some train questions
 

Hi,
Planning a trip to Amsterdam, Brussels & Luxembourg from Paris in June. Plan to travel by train. Need to know how to book tickets online for Thalys (Paris to Amsterdam) and TGV (Luxembourg to Paris).
If there are no such options of buying tickets online, is it advisable to wait till June & buy the tickets before boarding the train?
Also, from Amsterdam to Brussels & from Brussels to Luxembourg, I am planning to buy tickets before boarding the train. Do you think that's wise?
If not, how else to go about it?

please help.

Thanks.

>Need to know how to book tickets online for Thalys (Paris to Amsterdam) and TGV (Luxembourg to Paris).

Tickets are sold directly by the operators (SNCF resp. Thalys), online as well as in the stations.
www.voyages-sncf.com
www.thalys.com
Leave the country as France. You get printable tickets.

>If there are no such options of buying tickets online, is it advisable to wait till June & buy the tickets before boarding the train?

No, the cheap fares will be gone by then. You have serious chances of paying less than 1/2 of the full price if you book 2-3 months in advance.

>Also, from Amsterdam to Brussels & from Brussels to Luxembourg, I am planning to buy tickets before boarding the train. Do you think that's wise?

The only "problem" is that you should plan 1/2 h before departure to buy the tickets - since you want international ones, they won´t be sold from the ticket machines, only from the desk, and you might ahve to wait in line for a while.
(or go to any travel office with a railway sign on the door and buy both tickets - it will be faster and more comfortable)

You could also go by Thalys from Amsterdam to Brussels, in which case you can buy the ticket online. It will probably, but not necessarily, be more expensive than buying an IC ticket on the day (or the day before). You can buy tickets for Belgium from Dutch ticket machines. Just remember they don't take credit cards.

Have a look at www.ns.nl and click on English - there you will also find an explanation of the machines.
For Thalys etc tickets you can also use www.nshispeed.nl/en. Compare the prices for a Thalys ticket and an IC ticket at these sites. If the Thalys is cheaper book it.

Thanks for the advice. However, it seems Thalys ticketless is only for Europeans. I stay in Asia & while trying to register for Thalys Ticketless, my address & phone no. is posing a problem.
What does an Asian do if she wants to book tickets online for her European holiday? :(

>What does an Asian do if she wants to book tickets online for her European holiday?

Leave the country in the drop-down menu as France or Belgium. After all your ticket is a PDF file which can be printed everywhere.

Hi S,

A: If you get PREMS or SMILY fares, you can print your ticket online. Leave the country as France.

B: If you can't do that, leave the country as France and have your tickets mailed to you at your hotel.

Notify the hotel that you will be getting mail.

C: It might be cheaper to get to Amsterdam by buying a TGV ticket to Brussels and a regular train ticket to A when you get to B.

The THALYS is not a high-speed train on the B/A route.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))