Don’t get the stupid eurrail pass if you are in France. First of all everything requires a booking fee, normally from 10-30 euros one way. Second of all, you can’t go anywhere like London or Amsterdam unless you book like two months ahead, which u might aswell get plane tickets if ur booking that far in advance. This stupid pass cost me more money than I could afford to lose.
absolute garbage scam eurrail
You could have checked in advance if any pass holder seats were available for your intended journeys. Or looked for alternatives, especially to Amsterdam.
For the rest, you can thank SNCF for their hostile attitude towards pass holders.
Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
+11I can get why you are angry, but there are possibilities to avoid the reservations. The problem is, that almost all international high speed trains to/from France have only a quota for pass holder. In other Countries there are not such problems.
There are alternative ways to get like to Amsterdam. Like national TGVs to Lille and from there IC trains (with 3 changes) to Amsterdam. From Lille no reservation needed. Or other things.
For next travels, ask here in the community. We can help to get alternative routes.
Sorry but getting an Eurostar reservation in autumn is not that difficult.. had no problem obtaining one a few days in advance.
And about France in general: last October been traveling through whole France for more than 2 weeks and didn’t need a single reservation… just a matter of planning and time.
USA: start to scream&shout as loud as can as soon as things turn out a little different as thought of.
Brainwashed to think time is money-so unable to think of other/slower ways.
I find it amazing that you started a journey without some basic research.
If you had read the Eurail site and these community posts (or any of the social media Interrail/Eurail sites) before deciding on a Eurail pass, you would have seen that all your points are clearly stated and covered. I don’t think anybody that does that research would be under any delusion that France (SNCF) is a good experience for those on a limited budget.
In a Eurail/Interrail context I would only advise a pass as ideal if you are:
An independent traveller willing to use SNCF regional trains for the majority of your travels. (Your typical backpacker).
A person visiting the key French cities (e.g. Nice -Marseilles - Lyon - Paris) as part of a pan-Europe major city tour and have a decent budget for reservations for the TGVs out of a significant holiday budget,
If you want a real value experience then come to the UK with a pass and travel freely with free reservations on express trains and a complex network of regional trains.
Granted It will cost you 30 euros each way reservation fee for Eurostar, but as long as you aren’t travelling at peak times and have a little flexibility you should be able to book fairly close to the time (days not weeks). There are a few other services (mainly sleepers) where advance booking is advised, but almost all others have optional or regional services in case the mandatory trains are full on the day.
+5What a shame you didn’t channel some of your vitriol into doing some very basic research before you bought the ticket! It is quite possible to travel in France using reservation free trains with a bit of planning. The app. even has a feature that allows you to select this type of train. Hopefully you are a bit older and wiser now.
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