Betty1

For those who haven't been following my other thread about this...

I bought a ticket on Feb. 21 for a friend traveling with my group for travel on May 21 Libourne to Paris, 12:27 - 15:50. (She is to fly home the next day.) Got the confirmation email. But I have not yet created or printed the ticket. A few days later this train disappeared from the SNCF schedules. I have emailed twice - no response. I called about 2 weeks ago and was told not to worry, the ticket was good and the train would be back on the schedule by March 1. It is still not there.

I could try to cancel this ticket, although it was "non échangeable et non remboursable," and buy one for a later train leaving Libourne at 14:36 and arriving in Paris at 18:55. But I'd rather try to hold onto it for a while at least to see if that train does eventually reappear on the schedule, since the timing is much better. But in the meantime the price of the other ticket is going up. (went from 27.90 to 38.30 in the past few days).

So my question is, can I buy a second ticket for the 14:36 train? Or would the system recognize the same name for two trains that overlap on the same day and throw it out?
The other question is, if the 12:27 train does reappear, could I cancel the second one and be reimbursed? Beside the same button on the SNCF site, it says...

DECOUVERTE SENIOR: Billet échangeable et remboursable soumis à condition. Etre âgé de plus de 60 ans le jour du départ.

TGV PREM'S : Billet non échangeable, non remboursable.

Since my friend is over 60, I read that to mean that she could be reimbursed. But I'm not sure if there are other "conditions" that would prevent that. I can't find anything about that on the site for a "Découverte Senior" ticket.

I could, of course, try calling again but at this point, I'm not sure I can trust anything they tell me.

Opinions, advice welcome.

grandmere

Not to be pessimistic but a few years ago I made a silly mistake (was having trouble with the site and when I reentered the info, I didn't realize that dates had defaulted to the very day I was doing the transaction) ordering tickets for "seniors", and they would not cancel/exchange them even after I called, emailed, and sent a letter.

Good luck! i know how frustrating this can be.

StCirq

I would not buy a second ticket. There's a risk there in not getting your first ticket reimbursed or exchanged if the original train does not run at 12:27. I would print out the original ticket and take it with you to a gare when you get to Paris and plead poor me, what do I do now?

Betty1

If the 12:27 train is indeed cancelled, surely they would reimburse me for that ticket, non?

If I wait to sort it out until I am in France (arriving in Paris May 10), I can foresee the following scenario in an SNCF boutique.

"I have this ticket for Libourne-Paris but there doesn't seem to be a train at this time."

"Oh, yes, that train was cancelled. Here's your 22 euros back."

"Thanks. But I still need a ticket from Libourne to Paris."

"No problem. There's one leaving at 14:36. That will be 85 (or 90, or 100) euros, please."

If I go ahead and buy the second ticket now, assuming I can, I would at least have a usable ticket for a relatively reasonable price (38.30 euros). Worst case, I get stuck with the two tickets (the 12:27 gets reinstated and they won't reimburse me for the second ticket), having paid about 60 euros.

Faulty logic?

mjdh1957

I've just checked on the German rail website www.bahn.de and the 12.27 train is showing as running on May 21st. On www.voyages-sncf.com it shows up when I tick the box for 'trajets directs uniquement'

So it looks like it is running on that day.

Betty1

Thanks for checking, mjdh1957, but I believe that you're seeing a train for the previous day 5/20 on the sncf site. When I did that it only showed the 18h19 trains on 5/20 and 5/21. (Note the dates at the top of the page.) To see a train at 12h27 you have to click on "trains précédents," so that would be on 5/20.

I assume that the bahn.de website shows this train because it would normally be running on that day. I can't have much faith in that unless it is also on sncf.

mjdh1957

Yes, you're right. For some reason the SNCF site shifted back to the previous day.

But I believe that the German rail website is loaded with the SNCF data so it should be accurate.

The Czech rail site (which some people prefer to bahn.de for European rail times) also shows the TGV 8436 12.27 train running on the 21st.

