dedlaw

I booked a trip from Avignon TGV to Roissy for early May -- regular fares as no discounts fares were offered. When I selected the trip I wanted I was asked to choose seats, and it showed me the two seats I would get, or so I thought. When I paid for the tickets and got the confirmation, it says simply that seats are guaranteed. Does anyone know if I'll get the seats I was shown online, or at least seats in the same configuration? Thanks.

kenderina

Yes. You'll get that seats. The numbers must be in the actual ticket.

kerouac

How horrible to have booked at the normal fare! You could have gotten tickets for no more than 20€.

dedlaw

Okay, Kerouac, I'll bite: How might I have gotten tickets for 20 euros (and note that what I've paid for is refundable)? Thanks.

lauraallais

How do you get 20 Euro tickets????

ira

Hi D,

I thought that it was foolish of Kerouac to say that (bad Kerouac), since you already had your tickets.

Look at www.voyages-sncf.com for early May.

I chose a random date. Lowest fare is 93E.

dedlaw

Yup, that's what I'm paying, and the important thing is we're traveling at the right time (just after 9 a.m.) so we can get to our CDG hotel and then kill most of our last day in France in Paris, instead of waiting around for the lower fare trains.

The fares do vary quite a bit. From Paris to Avignon the week before, we're paying less than half as much, and we'll be in first class rather than second. Ah, PREMS.

kerouac

Well, the beginning of May is one of the more expensive times due to the holidays on May 1st and May 8th -- the trains will be jammed with people taking long weekends if not the whole week.

Nevertheless, I searched a couple dates and the lowest fares I got were 62€ out of CDG or 52€ out of Paris.

I always take a trip to Avignon in July every year, and I generally pay around 30-40&euro; each way, usually in 1st class. The lowest possible fare is 19&euro; to go across France by TGV, but you have to be really quick to snap those up, usually on the www.idtgv.com site -- but the normal SNCF also sells the <i>idtgv</i> tickets when they are still available.

kerouac

Oh, I just checked the <i>idtgv</i> site and saw that the same dates I looked at on <i>voyages-sncf</i> are going for 32.90&euro; on <i>idtgv</i>.

kerouac

However, <b>idtgv</b> goes out of Paris-Gare de Lyon and not CDG.

lauraallais

What is the difference from idTGV and TGV? Is it just that idTGV has quite areas?

Christina

It's just a term for different routes, that's all. It's nothing you have to know.

kerouac

IDTGV is a different company (albeit 100% owned by the SNCF) which hooks separate TGV cars onto other TGV trains and sells the seats differently.

This is in preparation of the complete opening of the EU train market, which foreign trains will roll on French rails and the IDTGV can rent traction on trains in other countries.