London to Bourg Ski Train is Back in 2023/24 (sort of)

A snowHead

@Lucywuk, yes - I bought ours end of Sept (during a discount period); elected that it starts 15th Dec.; and went and bought tickets for 16th straight away.

A snowHead

Perfect

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Any idea when 27th Jan will be open to book as need a return journey from Paris to BSM?? If not is it cheaper to book a return or are 2 single trips same price on the TGV? Thank you

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@clarkey321, information here:

https://www.sncf-voyageurs.com/en/travel-with-us/in-france/mainline-cards-and-fares/avantage-card/avantage-adulte/

Whether it's worth it or not depends on the prices at the time. It's likely to be worth it, though.

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@clarkey321, booking should be open next Friday/Saturday - looks like they are opening 3 months ahead at the moment. I don't think there's any discount for buying a return journey.

If you search on https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/ you can set a reminder for when tickets go on sale, and compare the prices with/without the SNCF card

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After all it is free

For the SNCF card it depends how old your children are. If they are 11 and under then they also get 60% discount

@clarkey321, the other option to consider is the Interrail single country, 3 day pass. https://www.interrail.eu/en

Buy the interrail passes, then reserve your tickets on the relevant TGVs (TERs don't need reservations -but a day's travel is a day's travel, so included).
Remembering to fill in your journey either on their app or paper based system for the ticket inspectors on top of having your SNCF reservation. (I forgot last year... oops, got wrist slapped, but no lasting damage)

Importantly, in order to get to your designated country (ie France!) you do get a significant discount on the E-star element of the journey. If you haven't managed to secure one of the 'early bird' discounts, this can work out cheaper than buying the 'proper' tickets and was the way we 've done it the past two or three visits.

(note that if your first leg is on 20th Dec. you have until 20th Jan to use, it's not a calendar month)

The SNCF card is like the Network Rail pass in the UK (or in my case, Seniors railcard...), plus, as above, you get child advantages too if appropriate. All the details are on the website. We got one during a discount period this summer, have 'paid for it' on our return journey from Les Arcs at Christmas ( going out via the "Eurostar change at Lille" thing - to which it doesn't apply) - will use again later in the year. If buying at full price, you may need both legs to cover the costs.

Quick aside: SNCF First class is a very small uplift and is nice, especially for the extra space: but they don't run to free food at the weekends. Or entitle you to lounge access. Nevertheless, should be considered.

And a second aside: I'd like to see SeatFrog expand to Europe. Now that IS a bargain - We love it!

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In relation to the Avantage Card, it doesn't give a discount on everything, but I received an email last week telling I'd save EUR151 in the last year (on an outlay of EUR49)
https://skiflightfree.org/sncf-carte-advantage-save-money-on-french-train-bookings/

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snow reports

@sugarmoma666, Yes, it does.

https://www.interrail.eu/en/support/interested-in-interrailing/can-i-travel-with-interrail-in-my-own-country - which talks about how you get from your country of origin to the "one country ticket" you've booked. Which is fine if you are in Germany say, and book a French single country pass - get a train across the border, and it's covered.

For us Brits we need to travel via Eurostar However, E-star as a company don't accept the full whack, so it's a discount ticket, not a freebie.

HTH

Hi, does anyone know if it will be possible to get from Lille to Bourg Saint Maurice on a direct train on the final Saturday in March (31st), or even from Paris? I can't see one listed but it may be too far in advance or they may have stopped the service by then. TIA

You know it makes sense.

@rambotion, from experience of past years there will not be a direct from Lille on a Sunday - you will almost certainly have to change in Lyon - some require 2nd change in Chambery. From Paris there are likely to be several direct trains throughout the morning - taking around 5 hours.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Anyone know if the overall ticket prices for eurostar + TGV tend to shoot up once the TGV leg becomes available?

In years past when I have checked in December it has been nearly 200 quid per leg!

Considering buying the Eurostar separately in advance to avoid that.

A snowHead

@Ruswit, no idea as I've always bought them separately to get the best deals on each leg. Eurostar is so much cheaper when the tickets are released and prices had already gone up significantly on my latest trip even before the TGV tickets were released. You also get a greater choice of trains by booking the Eurostar and TGV separately.

Based on how low a percentage of the Eurostar passengers have been skiers when I've travelled, I'd be surprised if release of the TGV tickets makes that much difference to prices.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@Arctic Roll, that link says that you can use the Interrail Global pass to travel from your home country but not the One Country pass. Am I missing something? (I've used the Global pass for travel from Oxfordshire to Moutiers, so know that works, but it's very marginal in terms of whether it's a saving on buying tickets direct.)

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@Lucywuk, our return trains work out at about £167/person, so of order £190 if I add in the cost of the Advantage card split between 2 people. (the Advantage card will must likely get used again, so the "cost" on this holiday will be less.)

We're staying in Paris on the way out, so there's another ~£63 per head for that. We could get the return transfer on the bus from the station to hotel, door to door, for €16/person, but will must likely shell out for a taxi on at least the outbound, as we're keen to get skiing as quickly as possible.

By the time I've added in the costs of luggage (inc skis) and a lengthy transfer from the airport to resort, I can't get even close to those prices booking now.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@sugarmoma666, is the advantage card only a financial benefit if you travel more than once a year on SNCF services? I.e would one Eurostar + tgv holiday benefit from the purchase. (Purchasing for a couple)

After all it is free

@Ruswit, the Advantage card is only for SNCF trains. We've saved more than the cost on a single trip for a couple. You can compare the prices with and without the card on the SNCF website. (Don't use Trainline, as they charge you an admin fee and also they're terrible to deal with if something goes wrong.)

@sugarmoma666, well, it's always been cheaper for us So what can I say?
Yes, the global ticket does allow you to travel in your own country - but would not have been worth it for us, as our train to London was already a lot less than the uplift from single country . But the single country certainly does allow you train travel to get to that country.

Admittedly it was a rail aggregator that booked the tickets ( Rail Canterbury - who have now , unfortunately, shut) but the price shown on the E-star leg was significantly reduced over what we would normally pay - and hence made it worthwhile.

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@Lucywuk, that's including the return trip on the Eurostar. We're only going as far as Albertville this time, so that might be saving us a bit. I have travelled 1st class on the TGVs but didn't find it worth the extra money so don't bother. I'd be tempted if travelling on my own, so I could get one of the single seats.

It's very likely I'll get further use out of the Advantage card. The last one I had was used for 2 return trips as a couple and one on my own. Last Easter, when it had run out (and I was a bit late booking trains) it worked out cheaper to use an Interrail pass, which also covered the return trip from Oxon for London. My guess is that for folk further afield, the Interrail pass would work out very good value. It certainly did for my traveling companion from Cardiff.

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You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

For those who need to travel by train to London to get the Eurostar, it's likely worth buying a ticket to London International CIV, as explained on this page:
https://www.seat61.com/european-travel-from-uk-regions.htm#buy-a-ticket-to-london-international-civ

A snowHead

Indeed, been using those CIV from our local for a while. AND the railcard 30% discount is also applicable. AND is valid for a month return, unlike our normal route where you can’t get a period return, you just pay for two singles when a week apart…AND in Maidenhead, unlike seat61 suggests, it is cheaper than the off peak.(just!)

So what would cost us usually £35+ comes in at £14- sweet.

But didn’t know about the onward advantages: that’s certainly worth knowing.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Does anyone know if there is a way to benefit from the SNCF carte avantage when booking a eurostar + TGV combo through eurostar as one purchase? Even if it is just on the TGV leg.

Help!!

London to Bourg Ski Train is Back in 2023/24 (sort of)

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