paris to brussels

Hi Everyone,

I know I emailed this a few months ago, but I have since been on the internet to book paris to brussels via the thalys. i went on the thalys.com website and looked at prices for four (two adults, two teens) for the beginning of August - 10 am from paris nord to brussels midi. it seems a roundtrip ticket is less than half the price, even though i am headed to amsterdam three days later and then home to the states from there. they gave me the option of a smillys ticket which was around 109 euros versus around 223 for a one way. does this sound possible? (of course i would only use one way of the ticket if i purchased the smilys ticket.) any advice? thanx

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You are right. It doesn%26#39;t sound possible. Do you mean 109 euros for all of you? My brother, my mother and I had paid 50euros each last summer for a return trip from Brussels to Paris.

Are you sure there are not any other tickets? For example tickets for young people (under 26), I think they cost less than 30euros each.

You could also check earlier or later trains because I realised that prices varied from hour to hour.

Have a nice and beutiful trip.

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Check again, because I would guess that the Smilys ticket is €109 EACH WAY, i.e. the cheap return price is similar to the normal one-way single price. Did you put in a (fictitious) return date to get the total price?

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yes, gaminari, i put in fictitious dates. - around mid july. the price said 108 euros, i thought roundtrip. maybe i was wrong. it%26#39;s definitely confusing. i wanted to be ready to buy as soon as possible because i heard the earlier you buy, the better the prices. as for ages, i put that two of the people are 12-25 years old. (my kids).. that age group was an option. i am afraid of making a mistake on the internet..the regular price for one way appears to be 233 euros. doesn%26#39;t that sound high?thanx again. cookcook

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also, is it true the only station in brussels the thalys goes to is brussels midi? we are staying at the novotel off grand place which seems to be closer to central station.

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Yes the Thalys only lands at Gare du Midi. However, it is really easy to change to a train that stops at Gare Central (one stop away) from the Gare du Midi. You should be able to use your Thalys ticket to ride from Midi to Central but I doubt they would even check.

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This is truly weird since my family and I (from New Jersey) will be traveling from Brussels to Paris (day trip) on August 10, and will also be staying at the Novotel Grand Place. We will also be traveling to Amsterdam a couple of days later to start a Baltic cruise.

The Smilys ticket prices I found when I looked about a week ago for a Brussels-Paris round trip (using fictitious dates since August 10 is more than 90 days) is 54 Euros. The one-way fares are about 109 Euros.

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eighty days, that really is weird! the only difference is that we are going from paris to brussels on august 10. i believe you are doing the opposite. i hope you have a fantastic vacation!

(thanx to everyone for all your advice!)

anyway, when you initially start on the thalys website, a box appears that asks if you want to pickup the tickets at the station or mail them to your french address. (paris origination) i hit yes, but it doesn%26#39;t specify what will happen. do you know the answer to this? thanx

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actually, i just went further on the thalys website as if i was booking the tickets and it gives you options on how to get the tickets. my question now is - initially, the site when it gives you choices said the smilys ticket was 108 euros per person. then, when i hit yes, the total was 216 euros total. i thought it was 108 per person, so why isn%26#39;t it 432?(believe me, i am happier with the 216, i just want to make sure i am correct. i used the dates july 20 and returning the 27. any ideas?

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(by the way, there are 4 of us)