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Eurail site errors our when trying to reserve

  • 11 December 2023
  • 9 replies
  • 138 views
P

We’re landing in Paris in a week, and bought Eurail passes for our family of 4 to get to Switzerland and spend a couple weeks there.  However, we just found out last night that we need to reserve TGV tickets as this is our first time doing the train.  eurail.com gives us an error every time we try to check in: Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later or find another connection. This connection will be removed from your cart.

We’ve tried different computers, cleaning cookies, etc., so the problem doesn’t seem to be with our computers as Eurail customer support intimated.

Calling SNCF did not yield results either.  They only accept European credit cards, and American Express.  We have neither.  Are there any other options?  We REALLY do not want to rent a car but it’s starting to seem like the only viable option.

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Best answer by Al_G 11 December 2023, 15:18

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A
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If you give your exact travel details, route, date, time, number of travellers, 1st class or 2nd class pass, here, then you will get advice where to make reservations. 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
P

4 passengers, landing in Paris CDG 2023-12-18 just after 09:00.  Need to get to Berner Oberland Switzerland, so any route that gets us from CDG → Switzerland works for us.  We were thinking Basel as it’s most direct, but Lausanne works too.  Second class is fine.  We just want to get to our destination.  Thanks!

A
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Use this link to buy reservations for high speed train within France and then use non reservation trains from there.

https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish

Mulhouse or Strasbourg are the places to look for trains to.

 

There is a 11.22 from CDG to Strasbourg. From there reservation free trains to Basel SBB and swiss trains do not require reservations.

P

That seems to have worked.  Thank you so much!

We’ve never done Eurail before, or at least not for a couple decades, and it hasn’t been quite the smooth experience we were hoping for.  Didn’t know about the extra reservation costs, won’t take us where we need to go in Switzerland, etc.  But at least we can get where we are going, even if it will cost us a few hundred more €/$/Fr.  And we get to do it together as a family.  In the end that’s what matters most.

R
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Didn’t know about the extra reservation costs,

The Eurail homepage already mentions reservations.

You may want to check this introduction:

https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

won’t take us where we need to go in Switzerland, etc.

Where would that be? Check sbb.ch for Swiss timetables. Never rely on the rail planner app or the Eurail website to plan anything. They're unreliable.

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.
A
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Reservations will not cost you many hundred EUR if you avoid taking the TGV over the border to Switzerland. Go by TGV from Paris to Strasbourg or Mulhouse for 10 or 20 EUR per person. Then take the reservation free regional train across th Swiss border. Once you're in Switzerland there's no need for reservations. 

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
T
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Userlevel 7
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About your previous issue : Eurail doesn't show availability until you're logged in. This may be what happened here.

About Switzerland : are you thinking of the Interlaken - Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren trains ? They were not included until recently indeed but since yesterday your pass is fully valid on those lines including the cable car on the way to Mürren.

Eurail is great value in Germany and Switzerland where tickets are expensive and reservations are optional/don't exist. Yes there are extra costs in France, Spain and Italy (mainly).

Feel free to ask for advice !

P

Thanks everyone.  I think we just paid something like €170 for 4 people to travel via TGV from Paris airport to Strasbourg and back.  Maybe there are cheaper reservations some times of the year but not when we needed to travel.

And yes, we are going to Mürren, so your comment about that just changing is extremely timely and appreciated.  That’s possibly why my lovely wife has been encountering some uncertainty in answering that particular question.

Also, as to the comment about whether the reservation costs are listed on Eurail.com or not: I’m not arguing that we COULDN’T have know about them, merely that we didn’t.  Like I said, it’s all working out in the end.

T
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Userlevel 7
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Domestic TGVs have 2 fares indeed : limited 10€ per person per train and then 20€ until the train sells out. All in all it quickly adds up for sure. The route via Strasbourg is the best one as you avoid taking the RER to Paris center : 11€ ticket while losing at least an hour...

You’re welcome for the Mürren tip !

No worries, I hope you have a good trip and don’t hesitate to come back.

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