Seat selection in TGV trains Basel to Paris

Hello All,

I am booking ticket from Basel to Gare De Lyon, Paris with 2 adults, 5 year and 3 year old. I am doing it through SBB. While booking, I am trying to decide, which is better for four of us. We will be in 2nd Class, . It gives me option :-

Preferred compartment type - Open or Corridor ? (Not sure about this) with the family what is the best option to choose

Seat Requests - Windows seat/Middle seat/Aisle seat; I guess we dont have a middle in this route, so it should be only window and aisle . right?

how do i make sure we get 4 seats in single row like window/aisle < space>> aisle/window rather than 2 seats infront ( hope i explained this clearly)

I am trying not to be pest but i m not sure where do i get answers for these without this app !!!

Regards

>> Basel to Gare De Lyon, Paris with 2 adults, 5 year and 3 year old. 2nd Class ... Preferred compartment type - Open or Corridor ? (Not sure about this) with the family what is the best option to choose

Open second-class carriages have a central aisle with two seats (a window seat and an aisle seat) on each side of the aisle. I don't know whether Thalys trains have airline-style seating (i.e. all seats facing one direction), or whether the usual configuration is bays of 4 seats - 2 seats facing each other, usually with a table in between.

If seating is described as corridor, the carriage will have separate 6-seater compartments accessed by a side corridor. Each compartment is shut off from the corridor by a sliding door, and has windows onto the corridor so people in the corridor can see into the compartment and vice versa.

>> Seat Requests - Windows seat/Middle seat/Aisle seat; I guess we dont have a middle in this route, so it should be only window and aisle . right?

The middle seat would be in an enclosed 6-seater compartment. There are three seats on each side of the compartment, facing each other - a window seat, a seat next to the corridor window, and a seat in between them.

>> how do i make sure we get 4 seats in single row like window/aisle < space>> aisle/window rather than 2 seats infront ( hope i explained this clearly)

Unless you can select your seats from a seating plan, I think it will be pot luck whether the two window seats are on each side of the train, one in front of the other, or facing each other. It could also depend on what seats are still vacant.

If you select compartment seating (i.e. corridor), and there are only 4 of you, chances are that you will have two "strangers" in the compartment with you, especially if the train is heavily booked.

Alpenrose

Hi Euro2018,

This route is operated by TGV Lyria trains, and they are mostly bound for Gare de Lyon but sometimes Paris Gare de l’Est, so do check that if your arrival station matters to you.

Four seats in a single row is not a common request I think. You can check the various retailers listed on www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france/pric e, to see what they offer. Through www.trainline.eu/searc h, you can select a 4-seater booth for example. And you can even pick the floor if it's a so-called Duplex train.

Attached are the seating plans, but I don't know if they are 100% accurate as they are/have been converting the trains from two to three different classes of service. Anyway, with preferred coach and seat numbers, a booking through https://en.oui.sncf/en /tgv-lyria (French railways) allows you to click "Choose your seat" and then "Next to". You can enter the coach and seat numbers there, and they will try to reserve those for you.

Hello. With the seating plans given by Arno, those with table is ideal for a family of four. You can see the kids, eat together, play together, study maps on the table or exchange seats as needed. The trains fill up fast during summer. There are more trips coming from Geneva than Basel going to Paris Gare de Lyon. For this May trip, I have already booked Geneva to Paris Gare de Lyon and coming back is from Paris Gare de Lyon to Basel for my stay in the Bernese Oberland. The return trip on my travel back (June) is already full for the 9:38am schedule and was advised to get the 12:40pm, the next available one. The closer you get to the date of travel, the fare goes higher. The fare is not fixed (law of supply and demand) , book early for your inbound/outbound trips to/from Switzeland). I hope this helps. Take care.

is this website https://en.oui.sncf/en /tgv-lyria legit to buy tickets , to me this website gives me an option to choose family seat ?

Also Mr Arno and Like toTravel, I see another issue with this link, while try to confirm the ticket, when i try to enter contact details and complete order , i dont even see an option to select USA ? I tried in different browsers but no help. Did you guys or anyone else had this issue and how did you get pass of this successfully. ?

If you use it you would need to select your region (top right - other part of the world). That then redirects you to RailEurope.

Hi Euro2018,

No worries, we only list legitimate websites here: www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france/pric e. The site Oui.sncf is operated by the French railways (SNCF) who also operates the TGV train. I suggested it because they offer pretty nice seat selection. But unfortunately it looks like they sell to about the whole world except the USA. They want you to go to your local site www.raileurope.com/tra in/tgv-lyria-7535 I suppose. But you can also book through any of the other websites listed on the first page I mentioned. I forgot about this earlier; the first page I mentioned correctly does not list Oui.sncf for visitors from the USA. Sorry for the confusion!

Thanks Arno. I booked at SBB

I booked for my family of 2 adults and 2 kids 5 year and 3 year from Luzern to Paris via Basel, after confirming the order I see the ticket numbers for all 4 of us from Basel to Paris , however

1. I see the reservation is all the way from Luzern to Paris, but i dont see a seat number assigned from Luzern to Basel ( I guess is because seat reservation not allowed . right ? )

2. I dont see my kids name from Luzern to Basel, just only my name and my wife's, is it because of their age like 3 year and 5 year we dont need a ticket in the line Luzern to Basel ?

3. I see a ticket number which says Dual side by side ( does that mean 2 seats each facing each other )?

Thanks

Hi Euro2018,

Glad to hear it's all done!

1. Yes, seat reservations are not needed there, and mostly not possible. This leg is free if you have a Swiss Travel Pass, so you should not be charged for that.

2. Yes, kids that age do not need a ticket.

3. No, I expect those seats to be next to each other. I'm not 100% sure, but the seats are numbered so you can't go wrong.