Jan 27, 2015, 6:43 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
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As RESARAIL and many European rail systems have adopted revenue management techniques, fares can resemble airline fares: when they are first released (often 90 days out), there are cheaper advanced purchase prices with restrictions. Closer in, lower fare buckets are taken up, and walk-up fares can be very high.
You can save by purchasing in advance, and there are breaks for people traveling together, seniors (60 and over,) etc. Seats go on sale usually 90 days prior to travel. The cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions - including refundability, ability to change seats, etc. The cheapest, "Prem" are - well, the cheapest, and very restricted, non-refundable tickets; Loisir (leisure) fares are changeable, even the day of departure (though day of departure changes cost EUR 10 and after departure there is no remaining value) and full-fare are fully changeable. Yup, Revenue Management systems! But you can save big money using the tgv-europe site and using the discounts (there is a sidebar with a click on line called "modify other criteria" to click on for adding the ages, number of travellers, etc.)
It is fairly easy to book French rail (SNCF or Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) TGV and Thalys (high speed rail) tickets online and print them out, just as you would an airline ticket - but your ticket is also your pass to board. And you can elect your seats (site61 helps you with diagrams, photos, etc.) whilst you book after selecting the itinerary and before buying, including upstairs, downstairs, 2 or 4 side by side, facing, etc whatever is offered, in many cases. Seamless. But continue reading...
The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a "Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in France" - if you are a beginner or merely want to know more, this is your place to start (but read here too, because you will gain some context and other members will undoubtedly add tips and tricks).
You may be able to save with a pass, but then again, if you are only going to do say, two long trips in two days and a couple of short trips on TER regional rail on a couple of others, you may find a rail pass is significantly costlier than discounted fares for the routes you will be traveling. seat61.com has a good take on this, and of course you can review the different passes on the SNCF websites.
Rail Europe is merely a SNCF symbiote, a cluster of subsidiaries that charge you a fee to book on the Resarail system, and fail to offer many of the discount opportunities SNCF offers you directly; SNCF tries to boot you to Rail Europe so it pays its way. E.g. if you go to the SNCF site and select "USA" as your country, it will most likely try to boot you to Rail Europe. You probably do not need the "convenience" of paying much more - and paying a fee to do that!
I sometimes use Rail Europe to check schedules, then book on TGV-Europe (the main SNCF site in English). Other useful booking sites for several Europe rail systems are Capitaine Train and LOCO2 (see links below); they are generally easier to use, and LOCO2 offers apps for iOS and Android.
You can use the referral link on site61, or you can go to the SNCF website and state you are in "Canada" (may still try to "guide" you, but I have been successful with this,) or, say, "Afghanistan" and book on. I have done this and used my US credit card, then merely printing the resultant tickets to a PDF document for future use. ("Mexico" seems to cause "technical failure" messages, and perhaps there are others.)
Beware of popups asking if you wish to be referred to "our local website" and select to click "Continue onto tgv-europe.com"
Link to SNCF / TGV-Europe English site preset with "Country = Canada"
Link to SNCF tickets and reservations (English - TGV, Thalys, Eurostar)
Link to SNCF / Voyages SNCF (French)
Link to SNCF / TGV-Europe (English)
Link to SNCF After-Sales Purchase (English)
Link to SNCF subsidiaries Rail Europe in several countries (including US, Canada, etc. - higher fares shown)
Link to Eurostar ("Chunnel") London & Paris, Brussels, etc.
Link to seat61.com France page
Link to seat61.com how to avoid Rail Europe tricks and traps
Link to LOCO2 (UK) online rail booking service
Link to Capitaine Train (France) online rail booking service (iOS and Android apps available)
Please feel free to add your tips and links for booking rail in France.[/QUOTE]
icon (lower right corner).As RESARAIL and many European rail systems have adopted revenue management techniques, fares can resemble airline fares: when they are first released (often 90 days out), there are cheaper advanced purchase prices with restrictions. Closer in, lower fare buckets are taken up, and walk-up fares can be very high.
You can save by purchasing in advance, and there are breaks for people traveling together, seniors (60 and over,) etc. Seats go on sale usually 90 days prior to travel. The cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions - including refundability, ability to change seats, etc. The cheapest, "Prem" are - well, the cheapest, and very restricted, non-refundable tickets; Loisir (leisure) fares are changeable, even the day of departure (though day of departure changes cost EUR 10 and after departure there is no remaining value) and full-fare are fully changeable. Yup, Revenue Management systems! But you can save big money using the tgv-europe site and using the discounts (there is a sidebar with a click on line called "modify other criteria" to click on for adding the ages, number of travellers, etc.)
