TGV tix purchased!
Fourth attempt at posting... luckily, I have grown distrustful of LJ and copied my third attempt before submitting. >_<
WTFFFFFFF, twice I've tried to write a nice update, and TWICE I've accidentally hit Backspace while something outside of this textbox was selected and sent my browser back a page! Okay, LAST attempt, and this time, I am writing everything in bullet form because I am too frustrated to write a third proper entry.
WTFFFFFFF, twice I've tried to write a nice update, and TWICE I've accidentally hit Backspace while something outside of this textbox was selected and sent my browser back a page! Okay, LAST attempt, and this time, I am writing everything in bullet form because I am too frustrated to write a third proper entry.
- American tourists in France who wish to purchase TGV tickets at uninflated prices should book their tickets online ahead of time at tgv-europe.com. You'll get the same fares offered at the French website voyages-sncf.com. When at tgv-europe.com, select your country of origin as Canada or Great Britain and choose the e-ticket option to print your tickets, rather than having them mailed. (Picking them up at the train station is also an option, but you risk waiting in long lines, and since American credit cards tend not to have that special chip in them that European cards do, you can't use self-service kiosks.) Do not, I repeat, do not select USA as your country, or you will be redirected to RailEurope's booking site, which offers inflated prices. And maybe something like an $18 booking fee.
- Before purchasing anything from a foreign supplier or in foreign currency, make sure to call your credit card company to inform them of the purchase, rather than having the attempt denied and then having a hold placed on your card. And setting off red flags with your bank's overzealous fraud detection services. And make sure the currency exchange fees aren't exorbitant. (Bank of America's credit cards charge a 3% fee for purchases in foreign currency. Your debit card might charge less, as the CSR I spoke to several weeks ago said my debit card would only charge 1%.)
- So why am I writing about all this? I spent way too much time booking TGV tickets from Nantes to Paris to see my sister Jade from June 11-13. As some of you may know, she has been working in London for several years.
- Really, I have been spending too much time planning for this trip. If money weren't an issue, I could easily just go with the flow. Train tickets could be purchased at the last second at the train stations. Taxis could be taken to/from the airport for around 40 euro, or 56 USD. o_O; But it's way cheaper to take the Tram (7 euro ~ 10 USD)! I also wouldn't have to spend so much time trying to work around TSA and EU carry-on regulations about liquids/gels. >__< Seeing as EVERYTHING is more expensive in Europe, I am trying to minimize the personal care items I'll have to buy when there. So... shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, sunscreen (though maybe I should buy this in stick form), toothpaste, contact lens solution...
- There are still inconsistencies in TSA and EU regulations. :( For example, although you can bring full-size bottles of contact lens solution on US flights, it looks like the EU wants you to keep them at 100 mL or less. Bah!
- Voltage converters are HEAVY. I bought one off of Amazon, and it weights 1.8 lb. Geez. I wonder if it will fall out of the plug.
- I guess that's it. Oh, and my French kind of sucks. Why is it that you learn all of the useful vocabulary for travel back during the first and second years of study?