Am trying to figure out the best fare combo for France/Switzerland trip. I%26#39;ve decided that the France/Swiss pass is not worth it, so will be getting tickets from Paris to some point in Switzerland, then will get some sort of swiss pass. I%26#39;m researching best combos -- it%26#39;s dizzying!!!
Question: When I research the point to point fares in the railleurope website (where you can get these passes from home, presumably at the same price as over there), and the TGV websites, the traveleurope quotes are higher. Furthermore, the TGV site has specials that seem not to be adverstised on traveleurope. These rates are non-refundable or transferrable, but can be as much as 1/2 the price!!! Any way for us to take advantage of these from the U.S.??? When I look on the TGV website directions, it explains the how tos for areas 2 and 3 --- and the U.S. is in neither area!!!!
If we%26#39;re not able to take advantage of these specials from the U.S., are there usually specials when one gets there?? It seems to me that these would be the first to go, like airline tickets, especially around the holidays (my travel days to and from Switzerland are the 20th and 27th of Dec, respectively)
Your help and expertise would be appreciated.
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I think I know what you%26#39;re talking about re: those IDEC fares. I researched this very problem on these forums and couldn%26#39;t really find a satisfactory answer. You want them mailed but the US isn%26#39;t listed and the print option doesn%26#39;t show up-is that it?
Did you by any chance say %26#39;Yes%26#39; to the insurance when choosing the special lower fares? What worked for me was declining the insurance. Only then do I suddenly get the %26#39;print ticket%26#39; option. You may want to try that.
Or, as I%26#39;ve seen others suggest, just type in your address as best you can-with France as your selected country but including USA in caps on an alternate line- and according to them, it should arrive at your home.
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I tried and tried and tried again to obtain the advertised specials on
the TGV a couple years ago. Unforturnately I never found a way to have the tickets sent to my home in the USA. I know the SNCF site you can print so it is not a problem.
A friend of mine ultimately ordered the tickets on line for me and had
them sent to a friend of his in Ireland who then forwarded them to me in the States.
Most of the promotion prices need to be ordered 30 days in advance to obtain the cheaper fare.
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Okay...here%26#39;s the deal. TECHNICALLY RailEurope has an agreement with Eurail and its member national railways to act as their exclusive US representative agency...which is why the US is usually NOT on their Country lists. The %26#39;..loophole..%26#39; in this system is that if you order directly through the individual railways%26#39; web sites, you are placing your order at THEIR computers, which are NOT located within the US. You will be charged in the local currency (unless they use %26#39;dynamic conversion%26#39;) and the transaction will technically be completed there. So in your case, you would use FRANCE as your Country...but use your regular US address on the order form. You usually then have the option of collecting your %26#39;paper tickets%26#39; at a train station there (any SNCF train station in France), printing them out on your home computer or having them mailed to you at your US mailing address.
Many of the most deeply discounted fare categories are available ONLY on-line and most ONLY with minimum advance purchase. All of these special fares carry some form of restriction on changes and refunds. The lowest will usually be non-changeable/non-refundable. In addition to this, train fare structures are now much like airfare structures with only a limited number of seats available in certain fare categories. The lowest fare categories usually seel out fast, There will usually be fare variances within the same category for %26#39;..peak..%26#39; and %26#39;..off-peak..%26#39; travel times. So it also usually pays to %26#39;..tinker..%26#39; with the days of the week and times of your intended travel to find the lowest available fare. One of the %26#39;..dirty little secrets..%26#39; that RailEurope knows--and quite literally banks on--is that most travelers are too fixed on an itinerary and/or too lazy to bother.
Since your itinerary includes France and Switzerland, you can probably concentrate your research on--
SNCF-French National Railway / TGV--
www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvHomePage…
http://www.tgv.com/
SBB-Swiss National Railway--
http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
If you are considering one of the RailEurope rail pass products, these MUST be pre-purchased IN the US. You can NOT purchase a RailEurope product overseas.
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To look for airfare competition, try this website:
leisuretraveler.net/discount-airline-locator…
Enter France, Switzerland or any other country and submit to get a list of budget airlines that go from there to anywhere else.
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Ah, got it, thanks all for the websites and the guidance Kidsail, what got me really confused was that in the %26quot;fine print%26quot;, the requirement was that no matter what, the tickets be picked up within a certain number of days of online purchase. For 30-65 days (or something) I think it was a pick up within 15 days. I figured they were trying to prevent people like me buying them remotely!! As one of you suggested -- I have a brother who lives in London - I guess I can always have them sent there (area 2) and he can send to me, I suppose.
In the meantime, I%26#39;m glad I couldn%26#39;t do it because I found out that I might want to go to Lyon on the way....cousin giving birth to first child!!! So I%26#39;m kinda glad I couldn%26#39;t buy them!
Thanks...
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oops, kdksail - wish we could look up others%26#39; posts as we%26#39;re writing! :) Sorry...
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the tickets be picked up within a certain number of days of online purchase. For 30-65 days (or something) I think it was a pick up within 15 days. I figured they were trying to prevent people like me buying them remotely!! As one of you suggested -- I have a brother who lives in London - I guess I can always have them sent there (area 2) and he can send to me, I suppose%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Frankly, I%26#39;m not familiar with the procedures for the Swiss Nationl Railway but there is a slight %26#39;..catch..%26#39; when using the SNCF-French National Railwys on-line purchase system (apart from it%26#39;s occasionally %26#39;fussy%26#39; and user-UN-friendly nature). It will NOT allow you to make a reservation more than sixty(60) days in advance of your date of travel (including return if a round-trip ticket). But otherwise you may collect your tickets at **ANY** SNCF train station (or SNCF Boutique) in France, right up to departure. With SNCF system, all but FULL FARE category %26#39;paper tickets%26#39; may be printed out on your home computer. But the procedure for collecting your tickets at ANY SNCF train station in France (including all those in Paris proper) really is simple and straightforward. The process require that you present ***BOTH*** your SNCF Reservation Confirmation Number ***AND*** the ***SAME*** credit card that you used to make the original on-line purchase. This procedure REALLY does work as simply and easily as it sounds. In less time than you can think what the French expression is for %26quot;..Thank you..%26quot; .... your %26#39;paper tickets%26#39; will be passing across the counter to you.
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