It is fairly easy to book French rail (SNCF or Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) TGV and Thalys (high speed rail) tickets online and print them out, just as you would an airline ticket - but your ticket is also your pass to board. And you can elect your seats (site61 helps you with diagrams, photos, etc.) whilst you book after selecting the itinerary and before buying, including upstairs, downstairs, 2 or 4 side by side, facing, etc whatever is offered, in many cases. Seamless. But continue reading...
The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a "Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in France" - if you are a beginner or merely want to know more, this is your place to start (but read here too, because you will gain some context and other members will undoubtedly add tips and tricks).
You may be able to save with a pass, but then again, if you are only going to do say, two long trips in two days and a couple of short trips on TER regional rail on a couple of others, you may find a rail pass is significantly costlier than discounted fares for the routes you will be traveling. seat61.com has a good take on this, and of course you can review the different passes on the SNCF websites.
Rail Europe is merely a SNCF symbiote, a cluster of subsidiaries that charge you a fee to book on the Resarail system, and fail to offer many of the discount opportunities SNCF offers you directly; SNCF tries to boot you to Rail Europe so it pays its way. E.g. if you go to the SNCF site and select "USA" as your country, it will most likely try to boot you to Rail Europe. You probably do not need the "convenience" of paying much more - and paying a fee to do that!
I sometimes use Rail Europe to check schedules, then book on TGV-Europe (the main SNCF site in English). Other useful booking sites for several Europe rail systems are Capitaine Train and LOCO2 (see links below); they are generally easier to use, and LOCO2 offers apps for iOS and Android.
You can use the referral link on site61, or you can go to the SNCF website and state you are in "Canada" (may still try to "guide" you, but I have been successful with this,) or, say, "Afghanistan" and book on. I have done this and used my US credit card, then merely printing the resultant tickets to a PDF document for future use. ("Mexico" seems to cause "technical failure" messages, and perhaps there are others.)
Beware of popups asking if you wish to be referred to "our local website" and select to click "Continue onto tgv-europe.com"
Link to SNCF / TGV-Europe English site preset with "Country = Canada"
Link to SNCF tickets and reservations (English - TGV, Thalys, Eurostar)
Link to SNCF / Voyages SNCF (French)
Link to SNCF / TGV-Europe (English)
Link to SNCF After-Sales Purchase (English)
Link to SNCF subsidiaries Rail Europe in several countries (including US, Canada, etc. - higher fares shown)
Link to Eurostar ("Chunnel") London & Paris, Brussels, etc.
Link to seat61.com France page
Link to seat61.com how to avoid Rail Europe tricks and traps
Link to LOCO2 (UK) online rail booking service
Link to Capitaine Train (France) online rail booking service (iOS and Android apps available)
Please feel free to add your tips and links for booking rail in France.[/QUOTE]
French rail - SNCF - TGV - trains - Rail Europe - online ticket and purchasing
Feb 21, 2012, 5:08 pm
#1
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
French rail - SNCF - TGV - trains - Rail Europe - online ticket and purchasing
I was looking for a thread that would contain information useful to those who are wanting to purchase their France rail tickets online, and did not really find so much in terms of general purchasing and savings on SNCF / TGV (high speed) and RER (regional).
It is fairly easy to book French rail (SNCF or Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) TGV and Thalys (high speed rail) tickets online and print them out, just as you would an airline ticket - but your ticket is also your pass to board. And you can elect your seats (site61 helps you with diagrams, photos, etc.) whilst you book after selecting the itinerary and before buying, including upstairs, downstairs, 2 or 4 side by side, facing, etc whatever is offered, in many cases. Seamless. But continue reading...
For TER Regional trains you can also purchase your tickets online, but... to retrieve the tickets you can use a train station automated kiosk as long as you have a "chip-and-PIN" credit card, or go to the ticket windows and recover your ticket (with the same credit card you used to book). The ticket vendors do have a way to use a credit card without a chip and PIN, but the queues can be lengthy so give yourself plenty of time. N.B, Some US credit cards are now available with chip and PIN, but you have to call and inquire; my particular Citi card comes with chip and PIN and zero forex charges, so it's the one i use for tgv-europe purchases.
RER can not be purchased online via the tgv-europe site.com at all.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a "Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in France" - if you are a beginner or merely want to know more, this is your place to start (but read here too, because you will gain some context and other members will undoubtedly add tips and tricks).
First, for context: the SNCF reservations system, including eurostar, RESARAIL, was designed by the (ex-AA) Sabre team, beginning in 1994; it is based on Sabre ELVA. Therefore, it has a lot of our favorite Revenue Management tools built in.
