Help With TGV Travel to Bordeaux

[travelluver]

I am planning to travel from Paris to Bordeaux in May.
I looked at the raileurope site and also the TGV site.
The TGV site (in French) shows the most attractive schedule
and fare for me. However, it says the train is an iDTGV.
Does anyone know what type of train this is? Also, I cannot
access this train offering through the US raileurope site, which
I find surprising. The gal at the raileurope number could offer
no explanation. Would it be a problem to book on the French site?
How would I receive the tickets? I could really use some guidance. Thanks!

[Jody]

You can pick the tickets up in France at the stations or there are several Boutiques SNCF in Paris. I know there is one near St Germain des Pres as we picked our tickets up there. You do need the credit card you used on the site to pick them up.

[nutsabouttravel]

travelluvr, the SNCF boutique in the 5eme is at 54 Bd. St-Michel and, in the 6eme, at 79 rue de Rennes (at rue Mezieres). When you order online (French site) indicate that you want your tickets delivered in France.
Mary

[keylimejet]

I took the iDTGV from Paris to Aix-en-Provence a few years back. It's just a code for a cheaper fare, but as I recall it was a separate train car and you have to pick an "ambiance" - quiet/adults-only or family. As I was travelling with a 10-year old, I chose the family one, but it was quiet too! Everyone was either sleeping, reading, or working.

I had to book it on the French website. I don't think the iDTGV fares are available on the English language site - or at least they didn't used to be. Also, I could have sworn that I printed my tickets out at home, but maybe that was another trip.

[travelluver]

Thanks for the info, Mary and Jody! After doing some more research (translating the SNFC site in my so-so French) I was able to figure out that the idTGV is a double decker train that has one level of calming seats offering silence during the voyage and a second level where you can play video games, use your computer, cell phone, etc. I got a very good on-line fare, and was even able to print my tickets!

[travelluver]

keylimejet - our messages were crossing in cyberspace!! Seeing your comment made me more confident that I had completed the transaction correctly - thanks for confirming!

[sunshine817]

Hi, all -- the Raileurope site in the US is a ripoff -- they offer only a fraction of the actual schedule, and add a significant markup to the tickets. The last time I checked Raileurope US versus SNCF, I kept wondering what I was doing wrong, because it was in the neighborhood of a 20% price difference. I understand commissions and handling charges, but 20% is usurous.

Use Raileurope.co.uk, tgv-europe.com, or sncf.com -- there's another website, www.seat61.co.uk, that has a walkthrough for booking directly on the SNCF site.

Just make sure you choose to either print the tickets at home or collect them at a kiosk or boutique.

[Anne]

iDTGV are TGVs which are cheaper than "normal" ones and can only be booked through the web. Tickets are available earlier than those for regular TGVs, which are usually available 3 months ahead (give or take a few days).
This system is quite deceptive since one inquiring about tickets more than 3 months ahead will then be presented with the iDTGV schedule(s) only (and there are quite a few routes which have only 1 iDTGV per day) and will not be made aware that other TGVs for the same route will pop up later on.

[sistereurope]

I also learned that the French site is MUCH cheaper than the US site...thanks to Anne for that tip! I've booked several tickets from here, within France and to Belgium, on the SNCF site, and printed my tickets on my computer. No hassle whatsoever.

Another tip...renting a car through the AutoEurope US site is much more expensive than renting through an AutoEurope site based in France (or Belgium in my case). Even with the exchange rate it was much cheaper. I think that the US based sites take advantage of the fact that many people are nervous when purchasing something in euros over a non-english site, so they feel that they can get away with charging more. That's my hypothesis, anyway!

[sdtraveller]

I have recently had the experience of booking (and printing) tickets through the SNCF (http://www.voyages-sncf.com/) web site for travel in late April. I found that reservations become available "three months" ahead on exactly the same date (i.e., on 30 Jan for travel 30 April) exactly at midnight Paris time. I tracked trains being added for 28 and 29 April, and it happened exactly like that. When I refreshed the page for the route I needed at exactly 3:00 p.m. California time (midnight starting off the next day, Paris time) on 29 Jan, all the 30 April travel times suddenly appeared.

[travelluver]

sistereurope, thanks for the tip on the car rental. I will be needing to rent a car in both May and July and was wondering how to go about it. I've done it before, but not for these routes.

Anne - interesting about the idtgv vs tgv scheduling. I was happy with the times I got but will definitely keep your info in mind for the future. I did know about the 90 days out policy that the US site has.