cannot find direct or cheap ticket from brussels to amsterdam
 

http://www.seat61.com/international-...sels-Amsterdam

I followed the article in search for 27Euro ticket from brussels to amsterdam. I put in Sun Sep 28 as the date with a noon time departure. I am getting 158Euro ticket for one stop and 78Euro for 3 stops. What am I doing wrong?

The discount fare mentioned won't necessarily be available every day or for all trains. However a quick search did find one-way, non-stop fares for Sep 28 on Thalys (https://www.thalys.com/nl/en/).

Bruxelles-Midi (Be) - Amsterdam Central (NL)

Dep 11:52, Arr 13:42 € 55,00 Second class, € 49,00 First Class :-:
Dep 13:52, Arr 15:42 € 45,00 Second Class, € 65,00 First Class

Happy travels!

Travelling on ordinary (non-Thalys) trains the fare is EUR 39.20 in second class and EUR 63.60 in first. You can buy your ticket on the day, and travel on any train - just hop on and find a seat. The journey used to take only half an hour longer than using the Thalys service (and that will hopefully be the case again at the end of the year when they re-introduce direct trains), at the moment it takes about 45 minutes longer and involves a change.

From the seat61 page you linked to:

As LostInAmerica has shown, it looks like the cheapest tickets have either already sold out, or weren't event available. Thalys tickets generally go on sale 90 days in advance, and it looks like the very cheapest ones have already been snapped up, sorry

Cheap Thalys tickets are only valid on one train, and that train only. On the other hand, the regular trains are only €39, ticket valid on any train, you can buy on the day, and it isn't that much slower. Maybe just get one of those?

Interestingly, I can see the 11:52 available for €29 on http://www.nshispeed.nl/

Which website are you using? You can actually book Brussels - Amsterdam on (at least) three different websites:

SNCB (Belgian Railways): www.b-europe.com/Travel
NS International (Dutch Railways): www.nsinternational.nl (known as nshispeed.nl until very recently)
Thalys (who actually operate the high speed trains on this route): www.thalys.com/be/en

All three seem to be currently offering the 11:52 departure on 28th September (direct Thalys Brussels to Amsterdam) for €29. However, I doubt that price will remain available for long...

€59 - €79 seems more usual for the Thalys on this route (especially when booking at fairly short notice). So, I tend to use the classic service. As Aviatrix and Gagravarr have said, this is only €39.20*, even if purchased on day of departure, and is valid on any classic train (ie: non-Thalys, but including IC Direct within Holland) on the given day. Admittedly the journey is ~1hr longer, but there are (almost) hourly departures, compared to two-hourly for the Thalys. Consequently, as the classic tickets are flexible (unlike the 'cheap' Thalys tickets), unless you can be sure of timing your arrival at the departure station to coincide with the Thalys schedule (or are willing to pay for a flexible Thalys ticket), it can often be quicker/easier just to take the classic service.

Some schedules for the classic service (taking 2h40 for Brussels-Amsterdam) involve a 2min connection in Rotterdam. This may seem optimistic - but it's normally cross-platform (11 to 12), and IME they will hold the IC Direct train if the train from Brussels is a few minutes late.

* Or €29.50 if you have a RailPlus card

I am using b-europe.com to search. I see the cheaper fares, but when I try to book, the system will say 'the fare is no longer available', same message as last night. The fare I was looking at departs from Brussels-north station, with a stop at Antwerpen Centraal (is this a diffcult station to navigate around?)

Ah - that may be your problem. The Thalys service departs from Brussels-South (Midi/Zuid) and doesn't stop elsewhere in the city.

Antwerp Central is an utterly stunning station - not too hard to navigate, but I think your particular interchange would involve going from the high-level terminal platforms to the low-level through platforms.

Would recommend the direct service from Brussels South.

I also tried booking on Thalys, but its the same problem. A cheap fare comes back in the search result but when I try to buy, the system will say its not there. The next cheapest fare is at least double the price.

"The fare you selected on the previous step seems to have been sold out in the mean time."

On the www.nsinternational.nl website, I found a reasonable fare. When I try to make payment, it says my credit card is not acceptable. Seems like a challenge to book train tickets in advance...

Tried a few more times and finally booked thru the Thalys website. I will be staying closer to the Brussels north station and the train leaves from the south station. Google map recommends that I take a tram/bus to get to the south station. Wouldn't taking a train from the north station be easier?

I think, at least for that route, the Thalys website links into b-europe.com for actual booking - so not surprising you're finding the same problem in both.

I'm still not clear what route you're trying to book, but it sounds like:
11:41 IC2010 Brussels-Nord, arr Antwerp Centraal 12:22 (platform 21)
12:30 Thalys 9327 Antwerp Centraal (platform 22), arr Amsterdam Centraal 13:42

I think platform 21 to 22 at Antwerp is just a cross-platform change - but if not, they're certainly both on the same (lowest) level, so it'd just be up one escalator, across the tracks, and down one escalator.

This would be ticketed as a Thalys ticket Antwerp-Amsterdam, plus a 'any Belgian station' add-on.

However, as stut has said, you'd be better off taking the Thalys straight through from Brussels South station.

I'm not sure why your credit card is not being accepted. NSinternational.nl (and Dutch websites generally) tend to charge more if you can't pay direct from a Dutch bank account - but I've had no problems using non-Dutch/non-Belgian credit cards on both NSHispeed.nl and b-europe.com in the past.

EDIT: I see you've now managed to book the direct Thalys - I'm pleased that worked out. Yes, you should be able to take a train from Brussels North to Brussels South to connect with your Thalys. Journey takes 7 minutes, and there are trains at least every 10 minutes at that time of day. I think your Thalys ticket includes train travel from Brussels North to Brussels South (see 'Extend Your Journey Free of Charge' on the Thalys website) but perhaps someone else can confirm this.

Great, thank you all for the assistance.