 Poster: A snowHead
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My understanding is that Rail Europe are owned or linked to SNCF and are the official UK sales agent for SNCF tickets.
Who are TGV Europe? Are they also linked to SNCF?
Does it make any difference whether I buy train tickets through Rail Europe or TGV Europe, other than the obvious one that Rail Europe fares are in sterling and TGV Europe in Euros?
TGV Europe prices seem to sometimes come out earlier than Raileurope ones so are TGV Europe the more reliable of the two companies or are they all part of the same company SNCF?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowymum, Have a look at this site. It's got all sorts of useful information about buying tickets and the difference between companies.
http://www.seat61.com/
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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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snowymum, I only use TGV Europe or SNCF Voyages when booking trains as I think that Rail Europe impose a service charge on top of the fare. Having used the SNCF voyages and TGV Europe websites multiples times I only have praise once then release the tickets as they send them in the post quite quickly.
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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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And you can even print them off at home in some cases.
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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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snowymum, dunno, but I tried a mock booking over the weekend with both and couldn't get a result, I was trying to get a London to Moutiers and it kept telling me no can do. Yet if I tried the legs seperately I could easily get a London-Paris and then a Paris-Moutiers
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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 never use Raileurope because it often ends up more expensive and it is less flexible in terms of mixing travel classes for different legs and having longer or shorter stopovers in Paris
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sarah, I don't think TGV Europe sell the direct trains to Moutiers etc. It is Eurostar who sell the tickets for these trains and I think they only run on fridays and the weekend. They might not release their tickets until 3/4 months beforehand, which is currently the major problem with booking train tickets.
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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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Christopher, snowymum, I don't mind about the train being the direct one, I'm ok to go via Paris but I would have wanted to book it as one journey with one company for ease, but it didn't seem possible. Maybe this was with Rail Europe, thought I had tried both, as was also trying Eurostar, but might not actually have tried TGV Europe. Will try again!
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sarah, I have never really been bothered by that. Doesn't take much effort to get booking pages for both Eurostar and TGV alongside each other to coordinate the times.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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snowymum, i've always used voyages SNCF. it's in French but nothing too complicated for my GCSE level French!
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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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Christopher, thanks, if I go that route, how much time should I allow between the two trains?
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sarah, If you're doing it for the first time Gare du Paris > Gare du Lyon I would give an hour. The least I've left is 40 minutes and it was tight as my TGV was 15-20mins late and caught by Eurostar with only 15-20mins spare. Assuming you're happy to take the the RER (Metro) it is a 15 minute journey without changes and I think far cheaper and quicker than a taxi.
Be careful of pick pockets as it is apparently a problem. I have done this twice alone without major problems.
This explains quite a lot of the detail: http://www.snowcarbon.co.uk/how-change-paris/transfer-paris-nord-paris-lyon
So does this website: http://www.seat61.com/Paris-metro.htm
Gare du Lyon has two different areas to the station the main concourse and an area tucked away a little called the Salle Méditerranée. It is all signposted with large timetables, but be careful that you find the right one in time.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Mon 21-11-11 23:41; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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Christopher, thanks, very useful, and I have now got TGV Europe with the through journey. Expensive though 
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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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sarah, Yeah it works out cheaper normally to change in Paris. For future reference the only way it seems to garuntee cheap fares on the TGV is to literally book the morning the tickets go on sale, which is 3 months in advanced.
Enjoy as it is much more pleseant and less delay prone than flying.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Christopher, Is that a rolling 3 months or does the "whole" month go on sale at once? 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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Tony Ellwood, Rolling sale. New tickets released everyday. If I remember rightly it works along the lines of if you want to book for say the 7th March they get released at 23:00 GMT on the 6th December as they get released at midnight European time. The reason to book then is the limited Prems tickets, which are dirt cheap compared to what the prices get raised to. Have in consecutive years managed to get Paris to Bourg St.Maurice or Oulx for €40-50 return, which is a bargain going on a steal in my book.
I can't even get a return train from Oxford to Leeds with a student railcard and advanced fares for those price on what I regard as a far inferior service.
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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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If anyone under 30 is thinking of making several journeys in Europe, the French under 26 card is currently available up to the age of 30. Gives discounts of French fares, but also for some other European countries (but not UK).
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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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I'm doing the Paris to Bourg St Maurice overnight trip. Does TGV Europe get the cheap tickets (normally available midnight on day of issue, earlier than Rail Europe? Are they both French time? A few minutes can make a difference as they go fast.
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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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I'm trying to book the lunea from Paris to Bourg St Maurice overnight on the 25th Jan. Tried both SNCF and Raileurope, but not taking bookings, the timetables are not avaiable yet due to engineering works.....not sure if anyone can offer advice, my whole trip is based on using the overnight, local French route. They advertise it is a daily service? Booking lines are useless, get no answers at all and can't give any dates of when timetables will be confirmed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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TGV-Europe is an English language version of Voyages-SNCF. Tickets usually go on sale at 6am 3 months prior to the travel date on a rolling basis. RailEurope is more expensive and is best avoided. It is generally cheaper to buy Eurostar separately and then use TGV-Europe for the leg from Paris to the mountains.
I work with SNCF, so this information is current.
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Thanks crunchie, I already have my Eurostar for March. Thay came on line about 11.40 British time.
Just waiting to get the Austerlitz couchette tickets to Bourg St M. Wasn't sure if TGV Europe was just TGV trains or all French trains.
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Good luck with the couchette.....still trying to book mine for Jan....claiming engineering work may divert the route or cancel.....
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FAQ
The office was also shut for New Year weekend. Fortunately we discovered TGV Europe at that point.