stimpy

I found a new Grand Voyageur card in a pile of old junk mail at home. Apparently they changed all the numbers? Anyhow, when I logged into the website to see how many points I had, it said my new status was Tres Grand Voyageur.

I'm not sure what that means or how to find out the list of my transactions on the website, but it's an improvement.

wideman

Have you been eating a few too many muffins recently?

stimpy

Um, no. I'm not a muffin man, why?

MorganB

It means you have taken the train enough to be allowed to redeem your points. Thats the ONLY thing that changes over regular grand voyageur.

Falco Peregrinus

Actually, "Très grand voyageur" already existed before they changed the points system ("points" have become "S'miles" wich is the system created by Galleries Lafayette, Casino and... Shell fuel stations ). Don't ask me about the conversion rate, all I know is that it is much less self explanatory than before, when 1 € used to be 1 point.

"Très grand voyageur" is not really a status since you can use the "lounges" (sort of luxury good old salles d'attente ) as soon as you join the program.

There is an excellent and recent article in Le Monde about the latest changes in the program, which appear to be a complete mess: account numbers changed, vanishing points, website not showing activity, etc. I've paid 30 € to renew my membership 4 weeks ago and I'm still waiting for a new card. I've had to call them 3 times to at least get the new number. They also changed the password without any notification.

You MUST have your GV number printed on your ticket at reservation time as they won't credit anything after the trip.

PM me if the link to the article is no longer free or available.

stimpy

Thanks for the info. Yes the website is strange. It has my points in the upper right corner, but no listing of how I earned the points. So I have no idea if they failed to credit anything. It just says 4092 points.

So I tried to order a billet prime, and it just said I need at least 4000 points to order one. Bizarre!

MorganB

I didnt mean to imply that it was something "new" with the new point system. Was just comparing GV to TGV (cute).

I agree, the new point system is a total disaster. But then again, so is ALL the customer service at the SNCF so I'm not surprised. However the major advantage to me with the GV program is the GV hotline. I was able to switch to an earlier train via cell phone while standing in the train station. There was a giant line and I would have never made the earlier train otherwise. Also it was very easy to redeem my points for a ticket. I just called and they did it for travel the next day. I was given a code and pulled my tickets out of the automated machine. Of course this was all prior to big change so I have no idea if any of that is still true. The lounges are nice as well but I never arrive at the train station early enough to have use for them and when I travel on the weekend they are closed.

Thanks for the link!

stimpy

Do I understand right that you can print out tickets now at home? And you get 3 points per Euro spent? How do you print out the tickets? J'arrive pas!

Falco Peregrinus

1 euro spent = 1.5 S'miles or 3 S'miles for full fare tickets or for tickets purchased on the internet with home delivery/self printing*, or withdrawal at an automatic ticket dispenser (railway station or boutique SNCF).

*here there is a small footnote saying this option (impression à domicile) is valid only for "billets Frequence", a kind of season ticket, I guess.

Concerning self printed (non award) tickets, SNCF booking site says:so I don't think you can print yourself a regular (full fare) SNCF ticket. Besides I think you need to have Acrobat Reader if memory serves.

stimpy

Well I have a coupon frequence for first class and I have Acrobat, but I still don't see how I can print out my own tickets. Not that I've tried very hard yet.

willie--wonka

I don't know if you would consider it a full-fare ticket(or if sncf does), but I print tickets in California for use in France regularly. They are weird, 1/2 page things with a scan strip at one end that the conductor has to compost for you. I usually buy weekend decouvert a deux tickets. The only problem is that a lot of the print at home tickets have weird refund/change conditions.

After you choose the trains you want online and are given the total, you are given the option to pay for the ticket with a credit card and have the ticket mailed to an address in France or to print them out yourself. Sometimes they even allow you to not print them immediately, since you can't change anything after that. The only other option seems to be paying for the ticket within a certain number of days at a station or automatic machine or paying for them with the option to withdraw the actual coupon from a machine later.

I know this is not very clear, but I hope it helps.

bodory

I have never been able to reach the GV line. I always use the regular 3635 number as I never wait on this line.

This FQTV program is the biggest joke I have ever seen and I am seriously thinking of suing them for damages. SNCF has a lot to learn, even from Flying Blue !

If you speak french, see this forum to see how pathetic the program is. Though it reminds me some posts from certains ex KLM-ers in the FB section here on FT

If a GV forum opens on FT, I hope not to be the mod !

stimpy

I recently got an email with good news...

En mai et juin derniers, votre Ligne Dédiée Grand Voyageur a été surchargée et vous n'avez peut-être pas pu nous contacter dans les meilleures conditions.

Aujourd'hui, grâce aux moyens techniques et humains mobilisés, la situation est rétablie.

Cependant, conscients des désagréments que vous avez pu rencontrer, nous sommes heureux de vous annoncer que la validité de vos S'Miles arrivant à échéance cette année est prolongée d'un an pour vous permettre de profiter pleinement de votre programme.

Ainsi, vos S'Miles qui devaient être utilisés avant fin 2005 resteront valables jusqu'à fin 2006, sous réserve de la validité de votre Carte Grand Voyageur. Si votre Carte arrive à échéance prochainement, nous vous invitons à la renouveler afin de bénéficier de cette offre.

Nouveau :
Par ailleurs, sur votre site dédié www.grandvoyageur-sncf.com, vous pouvez depuis chez vous et 7j sur 7 :
- commander vos billets primes en ligne pour davantage de voyages et de découvertes en France et en Europe.
- poser toutes vos questions en utilisant le formulaire de contact mis à votre disposition.

A très bientôt sur nos lignes.

Arnaud Masson
Responsable du Programme Grand Voyageur

NB : Afin de limiter votre temps d'attente, nous vous invitons à prendre contact avec notre centre d'appels de préférence du mardi au vendredi de 13h à 15h ou de 18h à 19h.

Falco Peregrinus

I recently got an email with bad news. The card arrived today in the mail, with a wrong number that doesn't work on the website. The number is different from the one they gave me over the phone last time I called them.

Plus, a nice security feature: a password in the same enveloppe as the card. The password is my birth date. I can't believe it.

Joelle

The recent changes in the Grand Voyageur system are a total mess !!! Thanks for posting the French forum address, I'll happily add my two (angry) cents!!!

I just had to pay the extra 30 Euros to renew my GV card and the web site says that my card number is not valid...

The feature indicating how you gained your miles is not available, and they've been promising it for the last five months now...

This is a typical example showing how to destroy a decent customer-oriented system, working fine before, and turn it into a mess... SNCF wanted to save money and appointed a software service company who did not the job properly + a private company to handle bookings for award tickets... The result is: you don't have access to the web site, it has poor features, and getting an award ticket is MISSION IMPOSSIBLE !!!