Hello train travelers,
I wanted to make seat reservations for the direct train from Brussels Midi to Lyon Part Dieu on June 16 at 1-ish. However, I was told that this is not possible when I phoned the railway company.
What is the best alternative? The railway app suggests traveling via Paris, but that connection doesn’t seem so good. Are there better routes?
Thanks
Best answer by rvdborgt
View originalWhat do you mean by "that connection doesn’t seem so good”?
Form where do you start in Belgium?
You could go via Lille and take a direct train Lille - Lyon.
What do you mean by "that connection doesn’t seem so good”?
Form where do you start in Belgium?
You could go via Lille and take a direct train Lille - Lyon.
Thanks for your reply rvdborgt.
I meant that we wouldn't prefer to switch train stations in Paris to go to the next connection (Paris Nord → Paris Gare de Lyon).
We're actually starting from Utrecht (NL), but figured you can travel without reservations to Bruxelles-Midi and from there take a direct train to Lyon (however, not possible to get a seat reservation for Bruxelles-Midi - Lyon Part Dieu anymore).
Going via Lille sounds good. Only taking a direct train from Bruxelles-Midi to Lille requires a reservation and a direct train from Lille to Lyon too. So in total 2 times seat reservations instead of one.
So should we get seat reservations per interrail.eu site and I read in one of the manuals (I think you have written/contributed to) I can use the b-europe.com site for seat reservations in France?
Or would you recommend differently?
Thanks.
You can get to Lille reservation-free via Antwerp - Kortrijk.
For domestic reservations in France you can use this page:
https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish
To book there, you'll need to generate a pass cover number from one of your mobile pass numbers:
You can get to Lille reservation-free via Antwerp - Kortrijk.
For domestic reservations in France you can use this page:
https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish
To book there, you'll need to generate a pass cover number from one of your mobile pass numbers:
Excellent! Thank you very much rvdborgt.
Really helpful!
One more question.
I'm looking into the direct train from Bruxelles-Midi to Lille Europe and on the Interrail website the seat reservations for 2 persons would cost €44.
If I look on the b-europe.com website from the international Belgian railway the exact same direct train (same date, same time) would cost €38 for 2 tickets, including seat reservations.
I don't get it.. what's the point of using an interrail ticket then?
I'm looking into the direct train from Bruxelles-Midi to Lille Europe and on the Interrail website the seat reservations for 2 persons would cost €44.
If I look on the b-europe.com website from the international Belgian railway the exact same direct train (same date, same time) would cost €38 for 2 tickets, including seat reservations.
I don't get it.. what's the point of using an interrail ticket then?
These prices are correct. There's often a €19 regular price available for Brussels-Lille but SNCF see pass holders as cash cows, especially when they use an international TGV, and has gradually increased the pass holder prices from around €5 to €20 in this case (and then Interrail charge an extra €2 booking fee per person and train). On top of that, pass holder reservations have a quite limited quota on the TGVs from Brussels.
I'm looking into the direct train from Bruxelles-Midi to Lille Europe and on the Interrail website the seat reservations for 2 persons would cost €44.
If I look on the b-europe.com website from the international Belgian railway the exact same direct train (same date, same time) would cost €38 for 2 tickets, including seat reservations.
I don't get it.. what's the point of using an interrail ticket then?
These prices are correct. There's often a €19 regular price available for Brussels-Lille but SNCF see pass holders as cash cows, especially when they use an international TGV, and has gradually increased the pass holder prices from around €5 to €20 in this case (and then Interrail charge an extra €2 booking fee per person and train). On top of that, pass holder reservations have a quite limited quota on the TGVs from Brussels.
lol, here I was, naïve and thinking that getting an interrail pass would be easy travels through Europe. But there is a whole shady world regarding reservations (and I saw for some specific trains interrail isn't even accepted; i.e. we wanted to take a direct train from Lyon to Milano Central; not possible with interrail) and you really have to dive deep into it to make it work.
Thanks for the information. It's sad it works like that.
So would you recommend booking the €19 tickets through the b-europe for the mentioned trajectory, or is it possible to get a better price by calling the belgian railway to make a seat reservation for the interrail pass by phone?
Thanks.
So would you recommend booking the €19 tickets through the b-europe for the mentioned trajectory, or is it possible to get a better price by calling the belgian railway to make a seat reservation for the interrail pass by phone?
It's very unlikely Belgian railways can sell pass reservations when there are none available elsewhere. They don't have any booking fees but their phone number is €0.30 per minute… the best way to book pass reservations via Belgian railways is to go to a ticket office. They can also book the reservation Lille-Lyon. Normal tickets Brussel-Lille are best booked online since Belgian railways do have a booking fee for (most) regular international tickets.
So would you recommend booking the €19 tickets through the b-europe for the mentioned trajectory, or is it possible to get a better price by calling the belgian railway to make a seat reservation for the interrail pass by phone?
It's very unlikely Belgian railways can sell pass reservations when there are none available elsewhere. They don't have any booking fees but their phone number is €0.30 per minute… the best way to book pass reservations via Belgian railways is to go to a ticket office. They can also book the reservation Lille-Lyon. Normal tickets Brussel-Lille are best booked online since Belgian railways do have a booking fee for (most) regular international tickets.
Excellent, thank you again!
Indeed Lyon - Milan is not easy but you could travel from Utrecht to Milan via Germany and Switzerland.
Much cheaper (optional reservations, except for the EC into Italy but it can be avoided) and more frequent trains
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