How to book lowest train fares
Advice on how to get the lowest ski train and snow train fares, and save money on ski holidays by train
Introduction
There's no magical way of getting cheap rail fares to the Alps. However, there are ways to help you save some money and book with confidence.
Broadly, there are two different ways to book tickets:
a) Independently (separate from your accommodation)
b) as part of a rail-inclusive ski package, with accommodation (and transfers too, usually) included;
SnowCarbon doesn't sell train tickets but we do offer the best advice we can, based on years of experience and research.
Tip 1: Book early if possible, especially for independent travel
Photo: Daniel Elkan
In general - the earlier you book, the lower the fare. Therefore, it's important to know when booking opens. Tickets for the Eurostar Snow (previously, direct Eurostar Ski Train) go on sale in July for the entire winter season.
Indirect journeys to the Alps via Paris, for example (such as with a Eurostar to Paris and then a TGV), go on sale:
- Six - eight monnths ahead for the Eurostar part of the journey
- 60 - 120 days ahead for the TGV part of the journey
If you are confident of the timings, you can book the Eurostar leg in advance of the TGV. Or you can wait and book the whole thing in one go, once the whole journey is on sale. We would normally advice people to wait, but both options have their merits.
One of the advantages of using a rail-booking agent is that they can book each section of the journey for you when it goes on sale.
You can find out more about rail-booking agents below and in our train-travel booking guide.
Tip 2: Rail-inclusive ski packages can make things easy
Photo: Daniel Elkan
In the days of the direct Eurostar Ski Train, several of the bigger tour operators had their own allocations of seats at fixed prices, including transfers from station to resorts. However, the Eurostar Ski Train has now become Eurostar Snow, an indirect service (changing at Lille) with fewer seats overall.
Some tour operators and ski travel agents do offer packages with Eurostar Snow included. And some offer packages with Eurostar + TGV (via Paris or Lille) journeys to a range of ski destinations.
Rail-inclusive ski packages aren't as prevalent as we would wish. One of the reasons for this is that train companies such as Eurostar and SNCF don't seem very enthusiastic about helping tour operators create packages with rail travel included. In a sensible world, rail companies would be encouraging ski tour operators.
You can view and browse all these ski holidays by train in our rail packages section.
Tip 3: Rail-booking experts can really help
Photo: Daniel Elkan
Booking train tickets online is in no way as simple or reliable as it should be. You can't rely on websites to show you all the available trains or tickets. It's nuts that things work (or rather, don't work) like that, but that's the reality.
A really good solution is to ask a rail-booking expert to book tickets for you. There are several companies in the UK that do this, who offer a brilliant service by making sure that you are offered the most suitable journey options, for the best available prices. These companies charge a small fee for their services. We think that overall they are excellent value - they help find trains and tickets you can’t find online, and take the hassle out of booking.
Here are two rail-booking agents that we recommend:
The Travel Bureau
Established in 1984, The Travel Bureau has an expert, knowledgeable team who can book journeys for you and can help with any journey. The Travel Bureau charges a fee of £10 per traveller (sometimes less for larger groups).
Phone: (+44) 01902 326 662 (10:00 – 16:00 Monday – Friday)
Email: rail@thetravelbureau.co.uk
Website: rail-travel.co.uk/
Trainseurope
Helping people book rail travel since 1986, Trainseurope has an expert, knowledgeable team who can book journeys for you.
Can help with any journey.
Trainseurope charges a fee of £10 per traveller.
Phone: (+44) 01354 660222 (09:00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday; 09:00 – 15:00 Saturday)
Email: info@trainseurope.co.uk
Website: trainseurope.co.uk
Tip 4: When booking online, check fares for 'one adult' first
Photo: Daniel Elkan
When you are checking fares online intially, rail-booking websites ask you to select the number of people. It is set to "one adult" automatically, and when you first search for fares keep it this way (checking for just "one adult" initially). Doing this will help you make sure of finding the cheapest tickets.
Why is this important? Rail fares are sold in price bands, with a certain number of seats available at each price. If you try to book a group of say "4 adults" and there are only two tickets available at the lower price, the online booking system may sometimes automatically charge the higher price for all four tickets. They do this because the rail-booking systems are not sophisticated enough to book the two lower price tickets and then the two higher price tickets. Ridiculous perhaps, but that's the reality. Fortunately, this won't happen often, but it’s worth knowing about.
Also, it’s easier to mentally note the cost per adult than for multiple people at once.
Tip 5: Check out the Carte Avantage (France only)
Carte Advantage
The Carte Avantage is a railcard available to all SNCF passengers, regardless of nationality, which almost immediately pays for itself.
For just €49, you’ll get a 30% discount on all TGV and Intercité fares in France and a 25–50% discount on some TER trains (route-dependent). The 30% discount also applies to certain international routes, the most useful for skiers being the TGV-Lyria between Paris and Switzerland and the Paris-Milan TGV via Lyon.
Note that if your outbound and inbound journeys are within the same working week, the discount won’t apply (unless you’re accompanied by a child under 12). The railcard is designed for you to spend a weekend away. Hence, for one-week trips to the Alps, you need not worry.
