 Poster: A snowHead
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
@Inboard, @Chyvan, @thehighlandcowboy, Interrail themselves have just posted this on Facebook in response to queries about use of an Interrail pass in your home country:
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you can use two travel days regardless of when your pass is valid in your home country. Each outbound or inbound journey must be completed on the same day. For example, if you stay overnight in London and travel to Paris the next day, your two travel days would already be used.
We can offer additional outbound or inbound journeys when a customer lives far from the border and needs extra time to leave the country. If that's the case, please contact our customer service support. |
It's slightly different to my understanding and I thought the but about extra outbound and inbound days my be interesting to those of you who are far from London. |
Agreed. Different to how I understood it and the additional inbound/outbound are interesting! Not sure Manchester counts as far from the border, unless you take into account the jeopardy of taking a train in the UK.......
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
@Inboard, @Chyvan, @thehighlandcowboy, Interrail themselves have just posted this on Facebook in response to queries about use of an Interrail pass in your home country:
| Quote: |
you can use two travel days regardless of when your pass is valid in your home country. Each outbound or inbound journey must be completed on the same day. For example, if you stay overnight in London and travel to Paris the next day, your two travel days would already be used.
We can offer additional outbound or inbound journeys when a customer lives far from the border and needs extra time to leave the country. If that's the case, please contact our customer service support. |
It's slightly different to my understanding and I thought the but about extra outbound and inbound days my be interesting to those of you who are far from London. |
Super interesting - thanks for sharing! Good to know that customer service and the ability to add some bespoke options aren’t dead yet.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| thehighlandcowboy wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
@Inboard, @Chyvan, @thehighlandcowboy, Interrail themselves have just posted this on Facebook in response to queries about use of an Interrail pass in your home country:
| Quote: |
you can use two travel days regardless of when your pass is valid in your home country. Each outbound or inbound journey must be completed on the same day. For example, if you stay overnight in London and travel to Paris the next day, your two travel days would already be used.
We can offer additional outbound or inbound journeys when a customer lives far from the border and needs extra time to leave the country. If that's the case, please contact our customer service support. |
It's slightly different to my understanding and I thought the but about extra outbound and inbound days my be interesting to those of you who are far from London. |
Super interesting - thanks for sharing! Good to know that customer service and the ability to add some bespoke options aren’t dead yet. |
If feels so odd doesn't it! Like there are real humans behind the operation. More of that please.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd be really interested to hear what response someone from Scotland gets if they contact Interrail customer service support and ask for an additional outbound day to cover getting the Sleeper down.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@sugarmoma666, I’m likely to contact them to find out more (we have a interrail trip planned for early September, got tix but no destination yet).
I don’t think this new option is likely to be cost effective for the sleeper. Unless you go for seated sleeper (urgh) you’re paying £195 per twin cabin for the accommodation bit, on top of 1/4 (or whatever) of your interrail pass; if you’re buying an _additional_ day of interrail on top of that simply to cover a sleeper that starts mid-late evening, you’re not making good use of that day’s cost (£60?), so the costs really start stacking up…
I can see this new option as appealing for those of us living outside Edinburgh/ Glasgow who struggle to get the earlier mainline trains to London and then have limited options for getting through the tunnel to Brussels/ Paris. And I suspect I’ll be contacting interrail to find out more about this very soon! (Although that said I’d prefer to break the journey in Brussels or Paris than London as it feels more like being on holiday).
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Can you use one of those tickets for a sleeper in your own country?
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| Origen wrote: |
| Can you use one of those tickets for a sleeper in your own country? |
You can, so long as you start your journey on one of your ‘home country’ days, you’re good until you get off the train.
You have to pay for a bed, but if you just elect to have a seat there’s no supplement.
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Thanks, that’s really helpful. Starting to think about next Jan already!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Sorry if this has been asked, is there a way of working out seat reservation costs without buying an interrail pass?
I'm looking at one to travel back to the UK this summer as flights aren't ideal, but need to figure out the costs vs flights/trains/buses
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| swskier wrote: |
Sorry if this has been asked, is there a way of working out seat reservation costs without buying an interrail pass?
