Buying SNCF train tickets -- does MorganB's advice still work?
 

Two years ago I successfully purchased TGV tickets (CDG to Avignon and then back to Gare de Lyon) using MorganB's guidelines for the SNCF site. Now I find that the site has changed and it doesn't seem to fit with the instructions anymore. I see that folks are aware of it and some still seem to be having success, but my French isn't good enough for me to try to book on the French language site. So, am I out of luck? Is everyone just using the Rail Europe site or are you struggling through it in French and getting the tix via SNCF?

Couldn't get the site to work this year, so I ordered my tickets over the phone and they arrived in the mail a couple of days ago.

I successfully bought two discount tickets this month. Compared to Trenitalia.com, the Voyages-sncf.com is a piece of cake provided you can navigate French pages. There are posting claiming you can still do it in English, but the final few critical pages always ended up in French for me.

I follow the same rough rules: don't take the insurance, keep France as the delivery country, purchase TGV domestic or Thalys non-refundable discount tickets to be able to print the tickets on my computer or else have an SNCF office in mind to pick up the ticket before trip.

Hi C,

> my French isn't good enough for me to try to book on the French language site.

Try using www.freetranslation.com/

((I))

When you open the 'Voyages-sncf' website, go into the url and change the LANG=FR to LANG=UK. Then you will be able to book in English.

Travelnut, wouldn't that change the URL to the following:

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/leisure/uk/launch/home/

That goes nowhere!

Here's how to get to the booking page in English. Go to www.voyages-sncf.com. Click on the "Train" tab at the top of the page between "Accueil" and "Hotel". On the new page you get, click anywhere in the long URL in the brower bar at the very top of the page. Somewhere in that long URL you'll find LANG=FR. Change it to LANG=UK. (Don't change anything else.) Hit the Enter key and you'll get a booking page in English. If you leave France as the default country for ticket retrieval, everything will stay in English. Hurrah!

no, it doesn't change it to that, although it can if you aren't careful. I just did this yesterday to test it for someone in another post and I know it works (changing it to UK).

It works better if you copy and paste the URL to another open window and then edit it, perhaps. It will still work even if dynamic, I think, as long as you haven't been gone from the website too long. At least it did for me. But you can get it to change only the FR to UK part, if you are careful.

LANG=FR. Change it to LANG=UK

- that's what I said! :)

Another method is go to www.tgv-europe.com and pick Great Britain as your country of residence. You still buy from sncf but it'll be all in English; and you can print PREMs at your home computer.

Just want to say thanks to yk. We just used your suggestion and it worked perfectly.

We live in Canada and had no problems. We printed off our tickets for Oct. 6th- 90 days out and got a great fare. Thanks so much again.