These requirements don’t apply to youths (aged 12–27) with the Carte Avantage Jeune, or travellers aged 60+ with the Carte Avantage Senior (both €49), so young and elderly skiers can access discounted travel anytime during the week.
Mitigating the above restrictions is the fantastic bonus that with the Carte Avantage, one accompanying adult can share your discount (i.e., one card for two people), and up to three accompanying children under 12 will get 60% off TGV and Intercité fares. Unfortunately, this two-for-one deal doesn’t apply to the Carte Avantage Jeune; SNCF has obviously designed the scheme with families with young children in mind, for whom it’s a real no-brainer.
You’ll need to buy your Carte Avantage before booking your train tickets as you’ll need the card number to apply your discount at checkout. For more information on booking and further details, read our most recent blog post here.
Tip 6: Check on discounts for children
Children on EurostarPhoto: Daniel Elkan
For travel from the UK to the Alps, children under four can travel free on Eurostar and European trains (without a reserved seat).
Independent fares to the Alps for children aged 4-11 are approximately 30% cheaper than adult fares. And sometimes the discount is even greater.
On some services in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, children travel free if travelling with an adult family member and there are discounts for families with teenagers too.
There are also useful tips generally, in our Guide to Family train travel to the Alps
Tip 7: 'Youth' and 'Senior' fares can be a red herring
Photo: Daniel Elkan
Train companies offer discounts for Youths (aged 11–26) and Seniors (aged 60 and over). However, never assume that Youth fares or Senior fares will be cheaper than Adult fares. Sometimes, due to glitches in the over-complicated rail ticketing system that exists, the opposite is the case.
Snowcarbon Founder Daniel Elkan discovered this and wrote a feature for The Guardian about the problem. The excellent rail advice website Seat 61 website says the same thing.
Even if Youth or Senior fares are cheaper than adults, it's only by about 3% - 4%. Nothing to get very excited about, although every little helps.
So always check fares using only adults first, and then double check for any possibly discount for youths or seniors after that. If booking with a rail-booking agent instead of online, the agent will price these accordingly, so you don't need to worry.
Tip 8: In some cases, shop around
Eurostar train at St PancrasPhoto: Daniel Elkan
For most destinations, for example, Rail Europe, Trainline, Eurostar and SNCF Connect have access to the same fares. However, for other destinations, different rail companies may have access to different promotional fares or certain trains or journeys not offered by other websites. So it’s always worth checking more than one website.
As mentioned above, it’s often worth using an expert booking service such as those listed in Tip 3. They have sophisticated booking systems and a wealth of experience.
At Snowcarbon we’ll always try to put you in touch with the most appropriate rail company for your destination. You can read more about your booking options here too.
Tip 9: Consider transfer costs
Photo: Daniel Elkan
When comparing the cost of travelling by train with the cost of flying, make sure you factor in transfer costs. These can be expensive from the airport, and transfers from train stations to resorts are much less.
Bus tickets from railway stations to resorts usually cost €14 or less, and a full taxi doesn't cost much more per person either.
Some hotels, chalets and tour operators will pick you up from the train station free of charge.
Tip 10: Discounts for groups of 10 or more
Photo: Daniel Elkan
For most journeys to the Alps, you need to have ten people to get a group discount. Your group could be just adults, or a mix of adults and children, and either way a group discount would apply. Normally, the group discount is about 10%.
Group fares normally can’t be booked online, and you’ll need to book with a rail-booking agent.
An advantage to group fares is that they can often be booked further in advance, before the normal public booking window opens.
You can find out more about group discounts in our Guide to group train travel.
Tip 11: Other useful rail-travel advice websites
You'll no doubt have heard of the wonderful The Man in Seat Sixty-One, started about 20 years ago by Mark Smith. The site is a mine of useful information and advice. It isn't specialised to rail travel to the Alps, but you'll find sections like London to France useful for the French Alps, London to Austria useful for —you guessed it — Austria. It also has a guide to How to buy cheap European train tickets.
Another useful rail advice website is Show Me The Journey, founded by Simon Harper, which has a wealth of guidance and a concierge booking service too. There is a whole section about booking tickets, called An introduction to booking tickets for European rail journeys.
The important thing is not to feel like, just because advice online exists, you have to spend hours and hours trying to work everything out yourself. There are always booking agents that can do it for you (see Tip 3) which we can recommend.
Snowcarbon also has a guide to booking train travel in general, which we recommend reading before booking.
Like more help and advice?
If you'd like more help and advice the best train travel options, resorts and accommodation, feel free to contact Snowcarbon's founder, Daniel.
He can help with specific advice and suggestions, using his years of experience as a ski journalist and expert on how to travel to the Alps by train.
Daniel knows lots of great accommodation and tour operators and independent providers that can help, so you'll get some great suggestions.
Just send Daniel an email and he'll be back in touch.
Ski holidays by train — Ask Snowcarbon
At Snowcarbon we are always happy to help you with suggestions for great resorts, fantastic accommodation and how to get there.
Looking forward to helping you.