(Link to history.)
You can save by purchasing in advance, and there are breaks for people traveling together, seniors (60 and over,) etc. Seats go on sale usually 90 days prior to travel. The cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions - including refundability, ability to change seats, etc. The cheapest, "Prem" are - well, the cheapest, and very restricted, non-refundable tickets; Loisir (leisure) fares are changeable, even the day of departure (though day of departure changes cost EUR 10 and after departure there is no remaining value) and full-fare are fully changeable. Yup, Revenue Management systems! But you can save big money using the tgv-europe site and using the discounts (there is a sidebar with a click on line called "modify other criteria" to click on for adding the ages, number of travellers, etc.)
You may be able to save with a pass, but then again, if you are only going to do say, two long trips in two days and a couple of short trips on TER regional rail on a couple of others, you may find a rail pass is significantly costlier than discounted fares for the routes you will be traveling. seat61.com has a good take on this, and of course you can review the different passes on the SNCF websites.
Rail Europe is merely a SNCF symbiote, a cluster of subsidiaries that charge you a fee to book on the Resarail system, and fail to offer many of the discount opportunities SNCF offers you directly; SNCF tries to boot you to Rail Europe so it pays its way. E.g. if you go to the SNCF site and select "USA" as your country, it will most likely try to boot you to Rail Europe. You probably do not need the "convenience" of paying much more - and paying a fee to do that!
I sometimes use Rail Europe to check schedules, then book on TGV-Europe (the main SNCF site in English).
You can use the referral link on site61, or you can go to the SNCF website and state you are in "Canada" (may still try to "guide" you, but I have been successful with this,) or, say, "Afghanistan" and book on. I have done this and used my US credit card, then merely printing the resultant tickets to a PDF document for future use. ("Mexico" seems to cause "technical failure" messages, and perhaps there are others.)
Beware of popups asking if you wish to be referred to "our local website" and select to click "Continue onto tgv-europe.com"
Please feel free to add your tips for booking rail in France.
I've added some of this, and moved all links to sites and resources, to the wikipost.
It is fairly easy to book French rail (SNCF or Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) TGV and Thalys (high speed rail) tickets online and print them out, just as you would an airline ticket - but your ticket is also your pass to board. And you can elect your seats (site61 helps you with diagrams, photos, etc.) whilst you book after selecting the itinerary and before buying, including upstairs, downstairs, 2 or 4 side by side, facing, etc whatever is offered, in many cases. Seamless. But continue reading...
For TER Regional trains you can also purchase your tickets online, but... to retrieve the tickets you can use a train station automated kiosk as long as you have a "chip-and-PIN" credit card, or go to the ticket windows and recover your ticket (with the same credit card you used to book). The ticket vendors do have a way to use a credit card without a chip and PIN, but the queues can be lengthy so give yourself plenty of time. N.B, Some US credit cards are now available with chip and PIN, but you have to call and inquire; my particular Citi card comes with chip and PIN and zero forex charges, so it's the one i use for tgv-europe purchases.
RER can not be purchased online via the tgv-europe site.com at all.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One has a "Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in France" - if you are a beginner or merely want to know more, this is your place to start (but read here too, because you will gain some context and other members will undoubtedly add tips and tricks).
First, for context: the SNCF reservations system, including eurostar, RESARAIL, was designed by the (ex-AA) Sabre team, beginning in 1994; it is based on Sabre ELVA. Therefore, it has a lot of our favorite Revenue Management tools built in.
(Link to history.)You can save by purchasing in advance, and there are breaks for people traveling together, seniors (60 and over,) etc. Seats go on sale usually 90 days prior to travel. The cheaper the ticket, the more restrictions - including refundability, ability to change seats, etc. The cheapest, "Prem" are - well, the cheapest, and very restricted, non-refundable tickets; Loisir (leisure) fares are changeable, even the day of departure (though day of departure changes cost EUR 10 and after departure there is no remaining value) and full-fare are fully changeable. Yup, Revenue Management systems! But you can save big money using the tgv-europe site and using the discounts (there is a sidebar with a click on line called "modify other criteria" to click on for adding the ages, number of travellers, etc.)
You may be able to save with a pass, but then again, if you are only going to do say, two long trips in two days and a couple of short trips on TER regional rail on a couple of others, you may find a rail pass is significantly costlier than discounted fares for the routes you will be traveling. seat61.com has a good take on this, and of course you can review the different passes on the SNCF websites.
