First Class comfort but Second Class fares with Thalys

If you are traveling from Paris to Amsterdam, like what I did, the most convenient mean of transport would definitely be train. It provide city centre to city centre transport where Europe travelers are most likely to travel from and to. This is convenient for flash packers like us where we don’t have to drag our heavy luggage a long way from our hostel in Paris Monmartre and to our apartment in Amsterdam Dam Square. Thalys trains provide this service every hour in a day.

Thalys is a high speed train operated by the SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français) or the French National Railway Corporation. It provides regular high speed train service to major cities in northern part of central Europe, such as Paris, Brussel, Amsterdam, Masseille, Cologne, and Rotterdam.

If you book Thalys tickets well in advance, you can actually get one of the only four seats in their special First Class (or they called it Comfort 1) Salon lounge cabin with special low fare. We managed to get those seats in our early booking when we traveled to Amsterdam last Spring and I can tell you that it was awesome! 🙂

This little cabin lounge with 4 seats is actually separated from other First Class seats in the carriage by the luggage compartment and the entrance/exit. In other words, it is well isolated from the rest and you would be the first to get off the train with your luggage stored just next door.

Traveling in First Class means they are plenty of free services provided on board. Free Wi-Fi broadband service is available throughout the journey. Electrical sockets are fitted beside our seats for charging our laptops and cameras. Newspapers and magazines are also provided in our cabin free of charge.

Reclining and ergonomically designed seats are perfect for our journey, albeit not a very long 3-hour-trip. Coat hangers are fitted beside the entrance door where we hung our jackets.

One of the surprises was the complimentary on board catering service. Breakfast are served in the morning train with a savoury selction of 2 choices: sweet or salty. Sweet option of breakfast comprised of pastry, fruits, croissant and cakes; while salty options included cheese, cold meat and bread. Both are served together with yogurt, fruit juice and coffee (or tea).

The portion wasn’t enormous but sufficient for our morning trip. On top of that, additional pastries and drinks refill are offered regularly after our breakfast to make sure we were fully satisfied. Another surprise. 🙂

After all, Thalys high speed train was the best train travel experience I had on my Europe travel last Spring. Special low fare of only €79 in a Comfort 1 salon lounge seats was definitely a steal of our money, if compared to the normal fare of €171. This is something good in Thalys trains where tourists like us who always plan and book transportations in advance will get these extra benefits.

And this First Class comfort with only the Second Class fares had just proved to be one of the advantages to plan your Europe travel in advance! – Travel Feeder, your ultimate travel photo blog

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.