[Removed user]

4 January 2014 at 10:19:40 #806218

really appreciate the effort you guys have put into this site and forum for giving us useful and updated info about traveling in Switzerland, thanks a lot! i’m amazed with the extensiveness of the swiss travel system, but at the same time quite confused by it too. anyway, i’ll seriously have to do more research to prepare for my first trip to swiss in march 2014!

i’ve recently bought the swiss pass for 4 days travelling in swiss, following 4 days in paris. for the leg between paris and lausanne, i’ve also bought the tgv lyria via sncf online as well (1st class at EUR59). but i just realized that the swiss pass actually offers “passholder fare” for tgv lyria with reservation included to replace a full fare ticket!

yet to my surprise, this “passholder fare” for the same leg via raileurope (by clicking “I have a pass”) costs EUR145!!!!! i’m not sure if there are other ways to take advantage of this “passholder fare” for tgv lyria with the swiss pass (other than by raileurope). do you know? if yes, pls share so for those who will be making france-switzerland trips with swiss pass can do some comparisons before buying the point-to-point ticket.

btw, i also find that sncf offers cheaper fare than sbb for the same route.

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[Removed user]

4 January 2014 at 11:33:47 #839427

oh, i forgot to mention that the fare of EUR59 via sncf is non-exchangeable and non-refundable, while EUR145 via raileurope is both exchangeable and refundable with fee of EUR10, 3 days before departure. but fyi, sncf offers the same type of ticket at EUR105 that can be either exchanged or refunded until departure.

so u can see the difference and how raileurope can be a rip off, at least sometimes… but honestly, raileurope can indeed offer the service for the ease of mind.

[Arno]

4 January 2014 at 11:48:33 #839428

Hi filltso,

Glad to hear you find our website useful. Thanks! As for your question: “passholder fare” means that you don’t pay for the Swiss portion of your trip, since that is covered by your Swiss Pass. Regardless whether you pay for the whole trip or a portion of it, the price of TGV tickets depends on lots of factors: the exact travel date and time, when you purchase (well in advance is mostly cheaper then last minute), where you purchase and whether or not there are special promotions that apply. Also the route may be of influence. In your case you can travel via Basel, Geneva or Vallorbe.

I don’t have all this information for your trip, but I just did a search on raileurope-world.com for Lausanne to Paris in March, and I see prices starting at EUR 52 for 2nd class from Vallorbe. And starting at EUR 79.70 1st class from Basel. Note that Rail Europe has many websites. Picking the one for your country or region is usually best. I used their world wide site. They offer competitive prices and regular promotions, but it can pay off to carefully compare options (routes, times) and resellers. As you mentioned, they indeed also offer quite some services like cancellation, coverage in case of loss/theft, travel apps, etc. Whether or not that matters depends on whether you need such services and how flexible you need to be.

What helps too, in general, is purchasing passes and tickets all at once. If shipping costs apply, you’d only pay for that once or not at all if a minimum order value applies. Also there have been promotions offering a discount when the order value reaches a certain minimum.

I hope this answers your question. Enjoy your trip!