I'm looking at one to travel back to the UK this summer as flights aren't ideal, but need to figure out the costs vs flights/trains/buses |
Rail Europe allow you to see prices and availability without entering a pass number. I'd recommend using the desktop site as the app is awful.
Worth noting that there is 15% off passes until the end of today and then likely to be another sale in July.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Vaguely related as the conversation is very inter-rail based at the moment. My sister and BiL (who live in Sydney) are over at the moment and are interrailing around Europe, because they are Aus residence, the ticket covers their UK travel too, so they used it on all sorts of commuter type trains in and around London (we live in Surrey) while staying with us for a few days before heading off. They can't praise it highly enough. She is vision impaired so registered disabled, and has a "companion" pass in Australia for free travel for any travelling companion. Interrail honoured this, so my BiL's ticket was totally free (they were so surprised, they decided to buy 1st class due to the cost saving), and bought the tickets in the sale, so basically paid 1800AUS$ for 6 weeks travel round UK and Europe 1st class. They are waxing lyrical about every journey, and even had Business premier on Eurostar included with it (I think they had to pay 100EUR to book the seats) and it cover the Zermatt glacier express too. I'm bloody jealous tbh!! We will meet them in Bourg St. Maurice on 13th April on our way from GVA to Val D'Isere.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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It looks like the Eurostar Snow train to Bourg Saint Maurice via Lille will now run outbound on Saturday and return on both Saturdays and Sundays. The Saturday return fitting with week long accommodation could make this a viable option for more people. (TBH, if this involves traveling all the way to the Alps on Eurostar trains rather than the far nicer TGVs for the French leg, I think I'll likely stick with going via Paris.)
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Correct. Change at Lille involved, so it will not be Eurostar train all-the-way. There’s no requirement to book accommodation at the same time either as far as I can see. Tickets go on sale on July 10th 2025.
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You know it makes sense.
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@sugarmoma666, thanks for highlighting the change to the return timetable. That's much more sensible, and having the choice of a Saturday or a Sunday is a nice bonus for those who have a bit of flexibility about when they return to the UK. Hopefully prices will be sensible, and maybe even creep back towards what they were before the direct service was cancelled.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| kditrj2d wrote: |
| Correct. Change at Lille involved, so it will not be Eurostar train all-the-way. There’s no requirement to book accommodation at the same time either as far as I can see. Tickets go on sale on July 10th 2025. |
Are you sure? I thought they were using Eurostar train sets last year. They're operated by Eurostar rather than SNCF.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| kditrj2d wrote: |
| Correct. Change at Lille involved, so it will not be Eurostar train all-the-way. There’s no requirement to book accommodation at the same time either as far as I can see. Tickets go on sale on July 10th 2025. |
Are you sure? I thought they were using Eurostar train sets last year. They're operated by Eurostar rather than SNCF. |
Last year it was a standard Eurostar from St Pancras to Lille; and then an (old) Thalys train to Bourg St Maurice, albeit now branded as Eurostar since they bought Thalys.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| kditrj2d wrote: |
| Correct. Change at Lille involved, so it will not be Eurostar train all-the-way. There’s no requirement to book accommodation at the same time either as far as I can see. Tickets go on sale on July 10th 2025. |
Are you sure? I thought they were using Eurostar train sets last year. They're operated by Eurostar rather than SNCF. |
Last year it was a standard Eurostar from St Pancras to Lille; and then an (old) Thalys train to Bourg St Maurice, albeit now branded as Eurostar since they bought Thalys. |
Possibly even worse?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| Possibly even worse? |
Perhaps, the ex-Thales train was quite old rolling stock, but it was good enough for a comfortable ride to Bourg. For me it’s still an easier and quicker journey than going via Paris, which is a priority above the comfort and modernity of the carriages used.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
@Inboard, @Chyvan, @thehighlandcowboy, Interrail themselves have just posted this on Facebook in response to queries about use of an Interrail pass in your home country:
| Quote: |
you can use two travel days regardless of when your pass is valid in your home country. Each outbound or inbound journey must be completed on the same day. For example, if you stay overnight in London and travel to Paris the next day, your two travel days would already be used.
We can offer additional outbound or inbound journeys when a customer lives far from the border and needs extra time to leave the country. If that's the case, please contact our customer service support. |
It's slightly different to my understanding and I thought the but about extra outbound and inbound days my be interesting to those of you who are far from London. |
That's very different to what they've said in the past! That's good to know.
