Train travel in Europe , buy tickets from home or in Europe?
 

Family of four going to need train tickets from Paris to London, Brussels to Paris and the Paris Visite. Should I buy tickets before I go from Rail Europe or in Europe??

Easily and more inexpensively available in Europe. RailEurope charges a substantial premium.

The vast majority of "regulars" on this forum (including myself) would recommend buying there. You can buy them all at once, if you prefer - - even at Charles de Gaulle Airport (so called "Roissy", as the French say, for the town in which is it located - - pronounced "wah-see"). <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Rail Europe will be very happy if you buy everything before you go. You will add nicely to itsr bottom line. <BR>The service is very nicely priced -- I find that you only pay Rail Europe about 50 to 70% more. <BR> <BR>For example, if you buy from RE a first class ticket on the TGV from Paris to Lausanne, the cost per ticket is $115 plus a $15 bookihg fee for a total of $130 per seat(That is like in US green dollars,( <BR> <BR>If you buy the same ticket from the SNCF in France, you will pay 89.34 euros. <BR>(I just now looked up the price on the SNCF web site.) One euro right now is selling for 85 cents wholesale bank rate. <BR> <BR>In France, you TGV ticket to Lausanne would cost you about $76. <BR> <BR>(130-76)/ 76 = a cost mark up of 71% <BR>At that rate of mark up, you would pay for 4 adults a total of $304 in France where as if you bought from RE you would pay a total of $520. That is a difference of more than $215 US green ones. Unfortunately, your contribution to the RE bottom line is not considered by the IRS to be a tax deductible contribution to a recognized charity. <BR>You can make your own decision, but I bought my tickets in Paris after I got there.

As long as you will be in Europe for at least a few days before your trip, it's probably better to get them there. But if you're taking a train the same day you arrive or the next morning, or if you'll be travelling on a really popular holiday weekend, you may want to buy them in advance because reservations are required and the major routes do sell out (e.g. reservations are definitely required on the Brussels to Paris Thalys train). However, if you do decide to get tickets in advance, you can usually get them cheaper by not buying through Rail Europe -- I got mine through the Thalys website.

What about Flexipass tickets? Incorporating trips on Thalys and TGV and one Barcelona to Avignon trip?Is that cheaper to get here? <BR>How long before the trip sdoes one need to order them so that they get to you intime?

I just made roundtrip London-paris, reservations on the Eurostar for my family of 4 and I saved myself Approx. $60.00 per ticket instead of using Rail Europe. I will use Rail Europe for the rest of my journey but called Eurostar directly for this part. The number is 011448705186186 and they will send the ticket to the States. <BR> <BR>I purchased the Leisure 1st Class ticket and it cost me 120.00 pounds for adult and 100.00pounds for a child @ $1.60 exchange rate, I estimated on the higher end to be safe. Rail Europe is charging $256.00 for the same ticket.

You can still book/buy your tickets ahead through the railways directly. For the Eurostar, go to www.eurostar.co.uk You can book online, or call Eurostar UK. If you see a good deal on this site, grab it. <BR>For the Thalys, go to http://www.b-rail.be/E/index.html It looks like you can book Eurostar tickets on this site as well (make sure it's Paris/London not Brussels/London). You can buy the Paris Visite pass at any metro station; it may or may not be the most economical, but it IS the easiest (no photo like the carte orange; no keeping track of ten tickets if you buy a carnet); just be sure to buy only the zones you need (1-3) for day to day visiting in Paris, buy RER tickets to Versailles separately. <BR> <BR> <BR>Lisa: The railpasses offered like the Flexipass can ONLY be bought outside Europe

Hi Elvira, <BR> <BR>Just to let you know if you book Eurostar tickets online they will not mail it to you in the States, you will have to call them directly. I did this a few hours ago.

Yes, I'm aware of the various restrictions about mailing and/or pickup. The sites are so detailed that I figure anyone reading them can gather the details to suit their particular needs.

I have compared several ticket prices on Raileurope vs onsite (mainly France thru SNCF) and Raileurope does mark them up but not always that much as others report, usually it seems to me only about $15 fee on top of the regular fare (regardless of the base ticket price). I think major price differences may occur if you compare different fare structures (ie, discount for advance purchase 60 days ahead vs no advance purchase). It depends on the markup and how busy you think your route might be. For example, I need a TGV ticket from Avignon to Paris early July and the SNCF price is about $69 2nd class (485F) vs Raileurope's $82--this is only 18 pct higher. The SNCF price would be only $30 buying 30-60 days ahead, but I gather there is no way you can do that from US as the SNCF site clearly states that you must pick up a ticket reserved online within 7 days of making the reservation if you make it for 10-62 days in the future. So, there's no way you can buy the advance purchase ticket from the US online and be there to pick it up, unless I'm missing something.

Christina: the only way it works is in the following scenario: I will be in Paris June 10; I would like to go to Geneva June 16. If I reserve on the sncf.com, my travel date is 10 days from today, but not over 62 days from today, and I will be able to pick up the ticket within the 7-day time frame. Doesn't work at all for trips starting months from now.