loisco

I am utterly confused. Need TGV train from Avignon to Paris..October 10. Two seniors. First class.

On Rail Europe I get a list of departure times with prices ..(high)

I went to the sncf site (all in French..) and all they give me is one train at 20 hours. It's half the price though What am I doing wrong?..Or am I? How come the Sncf site doesn't list all the trains?

Thanks if you can help.

rex

SNCF has English

http://www.sncf.com/indexe.htm

Best wishes,

Rex

Christina

Probably because you are trying to get reservations for too far in advance. SNCF only lists certain trains more than 60 days in advance (I think they will list the idTGVs only that far ahead). Normally, you need to search within 60 days, and 10/10 is almost three months off.

kjenn

loisco,

The one train that sncf lists only takes 2 hrs 40 minutes- It leaves at 20 01, which is 8:01 PM and arrives at 22 41, or 10:41 PM. That may solve the confusion. The price for first class is 39 Euro each.

Looking on bahn.de, it shows many TGV trains leaving from Avignon to Paris, but not the prices which probably will be similar to the above train. They seem to be leaving once or twice an hour. There are direct trains at 10:22 AM, 1:01 PM, 2:01 Pm, 4:07 PM, 5:31 PM, 7:01 PM etc. Go to bahn.de and click on inter. guests at the top. Click on English in the box to the left, then enter your travel info. Good luck!

Using bahn.de (click on inter. guests at top), here are the departure times:

Intrepid1

There's something else to consider here as well and that is the ability to book a "senior fare" over the internet.

As I recall if you read the "rules for travelers" on the SNCF site there is some sort of clause about documentation required for booking certain sorts of reduced fares. I got the impression that senior fares might be included in this and that you might have to present the documentation somehow.

I am NOT trying to confuse this issue any further and perhaps someone else can clarify this for you. I DO know that you cannot book this train more than 60 days in advance as has been pointed out above.

schnauzer

I too had queries about buying sncf tickets over the net. I posted here and got some help from Ira. However, the 60 day time period is now up and I have got myself into all sorts of trouble trying to buy PREM tickets over the net from Australia. I was told by Ira and others here in OZ it was OK to do so. I followed instructions, left the country as france (in mandatory field)- because there is no where you can say I want to print them off - however, the site accepted my visa card and told me it is posting the tickets to my suburb in France. I have emailed sncf asking for help, they say they have posted them to my suburb (in france) and think they should reach me - not a hope in hells chance of that. They say I will have to buy more tickets when I get to france, using the confirmation number to get the same cheap fare and have to try and claim back the original visa amount by showing my credit card statement. Oh boy, what a pickle. I just couldn't work out how to do it without sending them to an address, which if you use the sncf site is always in France. In the reply email, they said, we don't send them to northern america and australia. So how others have managed without any problems absolutely beats me. I used the english site so it was not a language problems. They suggested using raileurope.com for countries other than france (buying tickets), but of course the prices were considerably higher so I took a punt and completely mucked it up.
I couldn't find anywhere on the site where it said "do you want to print them off" it kept telling me "you have chosen to have them sent to your address" trust me, I didn't choose this option, there simply wasn't anyother that I could see. I have a friend who printed tickets off in Oz last April, she tried to help this time by doing exactly what she did then, and just couldn't do it. So whether they have changed the way things are done I don't know, but the bottom line is I am snookered. Only just had the email today, so still trying to work out a course of action.

MorganB

Schnauzer:

You can only print PREM, iDTVG and last minute half price ticets. All other fares must be mailed or picked up at the train station. In that case, select to pick them up, pay for them on the net, and note the reservation number. Then go to the train station with the reseration number and the credit card with which you paid for the tickets and you will be able to collect them at a ticket counter. I just went through the whole process and noticed a problem. It only gives you the "pick up at train station" option in the french version!!. If you went through the english site then it would have forced you to mail them if you chose the wrong fares.

Here is what it says when you go through the ticket process:

Choose how to collect your ticket

Confirm your order by paying online and choose to:

To receive your ticket by post free of charge

Print your ticket yourself and save time


This is step 4 of the ordering process entitled "Order". The steps are indicated at the top of the page "Search, Results, Validation, Order, Confirm".

You dont enter any payment info until the "Confirm" page.

If even one fare is not a Prem fare this is what it says:

"For this order,you must pay online:

To receive your ticket by post free of charge"

So if you are booking something other than printable tickets you have to go through the Frence site.

schnauzer

Morgan, thanks for the quick response. I was trying to print PRems, I have already gone through the process and paid my money, so don't want to redo. I was hoping they would just let me pick up in france using the reservation number they gave me, instead they are saying I have to re buy, can't see why, I will email them when I am calmer and suggest this pick up in Paris idea. Too late, she cried, to do what you suggested. but it is a pain, they obviously just don't want you printing them in OZ. I can understand the other fares, but it was the PREMs I was ordering, and still no mention of printing. &&**(*&&^ grrrrrr

MorganB

Hmm thats odd. Are you sure you selected Prem fares in both directions? Even if you select Prem in one direction and say Weekend discovery in the other, you will have to have them mailed.