We've got accommodation booked for the weeks of the 4th of April next year. For us it's the second week of the Easter holidays, but we've booked it because we're going with family and it's their first week. We thought we'd take advantage of being off school by travelling out on the Thursday for a couple of nights in Paris before we go skiing. Means we can take an earlier train out of Paris on the Saturday and arrive in resort earlier.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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hi all, i have a couple of general questions regarding booking trains, that hopefully a few of the train regulars may be able to answer.
just for some context, I am looking to go by train, with my daughter (youth ticket), to Meribel friday 12th December 25 and return on the sat 20th December
i have made a few trips by train to the alps over the years, but majority of them were either the old tour operator party train or overnight from paris, but these were nearly 30 years ago now and unfortunately now defunct.
As a family we normally drive, but for 2 passengers from near London the train seems to make sense financially, though this has bought up a couple of small issues regarding luggage storage on both Saturdays when we ski, which we would not have if we had a car in resort.
so far i have booked the 7am Eurostar out on the Friday, returning late the following Sunday evening, we will have a day sightseeing in Paris before returning to London. I already had the Eurostar tickets (£105 each for a return ticket) for over a year that i have managed to keep on moving to other dates at no additional cost, but thought i may as well use these up on this trip.
plan is to get a train from Paris to moutiers Friday lunchtime, overnight in moutiers (accom already booked) and return to Paris the evening of the following Saturday, then overnight there.
generally, i like to plan everything and book it as soon as i can (am an impatient git!!), but realise that this is not possible with the French side of the train journey, as bookings can be at short notice.
i have looked at "man in seat 61" for some research as well
i have carried out a trial fare finder for dates in September, with a carte advantage card for myself on the trainline website, my daughter will get the same discount as well on my card, which is a good saving as they are capped to a max fare depending on the duration of the train.
so, i have the following questions
1, with the carte advantage card, is the card valid for a year after first purchase of train tickets, i.e. if I buy a ticket travelling on 12-12-25, is it valid for 1year from this date, or the date I have bought the train ticket on release, say in October/November, or is it valid from the date of purchase of the card itself?
I would presumably want to buy it in advance so I have the card no at hand as soon as the fares become available, am not sure if i will need to use again next year, but either way is it just throwing away a few months if i buy it soon?
2, how reliable are the ticket alerts via email on the sncf website?
i have set alerts before on other services, even over different email addresses, and have seemed to have missed them.
obviously, i want to be able to book the trains as soon as they are released to A, guarantee seats. And B, try and get the cheapest possible fares.
3, is there a website that has historical fares/timetables for these routes?
or maybe even what other snowheads paid last season.
any tips for booking will be appreciated
cheers
terry
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Carte advantage is valid for 12 months from the day you pay for it (normally the day you book your first ticket).
Alerts have worked for me ok in the past.
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@terrygasson, we did a few TGV trips last year, all in first class. Bought the Carte Advantage Senior for 49€ per person. Have previously bought it on a Black Friday deal for 25€ but not found in 2024. Tickets as follows:
- Moutiers Salins BLB to Gare de Lyon on Saturday 21st December was 42€ pp.
- Paris to Moutiers leaving 12.45 on Monday 6th January was 51€ pp.
- Moutiers to Paris on Sunday 9th February was 82€ pp.
- Paris to Moutiers on Friday 7th March was 87€ pp but train cancelled due to WW2 bomb found and full refund made. New train on Monday 10th March leaving 12.45 was 103€ pp.
The SNCF alerts are pretty good but sign up for the emails from SNCF connect and you will be notified when the next ticket releases will go on sale. Bonne chance!
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@terrygasson, last year the digital purchase of Carte Advantage changed a bit: you now you state the day you want it to become active - we chose the day before travel ('just in case!).
So even tho I was renewing a carte that expired Dec 13th 2024 (from previous year's early season bookings) I was able to set the start date to Jan 30th 2025 as that was my next travel.
We booked and paid for the tickets in October.
As per @andy1234, email notifications are good.
Prices: I tend to explore traveling at the same day of the week and approx time but in an existing 'open' window. Not scientific, but give a good approximation.
