Joy Brunetti

I am still trying to puchase tickets on-line for a train journey from
Paris to Florence on the evening of May 11th. Going through Expedia,
Raileurope, etc. would result in inflated fares. Therefore I was
hoping to go directly through sncf.com to purchase the tickets, but I
am not having much luck there either.

I am inputting the journey listed above with two youth fares in a
two-berth cabin and the fare is quoted at 124 euros. Fine, but then
when I go to checkout, the total for the trip comes to 316 euros.
When I ask for details, it says Passenger 1= 124 euros, Passenger 2=
124 euros, Total= 316 euros. I don't think so.

The tickets wouldn't even be shipped to me, so what's the difference
of 68 euros for? Reservations perhaps? But would those be 34 euros
each? I thought they were about half that cost, and moreover, I
thought they'd be included in the cost of the ticket when they're
mandatory, which they are on this particular overnight trip.

All other european sites, such as trenitalia, let me view timetables
but nothing lets me actually purchase the tickets. And like I said,
any domestic services that I've viewed would let me buy the tickets
but inflate the fares greatly. My ideal option is to wait until I am
in Paris to purchase the tickets, but we arrive only three days before
we head to Italy, and so therefore I don't want to run the risk of
everything being sold out.

Any help on the above would be much appreciated!

Joy

Alan

Joy Brunetti wrote:
    > I am still trying to puchase tickets on-line for a train journey from
    > Paris to Florence on the evening of May 11th. Going through Expedia,
    > Raileurope, etc. would result in inflated fares. Therefore I was
    > hoping to go directly through sncf.com to purchase the tickets, but I
    > am not having much luck there either.
    >
    > I am inputting the journey listed above with two youth fares in a
    > two-berth cabin and the fare is quoted at 124 euros. Fine, but then
    > when I go to checkout, the total for the trip comes to 316 euros.
    > When I ask for details, it says Passenger 1= 124 euros, Passenger 2=
    > 124 euros, Total= 316 euros. I don't think so.
    >
    > The tickets wouldn't even be shipped to me, so what's the difference
    > of 68 euros for? Reservations perhaps? But would those be 34 euros
    > each? I thought they were about half that cost, and moreover, I
    > thought they'd be included in the cost of the ticket when they're
    > mandatory, which they are on this particular overnight trip.
    >
    > All other european sites, such as trenitalia, let me view timetables
    > but nothing lets me actually purchase the tickets. And like I said,
    > any domestic services that I've viewed would let me buy the tickets
    > but inflate the fares greatly. My ideal option is to wait until I am
    > in Paris to purchase the tickets, but we arrive only three days before
    > we head to Italy, and so therefore I don't want to run the risk of
    > everything being sold out.
    >
    > Any help on the above would be much appreciated!
    >
    > Joy


SNCF has a number at which an English speaking agent will answer your call and
you can reserve with him.

Call 011 33 8 92 35 35 39

It's that easy.

bonne route

I've never seen a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see one than be one.

Kathleen Buhr

Buy directly from RailEurope.com it is the easiest and safest way if
you
live in the US, RailEurope is owned by the major european railroads
anyway so why bother booking from european web sites when at the end
you will get almost the same prices but without receiving a ticket or
pass in your mailbox prior to departure...Just my 2 cents
Katie

Hatunen

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 03:12:53 +0100, Arwel Parry
wrote:

    >In message , Kathleen
    >Buhr writes
    >>Buy directly from RailEurope.com it is the easiest and safest way if
    >>you
    >>live in the US, RailEurope is owned by the major european railroads
    >>anyway so why bother booking from european web sites when at the end
    >>you will get almost the same prices but without receiving a ticket or
    >>pass in your mailbox prior to departure...Just my 2 cents
    >Because the price of point-to-point tickets sold by raileurope.com is
    >MUCH higher than the price of tickets bought directly from the railway's
    >local web sites -- RailEurope want you to buy their passes, so they
    >don't tell you about all the cheap offers available locally.

Let's get specific with an example. SNCF shows one way fares from
Paris to Nice for as low as EUR 25 on 15 June, on TGV, while
Raileurope shows one train, an overnight train at about eleven
hours for $105, or about EUR 97, for the same date, a trip that
only takes six hours on the TGV.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Arwel Parry

In message , Kathleen
Buhr writes
    >Buy directly from RailEurope.com it is the easiest and safest way if
    >you
    >live in the US, RailEurope is owned by the major european railroads
    >anyway so why bother booking from european web sites when at the end
    >you will get almost the same prices but without receiving a ticket or
    >pass in your mailbox prior to departure...Just my 2 cents

Because the price of point-to-point tickets sold by raileurope.com is
MUCH higher than the price of tickets bought directly from the railway's
local web sites -- RailEurope want you to buy their passes, so they
don't tell you about all the cheap offers available locally.

--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/