I just took the first French TGV trip in 15 years. (And by all expectation, for the next 10 years) So please forgive the silly question.

I am wondering what is the rule on seat reservations on the INOUI TGV?

I travelled from Chessy to CDG on an inOui TGV (Nantes to Strasbourg). This journey goes from Disneyland Paris to the Airport. It’s a 9 min journey by TGV. 40 min by car. Or 80 min by commuter train.

I bought a second class ticket “sans placement”. (I have a ticket. This question is only about seat reservation.) This is a point to point ticket. Not part any rail pass.

I was expecting to be given a seat assignment close to the travel date. (Kind of like checking into flight late in America and have to be assigned a seat at the gate.)
That didn’t happen.

I messaged SNCF about this, and their (human not AI) agent replied on chat that I “have a free seat ticket. You can sit wherever you want to in Coach 7.” (Their words in quotes.)


So on travel day: I was expecting the DB ICE type of setup (which was my last Europe rail experience 10 years ago) and I was looking for a “this seat is reserved until xxx stop” indicator. And I found none.

So I sat down in a random seat.
And it turns out it is someone’s chosen seat.
He wasn’t mean about it. But he was surprised by my claim that I have a ticket without seat assignment.
There was not a conductor ticket check on the day for those 9 minutes. So the matter was not put to a test.

After travelling, I googled the topic. A lot of articles in the last 5 years range seem to confirm the other guys claim: that a French TGV requires a seat reservation.
But I have an SNCF chat that says “I can sit wherever I want”.

Who is right? What is the TGV seat reservation rule in 2025?