At any rate, I have seen others who have had the problem you did and have successfully been reimboursed. Just dont worry about it, go armed with your reservation number and bank statement and handle it at the train station. You can even go prior to the day of the trip if you are already there. Who knows, you may even get the tickets in the mail. I know of people in the US who have gotten them.

MorganB

Oh by the way, it doesnt have anything to do with you being in OZ. People print out the tickets from abroad all the time. Must have been some sort of glitch or perhaps the printing feature was down at the time you made reservations.

schnauzer

the ticket was actually only one way, don't know if this was the problem? I tried several tries, ie dummy runs, before the big "pay up" screen came up and couldnt' see any print ticket option even then. maybe trying to fool the system, when they do say specifically dont' use sncf if you are not in the nominated countries, doesn't pay. French bureaucracy being the way it is concerns me about the refund, but I am running out of options. Will shoot them an email anyway to see if I can pick them up, why cant they just re print them when I get there? sounds simple enough to me!! thanks for your help.

MorganB

I agree about the ticket reprint. Its one of the oddities of their system. Once a ticket is issued it is basically like cash. Their reservation system is old and inflexible. It needs to be updated, and supposedly will be but who knows when.

I found your problem however! I looked at your old posts and you are going Paris - Milan. You cant print tickets on that line. I dont think you can print them when you are on international travel. You can print them on the Thalys to Belgium and perhaps the Eurostar ( not sure). But cant print them France - Italy.

Here is what it says when I do a France booking with Prems (Paris-Montpellier):

Prem's : Ticket non-exchangeable, non-refundable. Payment online. Free delivery by the post or print your own ticket.

Here is what it says Paris - Milan:

Prem's : Ticket non-exchangeable, non-refundable. Payment online. Free delivery by the post.

The best case for you would have been to use the interface in French and chose to pick up the tickets at the train station. I have no idea why that option is no longer available on the english version.

schnauzer

that explains a lot, I thought I was just being dozy. (well dozier than normal) I guess I am well and truly stuck. Will have to do the refund thing. thanks so much for taking this time to help sort out my dilema. we thought we were going slowly mad.

brookwood

There is a train at 7:20, 9:34,

brookwood

There is a train to Avignon at 7:20, 9:34, 10:44, 11:20, 13:20, 14:20, 16:20, 17:20 and perhaps a few more.

The ticket prices are not all available on the dates where I looked, but the fare that seems the cheapest is also non refundable.

The Discovery ticket is 188€ round trip in first class. (Full fare is in the 250€ range.) As I see it from the web site, that class of ticket is not refundable after the train departs.

The cheapest farer I saw is called Prems. It is not at all refundable.
There are not many of these seats available.

I have not used the system in quite a while, but it looks to me like you can pay by credit card and print your own ticket. Hopefully someone else who has actually done this will comment.

I have been told that the system will not reserve more than 60 days out.
Given the crowds on those trains, I am not sure what a walk up passenger can do.

brookwood

I think you can print your own. There is a test printing facility.
And, as others have said, there is an English version.
Look for the flag at the bottom. It is of course the Union Jack.

MorganB

Loisco:

If you are booking a one way ticket then you need to wait until August 10th to book it. If you are booking a return ticket then you can book the outbound on August 10th and the return on August XX depending on what day in October your return is. the sncf site (voyages-sncf.com) will not give you train times and prices more than 2 months out for trips that take place wholly within France with the exception of iDTGV fares which are available now.

The train at 20h01 is indeed the iDTGV train. At 24.90 in second and 39 in first that is a very good deal. If that time works for you book it now. Otherwise wait untill August 10th to book on the other trains.

loisco

Rex..thanks for the English site. And to the others thanks. I am still a bit confused so let me go over it to make sure I get it.

I will wait till August 10 which is 60 days before I want to go. Now the question is...do I have to print it out or can I just get the confirmation number and present it at the train station the day we go???.That way there won't be the confusion of not being able to print senior fares.. or confusion over where it's delivered.

We will be in Villanueve Avignon a few days I think so we could go to the station easily.

You are all great..I hope on August 11th I won't have to come back here.

StCirq

Schnauzer: I can't figure out how your PREM order got so messed up, but if you or anyone else is having problems with the SNCF site, you can always call the SNCF number and get an English-speaking operator.

The number is (direct dial from USA):

011-33-8-92-35-35-39.

I had to purchase tickets for a party of seven a few weeks ago, and that's one more person than you can book for online, and the SNCF operator was extremely helpful.

MaureenB

I am impressed by those who can figure out the websites and all the rules and regs. of buying European trainfare via the 'net. But, I didn't have the patience for that and purchased mine through Budget Europe Travel Service. I highly recommend them. They were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I paid face value plus a small S&H fee, plus had all my tickets in hand before leaving home. I don't have their website, but you can call them in Ann Arbor, Michigan on 1 800 441 2387 or 1 800 441 9413 (734 665 8116 from Ann Arbor). Enjoy your trip!
P.S. If all else fails, listen to Ira! He knows.

If you don't want to deal with purchasing tickets yourself via the 'net