"I wish I would have read these posts before purchasing my own Rail Europe ticket. I also have EXTREME dissatisfaction with Rail Europe. Long story short, I purchased 2 tickets from the company, got a confirmation e-mail, and then 2 days later get another e-mail from them saying actually the bus you booked is full (Great... 'cause people aren't making plans or anything based on these reservations). I call them up immediately and get put on hold for 30+mins to only then be told that their website is never up to date and that they can't help me right now because their customer service system usually shuts down about an hour and a half before the end of their customer service operation hours. About 10 mins later their system miraculously starts working again so I get a call back. The customer service person tells me the bus isn't full (Ok, then why did I get an e-mail stating it was?) but in order to get our reservation we will have to pay $26 more than the what it said 2 days ago. I'm no lawyer, but I don't think you are supposed to sell something to someone for an agree upon price and then hold that item for ransom until they pay you more money. Say it with me now "Shady business practices!""
"Terrible service. They overcharge for the tickets that can easily be bought online and for much lower price. If you purchase a reserved seat ticket, they get you the worst seats and they refuse to change them.
Most of all, never trust a company with no customer service where you can call and talk to a live person. My complaints to them have gone no where through the only option of webmail.
You are much better off purchasing directly from the rail companies in Europe which now all have online purchase option and in English and several languages. "
"DO NOT USE RAIL EUROPE FOR IRISH TRAVEL. I have just discovered that tickets I paid $252 for could have been purchased on line from http://www.irishrail.ie for $90."
"DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY to purchase your train tickets for Europe. 1) You will spend twice what the tickets will cost you at any train station in Europe and 2) their agents will tell you anything to get you to buy tickets through them and then if you have a problem, the company will not honor what the agents or a supervisor said. My case is lengthy but read it and beware-this company is a scam and if your travel plans change or are delayed at all-you will lose your money. Bottom line-they are dishonest and should not be in business- my story- in mid-April 2014, I called Rail Europe to inquire about their tickets for the high-speed train between Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden for our upcoming trip in July. I ended up talking to their representatives twice before I purchased our tickets for July 3.
My first telephone conversation concerned the different classifications of tickets and policies of use for these tickets. I asked if we were delayed and missed our train, what was the procedure. I was told that we would just exchange the purchased tickets for new ones at the time we needed. I asked if we were delayed into the next day or more what would be the procedure. I was told that we would just need to trade the unused tickets in for new ones for the date and time needed at the train station in Europe. I restated this question and was given the same answer.
Two days later I called the same number, talked to a different representative and asked again what the policy for the high-speed train tickets if our flight was delayed and we missed our ticketed time. I was given exactly the same instructions and when I repeat the question about a delay of more than a day, was told again that I would just exchange the unused tickets for ones at the time and date we needed. At that point, I purchased two tickets along with their trip insurance (another scam).
On July 2nd, our flight to New York was delayed in Austin, Texas. At approximately 6 pm, I called Rail Europe to notify them that our flight was delayed which MIGHT make us miss our planned train departure on July 3rd in Copenhagen. I was told I needed to MAIL the train tickets back to Rail Europe and get new ones issued or a refund. When I explained that 1) we were delayed and at that time didn;t know if we were going to miss our scheduled train 2) that this was not the procedure that I had been told when I bought the tickets and 3) that I was in an airport, no where near a post office, awaiting departure and could not leave the airport to get to a post office. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and was given a Mr. R. Wissemes, who identified himself as a supervisor. I then repeated points 1-3 listed above and after a rather heated discussion Mr. Wissemes finally said that if I would mail the tickets back from EUROPE, he would issue a refund. I again stated that this wasnt what I had been told when I purchased the tickets and since we would be going directly from the airport by train to Stockholm to board a cruise ship, and that there would be no way I could mail the tickets back until we returned to the states on August 1, 2014. He stated that if I would call the number I was talking to him on upon my return and then relay our conversation, he would mark our file and honor these tickets. He stated that this wasn't the usual company policy but since I had been told otherwise, he would honor it. I took his name, checked the phone number to call, took the address to mail the tickets to and thanked him. I hung up.
