I need to book tickets from Luzern to Paris in early May. Can someone suggest the best place to purchase them? It seems sbb and tgv are not so flexible and the prices seem really high. I could even search for tickets outside of 60 days prior to travel. Any super discount websites out there?

Thanks!

TGV FR: http://www.tgv-europe.ch/en/

SNCF FR: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/

SBB CH International tickets: https://www.sbb.ch/en/ticketshop/b2c/pipSchritt_0.do

SBB CH SuperSaver domestic tickets to border stations: http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and...r-tickets.html

In the past, I have bought tickets off these sites ( in French ):

http://www.trocdestrains.com/recherc...let-train.html

http://www.covoiturage.fr/lang/en

For Netherlands:

http://kopen.marktplaats.nl/tickets-...uig/c1998.html

For Germany:

http://reise.shop.ebay.de/Bahntickets-/37352/i.html

To Paris, I would use a GA to the border station like Basel Bad Bf or Geneva, and then buy a PICCOLO ticket ( advanced purchase ) on the TGV / SNCF website, usually not more than EUR20 one way. I would then buy a one way Piccolo Paris to Geneva, also for around EUR20. From Geneva, the GA comes handy in returning to my Swiss town.

How Do You Get The Lower Priced TGV Tickets To Paris?

Given that the Swiss and French railways have a monopoly, no, there are no super discount websites. But SBB offer a CHF 30 fare (one way) from Basel or Zurich. You just need to add a ticket to Basel or Zurich from Lucerne.

hmm,
tricky one. a few tips, but unless you have a reduction car for either/both countries you are looking at paying a hefty sum.

Vueling.com fly from zurich to paris, usually much cheaper then full price train tickets

easyjet fly geneva paris, not really sure about prices

or try Covoiturage.fr

this car sharing website is pretty good within France but not so good for international journeys. so if you are going to use this I would recommend trying to get to the nearest big(ish) French town by train or bus and then get the lift from there.

otherwise I wrote an article about cheap train tickets here (supersaver)

http://zurichexpats.com/cheap-train-...s-switzerland/

I think these tickets are only available until the end of February, and not for major international journeys. but it might be able to get you over the border to a lift cheap enough? or to the flight in Zurich.

Otherwise i'd recommend getting the discount cards if you are going regularly as they usually pay for them selves in the first ticket or 2