syllable?

yes - a put a real nasal n sound into it - helps to have a big nose however for that

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<b>New Question</b>

I need to buy tix for September 13th going Paris to Angers. I just went on voyages-sncf to look at tickets. They do sell regular priced tickets for that day. But am I correct to assume there will be PREMs available when I check tomorrow (June 13th)?

I looked at the same itinerary for September 12th, and there are definitely PREMs available for sale today.

Yes, the reservation opens 3 months (not 90 days) ahead. I reserved on 11 June, Geneva - Marseill for 11 September.

UPDATE:

I just bought 2 PREM tickets for Sept 13 Paris-Angers.

After hearing all these horror stories about buying tix from voyages.sncf, I have to say that the whole process couldn't have been easier! Once I changed the language to English (by changing FR to UK in the url), it was very simple. At least easier than buying from Renfe.

For some reason, the same train offers PREM for &euro;22pp the day before (Friday, Sept 12), but on the day I need the price is &euro;25. I would think prices should be cheaper on Saturdays, no?

Anyway, I feel pretty good about this. 1 down, 2 more tickets to go; but have to wait a few days...