Upon arriving in Copenhagen after having to be rescheduled to a later flight (arriving on July 4 at approximately 11 am) we tried to exchange our unused Rail Europe tickets in at the airport train station. We were unable to do so and had to buy two new tickets for approximately $360 (a little more than half of the $685 I had paid Rail Europe).
On August 1, upon our return to the states and as requested, I called the phone number for Rail Europe and got an agent named Sophia. I relayed what Mr. Wissemes had said and she told me this wasnt company policy. I told her he explained that but that he marked in our file what he told me and that he would honor our unused tickets, that I was notifying her that I was going to mail the unused tickets back.
Sophia put me on hold and when she returned she said there were no notes in any file. She then said that our conversation would of been taped and I asked her how I could get someone to listen to this tape. She told me she would do it and promised me she would call me by August 6th after she listen to it.
At that point I told Sophia that I was going to call our credit card company to notify them of my trouble with her company. She told me that this would only severely delay any return on our tickets and asked me to wait till she called me back on the 6th of August.
On August 12, after not receiving a call from Sophia, I again called the number for Rail Europe and asked to speak to her. She hadnt listened to the tape yet but promised that she would and would CALL me back before the end of the workday. At 5:30 pm, I hadnt received a call. I happened to look at my email and noticed that I had an email from Rail Europe that was sent shortly after my earlier call to this company. It was from Sophia and stated the company policy for refunds and that since I HADNOT MAILED THE UNUSED STAMPED TICKETS TO THEM 48 HOURS BEFORE they were scheduled for use, there would be no refund.
There was no mention of listening to the conversation between supervisor Wissemes and myself. Also, the original contact with supervisor Wissemes on July 2nd was already less than 24 hours before the tickets were to be used on July 3rd, well passed the now mentioned 48 hours requirement.. I am now trying to recoup our money through our credit card company. I am not the only one that has been lied to, do your research, read the comments on their own website- I wish I had!"
"First of all, know that I did not order my tickets through raileurope North America but from raileurope-world. However, I want as many travelers to know about the terrible service I received from RailEurope Europe, especially those planning to go abroad for a longer period of time. I ordered tickets to Italy while I was living In Germany. There was no option for electronic tickets (which is another issue in itself) so my tickets had to be delivered by mail. As their website and emails say, you cannot get on the train without your tickets. The night before my trip, I still had not received my tickets. I notified them of this the next day and they sent me a confirmation number, saying that my tickets were delivered to a completely different address (even though my address was submitted correctly). Obviously at this point, I could not go on my trip as I didn't have the tickets. I received a set of the tickets three days after my train left!!! I never received any apology from raileurope nor will they refund ANY of my money. They say I received my tickets and that is that. I even emailed them pictures of the ticket label that says when the tickets were delivered. They refuse to respond to my emails and claim this matter is closed. Not only was my trip ruined, but I was also not refunded the money! "
"You are lucky if raileurope.com only marks up your rail tickets by 10% like it said in the other review. My tickets were marked up over 80%. SNCF, the French national railway, owns tgv-europe.com, raileurope.com, and raileurope-world.com. The tickets on tgv-europe.com are the cheapest. However, if you are not careful, they will redirect you to one of the other sites where the tickets are much more expensive. raileurope.com always charges a $7.95 fee and they did not offer e-tickets for my itinerary. There is no reason at all to use them and my discovery of the many complaints about them on the Internet confirms this. They now have the honor being my worst Internet shopping experience out of all the sites I have shopped at and reviewed."
"The site is a reseller of tickets. They add about 10% to the cost + 7$ processing fee. But what is truly egregious is their return policy. They are as bad as the airlines. Also they do not provide you with an scannable electronic ticket that you can take straight to the train but force to print it out at the station.
On the plus side, the website is very well done and allows you to easily navigate schedules.
Just purchase tickets directly from Thalys, or Eurostar. you will get a better price and better customer service"