Hello all,

So I'm trying to book Thalys for approximately 90 days out.

There appears to be a (somewhat) significant difference between the "Belgium/English" and "France/English" versions of the site. France redirects to a page on http://agence.ravel.tm.fr/ and Belgium to something on b-europe.com.

The two interfaces are pretty different, though my main concern lies in pricing. As a youth (12-25), I am essentially offered a 29€ "Economy" ticket on both sites. On the France version, however, I am offered a 45€ "Flexible" ticket while the B-Europe only offers a 45€ "Semi-Flexible" ticket. The France site doesn't offer a semi-flexible, and B-Europe doesn't offer a flexible.

What's interesting is that the terms are pretty much identical, and pretty much align with the Flexible terms: 100% refundable up to T+60, and "exchangeable" (B-Europe includes "exchangeable once" whereas the French site only says "exchangeable").

My questions then, are:
1. Are these the same ticket?
2. If so/if not, which site should I buy from, given that I'm en/US and would use Citi Premier or something to avoid FTF?
3. What are the terms of "exchangeable"? Could I only exchange for a 45€ ticket when I want to do it, or any semi-flexible, or what (seems like there would be a loophole if I could immediately exchange it for a more expensive ticket)?


Thanks in advance. Though Thalys ticketing is certainly not run like that of Russian trains (and I'm grateful for that), I'm still perplexed.