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I have tried for SEVERAL HOURS to book a TGV connection between Paris and Nice for this August and I simply cannot believe how frustrating an experience this has been. I live in the U.S and I have U.S. issued credit cards...I DO NOT want to book via RailEurope....not only are the fares much higher but more importantly the necessary train connections are not available through their website....When I try to book via TGV-Europe.com all of my credit cards are rejected. It is quite clear too that TGV-Europe makes EVERY attempt to re-direct me to this RailEurope site and seems to make it impossible for a U.S resident to avoid this MONOPOLY. I have searched the web and have found countless similar horror stories. Many explanations abound including that the SNCF website limits the maximum amount that can be charged (With a family of six I am easily looking at around 400 Euro each way) So here are my questions...Is there any way for me to purchase a TGV ticket WITHOUT RailEurope? If the only option for ticket delivery is at an electronic kiosk can I go to the ticket window at the rail station with my U.S. credit card and have an agent print it out (my card DOES NOT HAVE CHIP AND PIN)? Any help would be greatly appreciated with this very frustrating experience...
There is a trick to use www.tgv-europe.com in English without being redirected to Rail Europe. Pretend you're hungarian. Just choose Hungary as country of residence (other countries with less know languages my work as well). You'll stay on tgv-europe.com and will keep the site in English. Then later choose ticket collection country "France", and use E tickets. You will be able to pay using any credit card. You won't even have to go to the station. You need to have "3D security" enabled for your Visa or Master cards. For a family of six using an IDTGV service will come to about 270,-
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Heliskier... I have traveled by train in France with and without family. Unless there is a major holiday, you will not have a problem getting tickets from Paris to Nice a few days in advance. This is a major route. As soon as the trains start booking up, if the French train brains see that there is a big demand they add another coach or two. Where you will have a problem is if you try and go the day of. Also keep in your "WTF reserve" is that trains will run late, be delayed or cancelled for a number of reasons...lightning, strikes, etc. There is a much bigger risk of this happening than you not getting tickets if you book a couple of days before. You may be able to find a deal a few months in advance, but I generally wait until I get into town and have never had a problem as long as I booked the at least the day before. That said, I expect there will be a few posters who will read me the riot act. Karl
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And read this: seat61.com/France-trains.htm...
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Success!!! Finally!!! TGV-Europe.com and selected Antarctica as my location. I tried to process the 500 Euro transaction but was denied....HOWEVER...I immediately recieved a credit card fraud alert from CapitalOne Mastercard and they admitted that they had prevented the transaction even though I alerted them last week that this transaction was going to happen. They changed the status and waited on the phone while I tried the transaction again...and this time IT WORKED. So a couple of observations...The US credit card companies are very quick to flag the French Railway Website purchases as potentially fraudulent so you need to have them wait on the phone while you do the purchase AND this notion that one is limited by SNCF 50 Euro per day 300 Euro per week charge limit on a US credit card is apparently not true...Saved myself about150 by avoiding RailEurope
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Well done! All's well that ends well. Enjoy your trip.
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indeed good goings there. ENjoy your trip.
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I'll join the group recommending you spend the entire time in Strasbourg. There is so much to do there even without the... more
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