Looking for a travel agency in Paris for train bookings

[Atri I]

Many thanks to the people on these newsgroups who have provided lots
of good suggestions that have helped me plan my trip to Europe.

I tried to make reservations on sncf.com, but for US residents, they
direct me to raileurope.com. The more I look at raileurope.com, the
more it looks like their services are much more expensive than they
should be.

I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
arrive, to make the bookings.

I did search for agencies on yahoo.fr, but they all seem to specialize
in air tickets, car rental and vacation packages.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Atri

[billfrogg]

I strongly advise the use of American Express, they have done so well
for me in Rome. Try to find a phone number for their Paris travel dept.
If you have an Amex card they charge no fee (last I knew) and without
the card the charge is reasonable. bill frogg
>, Atri I
> wrote:

> Many thanks to the people on these newsgroups who have provided lots
> of good suggestions that have helped me plan my trip to Europe.
>
> I tried to make reservations on sncf.com, but for US residents, they
> direct me to raileurope.com. The more I look at raileurope.com, the
> more it looks like their services are much more expensive than they
> should be.
>
> I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
> would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
> Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
> services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
> the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
> in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
> arrive, to make the bookings.
>
> I did search for agencies on yahoo.fr, but they all seem to specialize
> in air tickets, car rental and vacation packages.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions,
>
> Atri

[Mark Fagan]

I've had good results by calling SNCF's telephone line (they have english
service, wait for the menu instructions). They will answer all questions,
book tickets and mail them to you if you have enough lead time, or you can
pick them up at the station. Their new number is 33.8.92.35.35.39 from
outside of France, 33.08... inside.

"Atri I" > wrote in message
om...
> Many thanks to the people on these newsgroups who have provided lots
> of good suggestions that have helped me plan my trip to Europe.
>
> I tried to make reservations on sncf.com, but for US residents, they
> direct me to raileurope.com. The more I look at raileurope.com, the
> more it looks like their services are much more expensive than they
> should be.
>
> I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
> would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
> Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
> services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
> the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
> in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
> arrive, to make the bookings.
>
> I did search for agencies on yahoo.fr, but they all seem to specialize
> in air tickets, car rental and vacation packages.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions,
>
> Atri

[Phil Richards]

On 11 Sep 2003 17:20:39 -0700 Atri I > said...

> I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
> would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
> Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
> services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
> the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
> in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
> arrive, to make the bookings.

I doubt many agencies would be keen just to take the small amounts
involved just for the reservation fees - they would rather sell you the
full priced tickets.

You'll be better dealing with the French railways themselves. You could
try calling them, booking by phone and collecting them on arrival. They
may ask you however to book them in person at an SNCF ticket counter at
one of the main Paris stations.

--
Phil Richards, London, UK
European Rail Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/europeanrail/

[NC]

"Atri I" > wrote in message
om...
> Many thanks to the people on these newsgroups who have provided lots
> of good suggestions that have helped me plan my trip to Europe.
>
> I tried to make reservations on sncf.com, but for US residents, they
> direct me to raileurope.com. The more I look at raileurope.com, the
> more it looks like their services are much more expensive than they
> should be.
>
> I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
> would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
> Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
> services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
> the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
> in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
> arrive, to make the bookings.

You could try a UK agency, such as Ffestiniog Travel or Rail Choice. They
will probably charge a transaction fee, but are likely to carry out your
instructions and seek discounted tickets, etc. Not sure how they would get
the tickets to you, but you could enquire about delivery to a hotel or other
holding address ?
We've been charged around £10 for arranging tickets from the UK to France on
recent trips for two people.

From our limited use, Rail Choice are efficient if you know what you want
(eg. have researched the timetables in advance). Ffestiniog seem better at
working out complex plans or building itineries from rough ideas. Both seem
capable of making reservations as soon as the relevant train company opens
the train in question to bookings.


Nigel

[Atri I]

Thanks for the excellent suggestion. I called SNCF, and got all the
information. I will finalise my itinerary in a couple of days, and
call back and make the reservations. The only glitch was that even
after selecting the option 2 (for service in English), the person
responding spoke only French. Though I have not really spoken French
for over 13 years, we managed to communicate quite well.

As an example of the cost difference, reservations were 3 euros ($11
on raileurope.com). Couchettes were 15 euros ($28), and the Talgo
passholder fare was 63 euros ($79). I guess it is not an unreasonable
premium to charge for the service offered, but with a bunch of
reservations to make, it adds up rapidly.

I won't need the tickets mailed to me - they will give me a code that
I can use to print the reservation in automatic machines in the train
station, which is really convenient.

On the SNCF web page, under Available Fares >> Other fares > Fare
supplements (see attached below), the rates are lower, but it says
this information is accurate as of 2002. I guess they need to update
it.

I also have not figured out if it possible to make the reservations
online, rather than on the telephone. On the web page, if I click on
"Special fares", the nearest I can come to reservation only is a
"Forfait subscription", which charges only a reservation fee of 1.5
euros (the ticket being paid by a "Forfait" pass). I guess I cannot
use this for Eurail reservations. Any experiences in this?

Thx,

Atri

Fare supplements


On TGV services: seat reservations are included in ticket prices
(full or
reduced-rate fares).

On mainline rail services (excluding TGV/TER): fare supplements
are charge
as follows (extract):

seat reservation: 1.5 €(1)


reservation of reclining seat: 1.5 €(1)


couchette berth: 14 €(1)


couchette berth on overnight service train: 16 €(1)
Temporary local surcharges: in certain regions, a local tax is
levied on
rail travel between designated origin and destination stations.
This tax,
which currently applies to 100 stations, generally a minimum of 2%
of the
ticketed fare and may not exceed 1 €(1). Tax revenues are used to
repay
local authority infrastructure borrowings in the concerned regions
and
remain in force until the corresponding loans are repaid.

(1) All price information is valid as 1st january 2002.





"Mark Fagan" > wrote in message >...
> I've had good results by calling SNCF's telephone line (they have english
> service, wait for the menu instructions). They will answer all questions,
> book tickets and mail them to you if you have enough lead time, or you can
> pick them up at the station. Their new number is 33.8.92.35.35.39 from
> outside of France, 33.08... inside.
>
> "Atri I" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Many thanks to the people on these newsgroups who have provided lots
> > of good suggestions that have helped me plan my trip to Europe.
> >
> > I tried to make reservations on sncf.com, but for US residents, they
> > direct me to raileurope.com. The more I look at raileurope.com, the
> > more it looks like their services are much more expensive than they
> > should be.
> >
> > I will be buying Eurail passes (probably from raileurope.com), but I
> > would like to make some reservations for some night trains and TGV.
> > Can anyone recommend a travel agency in Paris that provides such
> > services? I would like to have them make the reservations for me (on
> > the web, or by e-mail or phone), and I could pick them up when I land
> > in Paris a couple of weeks from now. I would rather not wait till I
> > arrive, to make the bookings.
> >
> > I did search for agencies on yahoo.fr, but they all seem to specialize
> > in air tickets, car rental and vacation packages.
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions,
> >
> > Atri