Linda431

We have bought a ticket from Beaune-Dijon-Paris. The fist leg is the TER, second leg TGV. The connection is tight and the only one offered me on the web site but I know there is an earlier train leaving Beaune. Can we use the ticket we have to catch the earlier train?

Another question. There was no option to print the tickets, just the voucher, so we have to pick them up at the train station. Can we do this say a week earlier in another city?

Thanks!

Sarastro

I would need to know more about the ticket you have from Beaune to Dijon but generally, TER tickets are not train specific.

You can pickup your prepaid tickets at any time from any SNCF boutique or train station service window. If you purchased them on line and do not have an EMV credit card, you will need to present, to the agent for his inspection, the same credit card that was used for the on line transaction as well as your reservation number.

I am not familiar with vouchers, did you purchase these tickets from the SNCF or some other entity?

ira

Hi L,

Your TGV ticket is specific to that train since seats are assigned.

You can use your TER ticket any time.

annakarina

Actually, you can. For our Lille to Paris (TGV) ticket, we went to the ticket window and asked if we can take an earlier train ( we ended up leaving Bruges earlier and arrived at Lilles 3 hours before our train).
The agent just issued another ticket for the earlier train, voided the old one and stapled them together.

StCirq

Yup, you can if you go to the ticket window. They'll issue you a new ticket, IME.

Man_in_seat_61

The issue here is taking an earlier TER to reduce connectional risk.

Yes, TER tickets aren't train-specific, and no reservation is required, so that shouldn't be a problem.
#
Your TGV leg WILL be train-specific, with reserved seat on a particular train. For the record, if it's (for example) a 'pro' ticket it's flexible and can be changed, if it's a cheap 'prems' ticket it's 'no refunds, no changes'.

qwovadis

u can catch an earlier train just check at window..

kerouac

If you change to an earlier train, you will probably just get bored at the station. In a station like Dijon, 5 minutes is more than enough to change trains, and that's why the connections are scheduled the way they are.

Linda431

Thanks to all who replied.

Sarastro: I purchased them from the TGV-Europe website. I called it a "voucher" for lack of a better word. I have an email confirmation with a reservation number.

Kerouac: You made me laugh! For me, it's a choice of being bored at the Beaune station or being bored at Dijon; my husband has this "thing" where he has to be somewhere at least an hour before he really has to. I've learned to live with it.

Sarastro

Sorry Linda, to avoid any confusion, and ticket pickup has some peculiarities, the term <i>voucher</i> to me means you present a paper in exchange for a service or ticket. To obtain your tickets at either an SNCF boutique or train station service window, the only thing you must have in hand is the credit card used in the on line transaction and you must know the reservation number.

If you have a chipped (EMV) credit card, you may use one of the ticket kiosks to get your tickets. If you do not have a chipped credit card (such as those issued in the USA), you will not be able to use the kiosks. You will need to present, at a service window, the same credit card as was used in the on line transaction. If your credit card was lost, replaced, or changed in any way after your original purchase, you will not be able to obtain your tickets.

Linda431

Thanks Sarastro. I think I've got it now. I really wish the US would get with the chip program. It's aggrevating and totally ridiculous that none of our credit card providers offer this.

MarnieWDC

I completely agree with you, Linda. It is a real impediment to European road trips - at unmanned Gasoline Stations, for example. And while there seemed to me to be less reluctance to merchants and restauranteurs accepting the non-chipped (EMV) cards this summer it is always a question and a bit of a pain.

Let's hope the preliminary forays that have begun into modifying the US C Cards will lead wider changes...we can then re-join the modern world.