Rail Europe is merely a SNCF symbiote, a cluster of subsidiaries that charge you a fee to book on the Resarail system, and fail to offer many of the discount opportunities SNCF offers you directly; SNCF tries to boot you to Rail Europe so it pays its way. E.g. if you go to the SNCF site and select "USA" as your country, it will most likely try to boot you to Rail Europe. You probably do not need the "convenience" of paying much more - and paying a fee to do that!
I sometimes use Rail Europe to check schedules, then book on TGV-Europe (the main SNCF site in English).
You can use the referral link on site61, or you can go to the SNCF website and state you are in "Canada" (may still try to "guide" you, but I have been successful with this,) or, say, "Afghanistan" and book on. I have done this and used my US credit card, then merely printing the resultant tickets to a PDF document for future use. ("Mexico" seems to cause "technical failure" messages, and perhaps there are others.)
Beware of popups asking if you wish to be referred to "our local website" and select to click "Continue onto tgv-europe.com"
Please feel free to add your tips for booking rail in France.
I've added some of this, and moved all links to sites and resources, to the wikipost.
Last edited by JDiver; Aug 30, 2015 at 11:21 pm Reason: add / correct typos / update
Feb 29, 2012, 12:20 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Bern, Swiss-o-land
Programs: M&M (LX/LH) Silver, Marriott Platinum, Accor Silver, AF/KL Silver, Swiss Railway
Posts: 791
I recently purchased TGV tickets (Basel -Paris/Paris-Geneva) on the Swiss SBB website. In the past, the SBB office in Brig would send me paper tickets via post.
However, I am very happy to report that the TGV tickets are immediately available for download and can be printed from my computer.
However, I am very happy to report that the TGV tickets are immediately available for download and can be printed from my computer.
Feb 29, 2012, 8:06 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tucson, AZ
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, National EE
Posts: 253
Rail Europe is merely a SNCF symbiote, a cluster of subsidiaries that charge you a fee to book on the Resarail system, and fail to offer many of the discount opportunities SNCF offers you directly; SNCF tries to boot you to Rail Europe so it pays its way. E.g. if you go to the SNCF site and select "USA" as your country, it will most likely try to boot you to Rail Europe. You do not need the "convenience" of paying much more - and paying a fee to do that!
I sometimes use Rail Europe to check schedules, then book on TGV-Europe (the main SNCF site in English).
You can use the referral link on site61, or you can go to the SNCF website and state you are in "Canada" (may still try to "guide" you, but I have been successful with this,) or, say, "Afghanistan" and book on. I have done this and used my US credit card, then merely printing the resultant tickets to a PDF document for future use. ("Mexico" seems to cause "technical failure" messages, and perhaps there are others.)
Mar 8, 2012, 11:08 am
#7
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Ironically, my purchases with Citi have worked - or not, forcing me to call and have a chat with fraud prevention to reactivate the card. There seems to be little consistency with this - sometimes they allow, sometimes they do not. When I called Citi yesterday, as you, I was able to get a release and continue with my purchase immediately.
I also had them send me new cards with chip and PIN functionality so I can use them more easily in Europe, etc. Finally! ^ some US cards are offering chip and PIN - but I don't think many are openly advertising that fact.
I also had them send me new cards with chip and PIN functionality so I can use them more easily in Europe, etc. Finally! ^ some US cards are offering chip and PIN - but I don't think many are openly advertising that fact.
Let me just add that I did this successfully a couple of weeks ago, charging the tickets to a Chase VISA. However, I did need to call Chase for the transaction to go through. On my first attempt, the CC was rejected. I called Chase and the representative stayed on the line with me while I tried again. She was able to see the request in real-time and approved it.
Last edited by JDiver; Mar 8, 2012 at 11:28 am
Mar 15, 2012, 11:59 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: eastern Europe & NC
Posts: 4,527
Yeah, Rail Europe is known for overcharging. I remember pricing some tickets in the Baltics some years ago, and their price quote was off the wall. I waited and bought them at the train station when I arrived and paid about 10% of the rip off price wanted by Rail Europe.
May 7, 2012, 2:46 pm
#9
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Just to follow up, we had no issues using our home-printed tickets on the TGV, and using our Diners (MasterCard branding) card with EMV Chip-and-PIN card at Lyon Part Dieu, retrieved our tickets to Chalon-sur-Saône on the TER without any difficulty at all. (However, we were not able to retrieve the Chalon-sur-Saône TER tickets from the machines at Charles de Gaulle - Roissy TGV station). And we saved a pile of money buy purchasing on tgv-europe with senior and advance purchase discounts.
