What is your travel date ? It is possible that the 2nd class seats are all sold out (30€ seat reservation).
Please note that you often have to change stations in Milan (25-min walk or subway) so it's best to change at Torino Porta Susa.
For the train between Turin, Milan and Venice : it's best to use tickets.oebb.at (no booking fee) -> add Interrail/Eurail as a discount and select one-way tickets.
However if you'd like to save 20€ per person I'd recommend going via Switzerland. It involves 3 or 4 connections but they're pretty easy and it is also a good option for a break. :)
Thank you for your reply.
My travel dates are 31st July.
As I mentioned one of the senior members of our group has limited mobility so I did not want to book a journey involving lots of changes.
On top of that, I cannot cancel/exchange the passes without being charged further.
I’m really unhappy about the purchasing the eurail passes. On the website it never mentions anything about there being limited eurail seats. This in my opinion is false advertising as the reality is very different to what is advertised.
On 31 July, the TGV at 6:46 does not have pass holder seats anymore in 2nd class.
The 12:46 and 14:46 still have availability for 6 in 2nd.
There is no passholder quota on this route (there are only a few exceptions like Eurostar and Thalys where tickets cost 200€+).
As long as regular tickets are available, it is possible to book seats. However it's the peak of summer on a busy route with only 3 daily trains so they can sell out a fair bit in advance.
Will have a look at 31st July and update this message. Indeed there are no regular tickets available on the 06:46 train (so no passholder seats either). It's not that a quota has sold out.
Alternative :
- TGV Paris Gare de Lyon - Torino Porta Susa 12:46 - 18:15 30€ seat reservation
- FR Torino Porta Susa - Venezia Mestre 18:50 - 22:00 13€ seat reservation (best bought through tickets.oebb.at - no booking fee)
This avoids the station change in Milan (good !) and leaves on the mainland next to Venice. If your accommodation is on an island, then take this regional train : 22:28 - 22:39
If you'd like to arrive earlier, you'll have to go via Switzerland. It would've been the same with regular tickets.
There is no passholder quota on this route
Interesting. Did they remove it? It was definitely there a few years ago.
Mmmm I don't think there is one but I might be wrong. SNCF doesn't sell 2nd class tickets either on the 06:46 train. I'll have a look if I can find examples with a quota.
@rvdborgt today's 14:44 TGV from Paris has 3 2nd class seats left (per SNCF) and I'm able to book a passholder seat reservation so I think we can conclude that there's no quota anymore.
One (of the only) good things SNCF did recently along with the suppression of the Barcelona quota... Now if only there were more trains...
Thank you everyone for your help.