Note - if you buy a 1st class, but have to change in Chambery to the TER you'll be travelling in unreserved 2nd class for that leg of the journey. Best if possible to get the through train - but obviously you lose a certain flexibility in choosing your train.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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cheers all for info so far
@Arctic Roll,
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Prices: I tend to explore traveling at the same day of the week and approx time but in an existing 'open' window. Not scientific, but give a good approximation.
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yes, i did this as well for some dates in September, on the days/times i am planning to travel.
if the costs are similar, the train journey from London to moutiers works out to be around £200 return each.
we could get flights for similar costs, including luggage, but then you have to factor in getting to and from the airport both in the UK and France, plus i have already paid for the Eurostar portion some time ago.
as we are due to travel the week before Christmas, i am hoping the prices/availability will be favourable.
to be honest i was not fussed about first class, unless they will only be a few euros extra, as standard is good enough when i have travelled on sncf recently.
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@Arctic Roll,
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Best if possible to get the through train
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i thought all the trains that start and finish in Paris require a change somewhere, like Chambery or Grenoble?it might be different on a weekend.
i did go via Charles de Gaulle a few years ago on a Saturday morning, and this was direct to moutiers, with a U turn at albertville 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| terrygasson wrote: |
@Arctic Roll,
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Best if possible to get the through train
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i thought all the trains that start and finish in Paris require a change somewhere, like Chambery or Grenoble?it might be different on a weekend.
i did go via Charles de Gaulle a few years ago on a Saturday morning, and this was direct to moutiers, with a U turn at albertville |
There are generally direct trains from Paris to Bourg Saint Maurice from late December through to at least April. These definitely run on Saturdays, with more trains on busier datesalthough only 2 direct trains in each direction for key Easter weekends last year, which sold out within a couple of hours - SNCF were unable to explain why there so few direct trains on these days . Through some of the season at least, I'm fairly sure there are direct trains on other days as well.
The ticket alerts work really well. However, it's usually possible to find out in advance when the tickets will be released, so that you can try and beat the very organised French families.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Mon 16-06-25 19:19; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| kditrj2d wrote: |
Carte advantage is valid for 12 months from the day you pay for it (normally the day you book your first ticket).
Alerts have worked for me ok in the past. |
This isn't correct. You choose the date that you want the Carte Avantage to be valid from when you purchase it, so I generally set it for the date of the first train that I'll be using it on.
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| terrygasson wrote: |
to be honest i was not fussed about first class, unless they will only be a few euros extra, as standard is good enough when i have travelled on sncf recently. |
My experience, which isn't hugely expansive, is that generally booked early enough, the difference between 2nd and 1st class isn't a huge difference, so worth the little extra. As an example, I did UK to Austria back in 2023, the Paris to Austria aspect cost me an extra €50 total to go 1st not 2nd, which I thought well worth the price.
Of course, it might be different on the Paris to Moutiers route, but looking at a random Friday in September, i'm seeing a difference in price from as little as €6. More than worth it in my view.
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You know it makes sense.
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@swskier, if someone is traveling the Paris to Bourg Saint Maurice route for the first time, which passes through beautiful scenery (e.g. along the bank of the lake Chambery is on), I'd personally prioritise getting seats upstairs on the train. The view from up there is much better and it's far less claustrophobic than downstairs. There's very little between the classes on SNCF in terms of comfort (or price at times).
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm with @sugarmoma666 - I always book the top deck for the view and light.
For booking, ticket alerts are normally okay. I also share booking windows at facebook.com/skiflightfree.
You'll find a bunch of case studies at www.skiflightfree.org on there about cost of travel, but the dates you are talking about you should be able to get good prices. I normally take the 08:01, so going an hour earlier you will have plenty of time and options from Paris to Moutiers. As it's a Friday and you can travel early, there won't be as much pressure on prices as later in the day/Saturday. For the return, there will be more demand in the opposite direction, but Saturdays tend to get more expensive more quickly.
I often upgrade to first class as it's sometimes just 10-15 EUR difference. Total fare is usually EUR100-180 return, depending on the time of day/day of week.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@iainm, cheers, will keep a look out for ticket releases, i have submitted a couple of alert notifications via multiple email addresses, just in case one goes into spam etc
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FAQ
