Hello - before I activate my pass I wanted to check train availability.
When checking on Paris-Amsterdam for Monday August 7th, on the website it says ‘Reservations required’ and then ‘Reservation unavailable’, but on the Rail planner app it says ‘Reservations required’ and then give a price for the seat reservation.
Which one should I trust ?
The app doesn't know availability. It's not reliable in general so it's actually irrelevant what it says.
The Interrail website is slightly less unreliable.
The best place to check availability for Thalys is here:
https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Booking/Pass#TravelWish
Availability on 7 August currently looks like this:
Edit: I looked in the wrong direction. My bad :(
There is no availability from Paris to Amsterdam on Monday 7th August. Thalys has a quota for passholders and it can sell out well in advance.
Alternatives :
- Thalys to Brussels (27€, multiple departures available) + hourly IC Direct to Amsterdam (reservation-free)
- TGV to Lille (10-20€*) + reservation-free ICs via Kortrijk and Antwerp
*As you live in France, you can get free TGV seat reservations by going to a SNCF ticket counter. Ask for a billet parcours (ou trajet) d'approche
Do not hesitate for questions.
Btw there's no need to activate the pass in order to buy reservations. You can buy them on the website or via the railway companies (see the link above). It's even best not to acrivate it in advance in case.
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