It may be a fault with the SNCF site, but I would on the evidence of the German and Czech site presume that the train does in fact exist.

Betty1

Sorry, grandmere. I did not mean to ignore your response. I do appreciate the sympathy!

I saw on another thread that you will be in Paris this spring. If that should include May 10-13, I'd love to meet you for a cup of coffee or a drink somewhere. If I can get loose from my "brood" for an hour or so.

I took a look at your apartment - looks really nice and well-located. I had one just a few blocks from there last May.

mjdh1957

I'm not an expert on French trains, by the way. Just have an interest and like playing around with train timetables.

There is this specialist train forum where you might get more helpful responses:

http://europetrainsguide.com/forum/index.php?board=2.0

grandmere

Betty, that would be great to get together, but I will be there in April. That's too bad! I hope you get the train thing resolved; I get sweaty palms each time I make an SNCF reservation online since my error a few years ago. But yours isn't even an error and still complications!

I hope our apt. is as nice as it looks; we like staying in that general vicinity, too.

Betty1

Any and all help appreciated, mjdh!

Dommage, grandmere! Perhaps one of these years we'll be there at the same time.

cocofromdijon

Betty and grandmere, I confirm it is too bad you can't meet, you are such nice ladies, you would have fun together!

Betty1

Bonjour, Coco!

What a sweet comment! Thank you.

Any thoughts about my train ticket dilemma or my proposed solution?

cocofromdijon

Bonjour Betty! Toujours en voyage à ce que je vois.
I'm always anxious when I book train tickets too! I had the same problem recently with a trip to London in April. I had put an option on a TGV to Paris (very handy, they keep the ticket for you for a week so if you can find a better rate you don't pay for the option)
When I wanted to confirm my tickets and pay for them on line, the TGV had disappeared too! I went to a train boutique at my shopping centre and had no problem to get my tickets. The train was back on the website the day after and is still there.
I know how stressful it is and unfortunately I cannot help you with that. Good luck!

Betty1

Mais oui, Coco! Je dois retourner en France au moins une fois par an.

Thanks for your good wishes. I may try the "option" for the later ticket. That would at least give me a week to see if the other train reappears.

grandmere

Hi, Coco! That was a sweet comment, as Betty says!
And it makes me feel better to know that even you get a bit anxious when you book train tickets; the site is unpredictable!

Not to hijack your thread, Betty! (But I did, didn't I?)

Betty1

I finally got an answer from the SNCF to my latest email which reads as follows.

Objet : votre billet Libourne-Paris réf XXXXXX

Bonjour Madame,

Vous avez réservé un voyage de Libourne à Paris et ne voyait [sic] plus ce trajet apparaitre sur le site.

Rassurez vous le trajet de Libourne à Paris le 21/05/2011 à 12h27 est toujours valable et circulera bien ce jour la.

La raison pour laquelle ce trajet n'apparait plus sur le site est qu'il n'y a plus de places disponibles sur ce trajet, à cette heure.

Vous pouvez créer vos billets quand vous le souhaitez, avant le départ.

Cordialement.

Séverine TILLIER
Service Clients Voyages-sncf.com
www.voyages-sncf.com

They are telling me that my ticket is good, that the 12:27 train will be running on 5/21 and that that trip no longer appears on the site because there are no tickets left for that train.

Now, that makes no sense to me. It would if I was asking for a new ticket. But it seems to me that it should show up if I am just checking schedules. Plus, the train disappeared from the schedules no more than 3-4 days after I bought the ticket and this answer does not jibe with what I was told earlier. (That it was removed from the schedules because they were working on that line.)

Any comments?

StCirq

Print out the email and take it with you.

Betty1

I will do that, St Cirq. If that train should after all not be running on 5/21, it might help bolster an argument that my friend should be put on a later train for no additional fee. Assuming there were seats left on a later train. I think I've done all I can do until we get to Paris on May 10.