F1Ape
Full Travel Member
Posts: 23
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Post by F1Ape on Feb 25, 2003 10:06:27 GMT -5
Ive decided to go with point to point tix instead of a rail pass. So.. would it be more advisable to wait until i get to europe to buy these? Or look online and prepurchase?? Anyone know any good sites, besides raileurope, for purchasing point to point tix? ....and why cant an american purchase tix from the TGV site? does the USA have some kind of ban on these?
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Post by LHR02 on Feb 25, 2003 10:34:10 GMT -5
Nit is your man for this! ;D He'll be along later.....
ging
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Post by Kim on Feb 25, 2003 11:07:33 GMT -5
Definately wait until you get there-the online companies add a surcharge and often a shipping charge for point to point tickets.
Definately cheaper to just buy them at the train station.
Plus, you may not know exactly what time you want to go at until you get there.
Kim
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Post by nitsansh on Feb 25, 2003 20:18:45 GMT -5
Could you be more specific about your travel plans?
Where and when you go? and why did you decide against a pass? and what about other transport means? there are cheap flights to many places, and buses...
Also, it's very important to know how old are you... are you travelling solo?
Some rail companies offer discounted APEX tickets, which you would better buy in advance... it may be possible to book tickets online (or by phone) and collect them at a station...
Once you get to Europe, you can buy tickets at travel agencies at the nominal fare, or at most stations, even for travel in other countries...
In my last trip, I met a guy in Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic) who bought all his train tickets in Germany... (he did a bad deal... they are cheaper in Chech Rep)
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F1Ape
Full Travel Member
Posts: 23
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Post by F1Ape on Feb 26, 2003 17:04:29 GMT -5
Ok here is my situation:
May 4 - May 20
2 American Travelers
22 yrs old
Going from Paris to Bern via TGV
then to Interlaken/Gimmelwald
Then to somewhere in italy( florence, or bologna probably)
then ending up in Rome
Ive looked into air tickets but nothing really matched my destinations.
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Post by nitsansh on Feb 26, 2003 17:48:31 GMT -5
You have only 3 travel days as I understand, and my rough estimate is that tickets will cost no more than 150$ per person.
Therefor, you are right that rail pass is not worth it...
You have 2 options of travel to Interlaken: TGV to Bern or night train to Basel or Zurich.
If you travel to Firenze, you might have a night train. Bologna woud probably be too short for night travel. The shortest route to Italy from Interlaken is via Spiez-Brig-Domodossola-Milano. If you have spare time, I suggest to stop at Lago Maggiore and visit Isole Borromee (in particular Isola Bella and Isola Madre). They should be at their best in May when the flowers bloom...
Presumably your best ticket is BIJ, which you can only buy in Europe. Or you can buy J30 ticket for the French leg AND BIJ for the remaining journey. Ticket sale start 2 months in advance, so you can check fares on SNCF website next week (or check now for a date in April).
I don't think the difference will justify commiting yourself to a fixed date and time. BIJ is de-facto a 2-months unlimited pass along a prescribed route. BIJ is not available for every route - for example: my ticket Lugano-Geneve-Paris was not valid for travel via Domodossola-Brig, but only via Olten (a major railway junction between Zurich, Luzern, Basel and Bern). Maybe you'll have to travel that way as well, and therefor not go through Lago Maggiore. BIJ may also not be valid for fast trains (it's not valid on Thalys and Eurostar!) or special night trains, or require a supplement for such.
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F1Ape
Full Travel Member
Posts: 23
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Post by F1Ape on Feb 27, 2003 13:45:18 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the information.
Do you know where I can find info on the BIJ tickets? How it works?
Or where I can buy them when I get to Europe?
Thanks
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Post by nitsansh on Mar 2, 2003 17:26:58 GMT -5
You can buy BIJ in rail stations, and also travel agencies.
You can expect 20-30% off the normal fare.
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monique
Senior Travel Member
Posts: 74
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Post by monique on Mar 10, 2003 8:25:02 GMT -5
Swiss Card If you plan on using the mountain lifts while in the Jungfrau area, consider buying the Swiss Card. It gives you one free round trip into/out of Switzerland (from any border point of airport) and 25-50% off most of the mountain lifts. It usually pays for itself with the roundtrip (although I'm not sure on the TGV). Train travel in Switzerland is expensive, even with the discount! Check out www.ricksteves.com/rail/switzerland.htm for more info. |
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