cdg to orange
 

Please help!!! This is my first time using the train system in France. I am arriving, hopefully, at cdg at 1120 am. Should I leave cdg at 2pm or 3pm? Also, I have tried my darndest to purchase tickets on sncf..the english version. I don't understand how you can reserve seats and then pick them up at cdg, since they won't mail to the US. I'd appreciate any advice with this.

I think trying for the 2 p.m. train would be iffy--you just never know how long getting through immigration and customs, and them collecting your luggage, will take.

Buying your tickets and reserving seats on line works quite nicely; all you need is the confirmation number and the same credit card used for the purchase--you just present those at the ticket office. You canNOT use the automatic machines, however, because U.D. credit cards lack smart chips.
You can also print your ticket in some cases.

For a comprehensive review of Trains How To, look for MorganB's French Train Tickets post.

If you want the tickets mailed to you, you need to order them by telephone.

I'll disagree with Underhill on this one and say the 2 o'clock train is probably fine. I think the longest I ever spent getting through immigration and customs at CDG was under an hour. You pick up bags before customs, which is incredibly lax at CDG - pretty much just walk through the nothing to declare lane if you are not an EU resident. You may even be able to make the 1:11 departure.
In terms of collecting your ticket, it is not necessary to have it mailed to you (just one more thing to keep track of and possible lose in transit.) You can pay online and pick it up from a kiosk or agent at the station. It's not unlike using an e-ticket for air tavel, though I believe you must have the same credit card with you that you used when paying online. Or you can just reserve it without paying and then pay when you retrieve it no later than 30 minutes prior to departure.

I've never had any trouble ordering online and picking them up in France, but it's hard to advise as you don't say what the problem is.

However, I believe you cannot just reserve online without paying and then pick them up unless you do it within a very short window before picking them up. I think it's a week or less.

I would plan for the 3 pm myself to be on the safe side and it's not that long a wait, but think you could make 2 pm if your plane is not at all late. Not due to immigration alone, but everything else (getting baggage and just getting off the plane). You don't get off the plane the minute it lands, that seems to take up to 20 minutes or so, and I've waited 30 minutes for my bags to come out. Immigration is always 15-30 minutes for me. If you haven't ever been in CDG before and don't know where to go, it can take you longer than someone who knows exactly what to do, also.

Hi C,

There are 5 trains leaving CDG for Orange between 13:57 and 15:13.

I wouldn't worry about buying tickets in advance.

((I))

Thanks for the advice so far. Several people have told me to just wait and buy tickets when I get in, but I want to get a good price. I have been learning about the PREM fares through all the threads. How much more expensive would it be if I purchased tickets when I got there and/or are PREM rates the better way to go? My scheduled date of arrival at CDG is June 8.

well, a PREM fare would definitely be cheaper, but it is nonrefundable. So, it's up to your as to the risk or if you want the flexibility. Besides the advantage of the cheaper fare, you can print them at home and so save the time of getting a ticket at the station.

The prices are on the SNCF website for all types of fares, so you can compare directly what the difference in price is for the PREM vs. regular fare. I'll make a rough guess that a PREM is about 25-35 euro cheaper than the regular fare.

I just checked, and the difference is only 10 euro, not much (64 vs 74 euro for second class). I didn't see any 3 pm departures, though, only 1:11 pm, 2:04 and 4:03 and 5:04.