 Poster: A snowHead
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I am having trouble booking tickets for Feb half term-has anyone had any luck yet? When I phoned Rail Europe they came up with a deeply unsatisfying (and unconvincing) response of 'technical problems, keep an eye for when they become available'. Have you had this sort of reply or have you fared better?
Many thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kevin mcclean, I didn't think they would be available yet. Have you tried the SNCF or TGV site?
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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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Just checked SNCF site, it says they aren't released yet.
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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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Hi Kevin,
I'm having the same problem with booking the couchette down to Briancon in January... Apparently the company in charge of engineering working on the line wants to do some work, but hasn't told sncf what the arrangements are yet...? Which is hard to believe, but its the consistent vague answer from both Rail Europe and from the french comments boards on the sncf website... It's so frustrating!!! and that they don't seem to be conscious that vague answers look really un-professional... grrr
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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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According to the email I received from raileurope they should have been available on November 4th from 5 am.
"The Big Winter Rush
Many people ask us what the best way to get the lowest priced train tickets is. The answer is always the same - book early to get the best fares. Booking windows, the period when you can book your train tickets, normally open 120 days in advance of the date you want to travel for Eurostar journeys, and 90 days in advance for most other European services, however this changes slightly over the winter.
We recognise that Christmas is one of the busiest periods of the year when people are travelling. To give everyone the best chance to get the lowest priced tickets, some of the booking windows are opened for our most popular routes earlier and for extended periods.
If you are planning to travel using SNCF domestic services (for example high speed TGV, Overnight Lunéa, or local French trains) on or between 12th December 2010 - 13th January 2011; the booking window for getting your tickets opens on: Wednesday 13th October 2010 at 5:00am.
In order to cater for avid skiers or families looking for a Spring half term getaway, we also have an extended window for travel on or between 4th February - 14th March 2011, for people wishing to use SNCF domestic routes and TGV Lyria (services between Paris and Swiss cities such as Geneva, Bern, Basel, Lausanne and Zurich). This window opens on: Thursday 4th November 2010 at 5:00am
For travel between 14th January and 3rd February, or after March 15th 2011, the normal booking window of 90 days will apply.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I would check daily on the TGV europe and rail europe websites for the briancon train. I booked this train a few years ago and was told it would be available 3 months before. However it suddenly appeared 3 months and one week before.
Which resort are you going to? Maybe you could also look into the daytime TGV service to Oulx. There is a Resalp bus from Oulx to Montgenevre and Briancon. This train involves french and italian timetables so will probably be available when the Italian timetable comes out mid December. Look on snowcarbon website for more info.
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| Quote: |
the Saturday night direct sleeper service appears to run only until 4th Dec then suddenly disappears from the schedule
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yep, this is what I was talking about, and then just a long line of excuses( consistent though, so probably true)... the SNCF forum seems the best place ~( well as fast as asking RailEurope)!
French Rail workers- true LOL  and yes I'm also becoming what is known as slightly obsessive about checking the websites- twitch, twitch
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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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I have, in the past, through judicious use of the F5 key, successfully nailed the deals within 5 seconds of them appearing on the SNCF site - funny though, the cheap PREMS fares, a limited number of which are supposedly available on every train, were all gone! 5 seconds? I don't think so! So I assumed they hadn't issued any on that train. However 1 solitary PREMS place turned up later that day after a cancellation suggesting they did exist after all.
There was absolutely no way they had sold in 5 seconds so I spent quite a while trying to work out how they had been accessed in advanced of the normal on-line booking horizon. But to no avail: RailEurope were totally clueless and SNCF just e-pouted and teleshrugged at me.
I would love to promote rail as a way to the mountains especially for the bashes and I have tried but it's just too mind-bogglingly complex to book when there are more than a few of you and even then it's a faff.
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Many thanks everyone for the comments and clarifications. I guess I'd just better keep an eye on things. I'm keen to go to Briancon because a train ticket, hotel and lift pass for Serre Che can be got £500 for a week in half term. Not quite your Ski Solutions solution!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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admin, hard enough to organise for a couple of people sometimes, never mind a group. It should be possible, but doesn't seem to be easy.
I remember going to Pyrenees by chartered train in the 80's (Lourdes pilgrimage).
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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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Yes, I did that pilgrimage too! Ave-Maria........and all that!
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Hi - I'm from Rail Europe and just wanted to address some of the comments that have been made during this thread. We know that rail travel isn't the most straight forward thing to book, and I do understand how frustrating it can be if you can't get the information you're looking for or book the train that you need. We get equally as frustrated as you do when we can't access information or book certain routes. True, we are owned by SNCF, but that doesn't always mean that we have all the information at our fingertips. We are reliant on them sharing the information with us, and in the case of a route like Paris to Briancon, we were expecting to be able to book it as soon as the winter booking horizon opened. We weren't given any indication that it wouldn't be available. We've since found out that the reason that we're unable to book that journey yet is because there are engineering works being planned for that route. The timetables haven't been released yet by SNCF and until the works are confirmed and SNCF know exactly when they will be able to run trains on the lines, the tickets won't be made available for sale. I know it sounds unfeasible that the two companies involved haven't reached agreement yet, but that is the case, and its not the first time I've come across a situation like this. I don't know if you've seen it, but we have a Facebook page - www.facebook.com/RailEuropeUK - and we're more than happy to deal with anyone's questions or problems through that channel. If you have a query that we don't have an answer for, we'll do our best to find out for you by contacting the train operator direct. The last thing we want is to leave potential customers feeling like we're not offering the sort of service we should be. Please get in touch through Facebook and we'll do our very best to get you the information you need.
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You know it makes sense.
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| kevin mcclean wrote: |
| Yes, I did that pilgrimage too! Ave-Maria........and all that! |
I will refrain from further comment other than to say the Pyrenees were lovely.
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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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FAQ
) Apparently according to the SCNF debates forum the tickets for January- February will come online for sale gradually over this week and next... Follow this link for more info
