jazzyred

I may be confused about purchasing Prem tix for travel in France. An earlier message said to click on France as country of origin and pick up tickets when arriving at CDG airport. I would welcome responses from those who have actually done this.

My reading of info on the French prem site (and I speak French )is that anyone from US or Canada must go to the regular SNCF site to purchase and guess what ??? They don't offer Prem there. Can anyone clarify? Thanks

ira

Hi Jazzy,

I went to the SNCF site and simulated purchasing a ticket.

It says:

• PREM'S : Ticket non-exchangeable, non-refundable.
Payment online. Free delivery by the post or print your own ticket.

kappa

Hi, I have bought PREM's tickets so far 4-5 times, Geneva-Paris, Lyon-Marseille, etc. As said on Ira's post, why don't you print it yourself? That's so practical. Leave the contry as France. This is what I have always done.

StCirq

I've purchased PREM tickets lots of times. I don't know what you mean by "go to the regulkar SNCF site." Just go to www.sncf.com and click on Réservations, and the PREM window pops up in the right-hand corner. You click onthe window, then you get an alphabet. You click on the letter corresponding to the name of the city of departure and the same with city of arrival, and you're given a form to fill out. You fill out the form, keeping France as the place to pick up tickets, and click to the next screen, where you go through the billing process. After you've paid you have the option to Print Now or Print Later. I always choose Print Now, then an Adobe ACrobat image comes up with your ticket on it, and you print it. I alwasy keep the URL in my favorite places in case I need to reprint. SNCF sends you a confirmation to your email, too.

I don't think you even HAVE the option to pick up PREM tickets at the windows at the stations - the whole point of them is they're to be printed out by you - and they're nonrefundable and nonexchangeable.

For any other tickets (non-PREM and non_IDTGV tickets), you also leave France in as the pick-up point, then make your selection, pay, and SNCF sends you a confirmation email, which you need to take to the station with you, along with the same credit card you used to pay for the tickets online.

irish

Last Sept I bought 2 PREM tickets-Paris to Baden-Baden-on the internet-printed them and had no problem. Very cheap,too!!

Sue4

I have also bought the PREM tickets on line, and printed out tickets with no problem. I think St. Cirq has outlined the procedure perfectly for you. Good luck!

StCirq

Except that actually the PREM window appears in the LEFT-hand corner of the screen. Sorry 'bout that.

kismetchimera

I bought and printed 3 tickets 2 years ago.What a bargain! I paid 57Euros.

indytravel

I bought Prems CDG to Poitiers and Bordeaux to CDG last Oct. for my December trip.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a Prem for Metz to Paris. Now if only they offered Prems from Reims to Paris I'd book one of those. I've not seen one for that route.

clevelandbrown

I was at this web-site and he had an explanation of why the prem tickets sometimes don't appear to be available, and what to do to make it work.

http://www.seat61.com/

indytravel

I checked the seat61 site clevelandbrown.

Unless I missed something, his explanations are how to get a Prem fare in conjunction with inter-country train fares. They all mentioned booking Paris, Strasbourg, etc. to Lille for the Prems then Lille to the UK for the rest of the fare.

Whenever I book within France Prem fares automatically show up on the fare selection if they're available. I've even gotten the "hurry almost sold out" message a few times.

I've also been booking exactly 60 days in advance and have seen the Prems. I waited a few hours debating if I could make a particular time then checked and they were no longer available. A moment's hesitation and they can be gone.

I'm going to wait until the Tuesday before I leave and see if a Prems comes up last minute for Paris to Reims on the following Friday.

I really doubt it. It seems like the Prems are at least partially a result of discount airlines. Reims is too close to Paris for a flight so they can charge the full fare.

ira

Hi Indy,

If you go to www.sncf.com and click on "prems" in the upper left corner, you will see that there are no PREMS fares Paris/Reims.

ewt

I'm trying to get a PREM fare from Paris to Rome. When I get to the booking part, it says:


Confirm your order by paying online and choose to:

To receive your ticket by post free of charge

To collect your ticket from an Automatic ticket machines (ATM) or in an SNCF station (in France only).

Choose a single option to be confirmed later:

You must pay and withdraw your ticket before the 22/02/2005 19h09 on voyages-sncf.com or in Automatic ticket machines (ATMs) or in SNCF stations (in France only).
___________________

I don't see the option to print. HAs anyone ever used the ATM method? Is it pretty worry-free?

StCirq

I don't think there ARE Prem tickets Paris>Rome.

Are you sure you're buying a Prem ticket?

I think you're buying a regular SNCF ticket. And I don't like those ATM machines, even though I read French just fine. I go to the window and pick the ticket up there. Just make sure you have the same credit card with you that you used to buy the ticket.

ewt

Ah, I didn't realize. Well, this is a special fare for 60E.

ewt

P.S. Its also non exchangable or refundable, which is why I thought it was a PREM fare.

kappa

> I don't think there ARE Prem tickets Paris>Rome.

Initially, I thought so too but out of curiosity, I checked the PREM's site. Rome IS listed as one of the destinations from Paris so technically it should be possible. In reality with a few dates I tried, it didn't give PREM's fare. It showed 100E normal ticket (refundable-changeable) and 60E (that ewt is talking about I suppose). The funny thing is 100E is for 2nd cls. and 60E is for 1ST CLS. ewt, Did you notice this? All in all, if it works for you, I suppose this is a good deal.

kappa

The 60E 1st class fare is called MINI C whatever it means so it is another discount fare different from PREM's.

StCirq

Hmmm...if it is a PREM, you should be able to print it. Are you using the English or the French site? If you can read French, I think the French site is easier to navigate.

BTW, that's a GREAT price for a 1st class ticket Paris>Rome!

ewt

English. I decided that since I needed to understand any fine print, I should use the English site. haha.

Yeah, I'm excited about the rate. I am just trying to finalize the date I will go from Paris to Rome, so that's what's stopping me from booking. I almost did Ryanair, but this is about the same price when you add in the taxes. Plus, I won't have to worry about the weight limit for ryanair and I will have an experience on the train that I can't get in the U.S.