May 8, 2012, 1:12 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: jfk area
Programs: AA platinum; 2MM AA, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,291
Ironically, my purchases with Citi have worked - or not, forcing me to call and have a chat with fraud prevention to reactivate the card. There seems to be little consistency with this - sometimes they allow, sometimes they do not. When I called Citi yesterday, as you, I was able to get a release and continue with my purchase immediately.
I also had them send me new cards with chip and PIN functionality so I can use them more easily in Europe, etc. Finally! ^ some US cards are offering chip and PIN - but I don't think many are openly advertising that fact.
I also had them send me new cards with chip and PIN functionality so I can use them more easily in Europe, etc. Finally! ^ some US cards are offering chip and PIN - but I don't think many are openly advertising that fact.
May 9, 2012, 12:49 pm
#11
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
I do use virtual cards and virtual accounts - but nothing seems to be foolproof with Citi, IMO. Of course, neither would work for the EMV chip kiosks or where one must present the booking card for TER or local pickup tickets.
Note: Citi now does not allow the use of Virtual Account numbers with some of their cards (e.g. my Citi executive Aadvantage MasterCard, which has an EMV chip and makes no forex charges
.)
Note: Citi now does not allow the use of Virtual Account numbers with some of their cards (e.g. my Citi executive Aadvantage MasterCard, which has an EMV chip and makes no forex charges
.)Last edited by JDiver; Mar 10, 2013 at 2:38 pm Reason: update
May 21, 2012, 7:41 am
#12
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: AVV
Programs: QF, HH
Posts: 1,112
Yes, I've been quoted over $400 for my planned upcoming itinerary by my travel agent, whereas it seems like the SCNF website will mean a grand saving of $$. All the better for nicer hotels and meals!
Although, my first trip is in late June, and I still haven't booked anything yet. Life's been busy, I need to get on top of that!
One question, however. It seems there are some nice discounts if one has the discount card called the "Carte 12-25". Apparently its available to everyone, no matter what age/nationality/residence. However, when I went to buy it online, on the Carte 12-25 website (en français, mind you) I was not able to select my home country (Australia) and it told me to go to Raileurope.com.au to get one. I tried this, but there does not seem to be a way of getting one of these on the RailEurope website.
Any idea how I can purchase one of these cards before I go (I'm 20, so apparently eligible)? Or would it be safe to select the option that I do have one of these cards, upon booking my travels on the SNCF website, and then buy one over the counter in France, before I get on the train? Thanks!
Although, my first trip is in late June, and I still haven't booked anything yet. Life's been busy, I need to get on top of that!
One question, however. It seems there are some nice discounts if one has the discount card called the "Carte 12-25". Apparently its available to everyone, no matter what age/nationality/residence. However, when I went to buy it online, on the Carte 12-25 website (en français, mind you) I was not able to select my home country (Australia) and it told me to go to Raileurope.com.au to get one. I tried this, but there does not seem to be a way of getting one of these on the RailEurope website.
Any idea how I can purchase one of these cards before I go (I'm 20, so apparently eligible)? Or would it be safe to select the option that I do have one of these cards, upon booking my travels on the SNCF website, and then buy one over the counter in France, before I get on the train? Thanks!
May 21, 2012, 11:20 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: GVA, LAX, ICN
Programs: KE MC
Posts: 240
Any idea how I can purchase one of these cards before I go (I'm 20, so apparently eligible)? Or would it be safe to select the option that I do have one of these cards, upon booking my travels on the SNCF website, and then buy one over the counter in France, before I get on the train? Thanks!
Jun 2, 2012, 9:42 pm
#15
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: AVV
Programs: QF, HH
Posts: 1,112
I've got about 14 mins to connect at Bordeaux St Jean, from the TGV to the Intercités. Will this be enough time do you think?
Arriving at 14:53pm, on the TGV #9802 direct from Brussels. Then leaving on the Intercités #4665 at 15:08pm to Toulouse.
Any tips/advice for making this connection smoother? I know there's probably no lifts, but I'm young and fit and can carry my bag if need be (even if it is 25kgs!
). I just think trying to find out the right platform will be the thing slowing me down a lot. Is there a train timetable-board on every platform like in Italy, for example, with all the numbers and times, listing the various departing platforms?
Arriving at 14:53pm, on the TGV #9802 direct from Brussels. Then leaving on the Intercités #4665 at 15:08pm to Toulouse.
Any tips/advice for making this connection smoother? I know there's probably no lifts, but I'm young and fit and can carry my bag if need be (even if it is 25kgs!
). I just think trying to find out the right platform will be the thing slowing me down a lot. Is there a train timetable-board on every platform like in Italy, for example, with all the numbers and times, listing the various departing platforms?