Christina

The strikes usually start at 8 pm the night before the official date, I believe, which seems to be the notice you got. I hadn't heard anything about the air traffic controllers in days before Sept 23rd, but you should go with their info, of course. Most of what I read about the 23rd related to trains.

kerouac

During the last strike 10-25% of local and short European flights were cancelled. I don't think any long distance flights were cancelled. (My own airline had its departure delayed something like 8 hours because the fueling service went on strike.)

PalenQ

I wonder what happens to folks who book discounted PREM tickets on www.voyages-sncf.com when a strike scrubs their train - get a refund - which means they would then have to pay full fare for another train

Or is the PREM ticket transferable in case of a strike - if it is and assuming trains that are running are chock full is the PREM ticket holder just out of luck?

kerouac

Full refund or exchange for non refundable train tickets whenever there is a strike. Plane tickets, too.

Bazonia

I thought I would resurface this thread again to let people know what has happened. The strike has ended up affecting my travel plans for the 23rd of September.

I found out on the SNCF website that my train from CDG to Strasbourg, which I had reserved three months ago, was indeed not running because of the strike. There was one morning TGV run to Strasbourg, but it was scheduled to depart CDG the same minute our flight was to touch down.

I called Rail Europe and they couldn't have been nicer about helping me out. I was refunded the CDG-Strasbourg leg of the trip and the agent found another TGV running that afternoon from the Gare de l'Est. There was also one running around 10:30, but given the conditions of the strike, which will also be affecting the RER, I didn't want to stress about making a connection in central Paris.

Anyway, I would rather kill time walking around Paris on a sunny day (or any day really) than in CDG.

Thanks again to those who helped me on this thread. We will get to Strasboug in the late afternoon, about $100 lighter in the wallet, but glad to be more or less on schedule.

I feel bad for people who are not aware of the strike, and will have to find out on the spot about train cancellations.

Baz

kerouac

Main line SNCF trains:

JOURNEE DU JEUDI 23 SEPTEMBRE

Trafic international
Eurostar : service normal
Thalys : service quasi-normal
TGV/ICE (relation France-Allemagne): 1 trains sur 2
TGV Lyria (relation France-Suisse) : service normal sur l'axe Zürich, 1 TGV sur 2 sur l'axe Genève et aucune circulation sur l'axe Berne
TGV Artesia (relation France Italie) : service d'autocars sur l'ensemble du trajet.
Talgo de jour (relation France-Espagne) : Aucune circulation

Trafic national

TGV en provenance ou à destination de Paris :
- 1 sur 2 dans l'Est, le Nord et dans l'Ouest/Sud-Ouest - 2 sur 5 dans le Sud-Est

TGV de province à province : 1 TGV sur 5

Téoz : - 1 train sur 3 sur la relation Paris / Clermont-Ferrand - 1 train sur 3 sur la relation Paris / Limoges / Toulouse / Cerbère - Aucune circulation sur Metz / Lyon .

Trains Intercités : - Nord : 1 train sur 2 - Est : 3 trains sur 10 - Ouest : 3 trains sur 10 - Sud-Est : sur la relation Paris / Nevers 1 train sur 4

NUIT DU 22 AU 23 SEPTEMBRE.

Trafic international
Artésia (Relation France-Italie) : trafic normal.

Train de nuit allemand : (France-Allemagne) : Aucune circulation
Elipsos (Relation France-Espagne) : Aucune circulation
Lunea (Trains de nuit nationaux) Aucune circulation

Auto-train : Aucune circulation

jamikins

Yup, my parents flight was cancelled late last night and I have put in for the refund. Very glad we rerouted them last night. It ended up costing them maybe an additional €150 but at least they will be home in time to make it to Amsterdam on Friday! Plus they got to see the Alps, Nancy and Lille. They were more than happy with the arrangements!

Best of luck to everyone!

jamikins

I mean we rerouted them last week hahaha...typing faster than I can compute!

Bazonia

Jamikins -
When I reposted I was thinking you must have felt good about changing those plans. I am so glad your parents were able to take in those wonderful places, especially the Alps.

Onward and upward,
Baz

kerouac

They have announced that 50% of the flights out of Orly and 40% of the flights out of CDG are expected to be cancelled tomorrow.

Christina

hey, jamikins, isn't it great when you make a big change like that and it turns out you were right?

yes, baz, you were pro-active so could decide what to do and it's not so bad. These are the kinds of things it can be hard to find out in advance, though, after all, it is a lot of trouble to be monitoring future strikes for your vacation.

jamikins

It does feel great! I was a bit concerned it wouldnt be cancelled and they'd have to eat the cost of the flight too! Big relief, and I was able to do all the leg work for them in advance of telling them so they didnt have to stress and could just enjoy the vacation knowing it was taken care of Cant wait to hear all about their trip tomorrow!

Sarvowinner

Is the strike just for the 23rd, or is it expected to go longer? Clients at our cooking school in Tuscany are booked on Ryanair to Beauvais on Saturday, 25th. They have a private shuttle booked to take them to their hotel in Paris, but are concerned about what will be open or closed.

kerouac

The strike can be considered to be finished. In the end, it turned out that air travel was the most affected. Rail travel and public transportation were quite acceptable.