PalenQ

wicjr - Like spaarne says you used to be able at least to use an American credit card at the International booking office in Amsterdam Centraal station and also I have used one at the International booking office at Schiphol airport train station. But of course those things can and do change and I have not done that for a few years now. and there also can be a minimum amount of euros needed to use any credit card perhaps. thanks for mentioning that - next time in Amsterdam I will check it out to see if changed.

PalenQ

wicjr - Like spaarne says you used to be able at least to use an American credit card at the International booking office in Amsterdam Centraal station and also I have used one at the International booking office at Schiphol airport train station. But of course those things can and do change and I have not done that for a few years now. and there also can be a minimum amount of euros needed to use any credit card perhaps. thanks for mentioning that - next time in Amsterdam I will check it out to see if changed.

Pat_in_Mich

bookmarking

PalenQ

A thot - a lot of Dutch buy tickets online and I wonder if an American credit card can be used on sites like www.ns.nl or www.high-speed.nl (? exact name) - the two sites of Netherlands Spoorwegen (sp?) or Railways?

luv2cthings

<<a lot of Dutch buy tickets online and I wonder if an American credit card can be used on sites like www.ns.nl or www.high-speed.nl (? exact name) - the two sites of Netherlands Spoorwegen (sp?) or Railways?>>I will be trying this within the next few days and will let you know. If I have any difficulty with the www.nshispeed.nl/en site, I will try the Belgian site (www.b-europe.com/Travel).

luv2cthings

<<a lot of Dutch buy tickets online and I wonder if an American credit card can be used on sites like www.ns.nl or www.high-speed.nl (? exact name) - the two sites of Netherlands Spoorwegen (sp?) or Railways?>>

As a follow-up, I just successfully booked tickets (Schipol to Brugge) online at the Belgian website - www.b-europe.com/Travel ; I used the Belgian website to save 2.5 euro which is added on at the Dutch website. Used my U.S. (Capital One) Visa card successfully.

PalenQ

Thanks - since you have a credit card with no % fee for foreign transactions you came out great - others however who would have to pay a not untypical 3% that their credit cards charge may find they pay more online in advance. You probably have to cancel those tickets yourself before boarding the train since I believe at least they are open-ended tickets to be used on any train within an overall longer time frame.

luv2cthings

PalenQ - actually, the tickets you print at home are only valid on the day selected. Our travel plans are firm, so that shouldn't be a problem for us.

hetismij

Home printed tickets are valid for the day selected, and for the person named on that ticket - the conductor may ask for some ID with a home printed ticket.

luv2cthings

hetismij - I assume we don't need to validate the home printed tickets or do anything else before boarding the first train?

Pat_in_Mich

Hey luv2cthings,

Thanks for sharing your experience with buying the tickets online from the Belgian site. I was able to do the same.

luv2cthings

Pat, glad to hear it - from a Michigan native.

PalenQ

hetismij - I assume we don't need to validate the home printed tickets or do anything else before boarding the first train?>

Well if they are good on any train that date I would assume you may have to validate them yourself - it cannot hurt anyway to have them date cancelled in a machine. Hetismij hopefully will know!

PalenQ

The danger of not validating if they in fact need to be validated could be a hefty fine as these trains often operate on the honor system with frequent enough spot checks for miscreants riding without valid tickets as you would be considered if you did not validate a ticket than was required to be self=validated - I would ask a train person in the station or on the platform if in doubt because if it is not train-specific I would assume you have to validate it.

luv2cthings

PalenQ - Thanks for the comments re: validation. I will follow your advice.

PalenQ

luv2things - I am a Migander as well!

spaarne

Migander? I've been here for years and never heard that word.

Xandria_AbdulSani

HI Everyone, i hope this is the right place to ask. Im planning to traveling with my 3Y old daughter to Europe starting sometimes on April 2013, this is our first trip to europe and i am hoping i can get all the info for this trip. we are going to start our journey from Paris to Amsterdam (by train) and afterwards from Amsterdam to Bruges (by train) and from there we are planning to go to Grasse to sightseeing the perfumes factory and end it in Paris. Now my question how to book the easiest, cheap & comfy way (considering am traveling with toddler)to book those train ticket, is it pre-book by online or just direct buying from the ticket window at the train station? what are the distances from each destination to another, does those trains have a toilet (to change nappy?)

Another thing is, if anyone could tell me the places of interest that we should go and visit in those countries that i've mentioned, that would be highly appreciated

Sincerely,
Xandria

PalenQ

cheapest way Xandria is by far to pre-book French tickets at www.voyages-sncf.com the French Railways web site - but flying can even be cheaper if you can get a ticket on the likes of Ryan Air or Easy Jet from Paris to Nice (Grasse near there).

Dee_Dee

bookmarking!