My wife and I will be traveling through Europe through the month of June for our 30th anniversary. We will be using a Eurail Global Pass Saver. I know I need reservations for the TVG from Brussels to Paris (on a Sunday), the TVG from Paris to Antibes (on a Wednesday), the 369 night train from Nice to Rome (on a Saturday), and the 314 night train from Rome to Zurich (On a Sunday). Since we are traveling in June, should I make these reservations now and pay a higher price, or I am I safe in waiting until we get to Europe? Thanks in advance for all of your help. TA has been wonderful in helping me plan this trip.
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I can only answer with regard to the Thalys from Brussels to Paris as the other journeys hardly fall with the remit of the Brussels forum. I don%26#39;t understand why you say you would pay a higher price reserving now than waiting until June: where cheap fares are available, these are sometimes limited in number for each train, so you can never get lower fares by booking last-minute, if anything they would be higher: although in your case I don%26#39;t think it would make much difference as for a one-way trip you will not qualify for any of the cheap fares anyway. At the moment it would cost you €78 per person for a Librys (fully flexible) ticket in 2nd class, you could not pay less unless by any chance they were running a special offer which they do from time to time (you can currently go from Brussels to Eurodisney or CDG airport for €15 on certain trains - of course not the ones I was looking at for myself! - and this could give you a cheap way into Paris as you can transfer to the RER at either). You could pay more booking late if by any chance they have run out of 2nd class tickets and have to go 1st class, although this is unlikely: in fact 1st class is sometimes fuller than 2nd because of business travel.
You should also note that on www.thalys.com you can only book 3 months in advance which means that at the moment you could only book until the first week in June. Anyway, for Thalys I would repeat that you will not pay a higher price reserving now (or in a few weeks%26#39; time to cover the Sunday you want) rather than waiting, but that since you also aren%26#39;t likely to pay a lower price by doing it now, you can also wait.
One thing I would advise you to do if at all possible is buy from the train operators (Thalys, Belgian Railways SNCB or French Railways SNCF) rather than from an agency like Eurorail, as costs quoted here in the past seem to show that Eurorail charges a premium over and above the normal price. You can buy tickets from the Thalys or B-Rail website and pick them up at the station (Gare du Midi), or if you wait till you get to Brussels, you can buy them a couple of days in advance from any Brussels station (not just Gare du Midi where Thalys leaves from) or from the SNCF office in the Galerie Louise.
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P.S. Just to help you when dealing with French Railways, it%26#39;s TGV (train à grande vitesse), not TVG, which to the French would be the equivalent of a speed-high train!
You could buy these tickets also from the SNCF office in Brussels or, for pick-up in Paris and Nice, from French Railways%26#39; website, www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvHomePage…
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Thanks for your help. It is appreciated!
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