sncf help, please!
 

I am trying to book tickets from Paris to Avignon, and it redirects me from the English site to one "dedicated to French customers". Is it possible to go through the entire booking process in English, or I need to sift through the French and hope I get the right tickets? Thanks!

The OLD English version of the SNCF site allowed a person to complet the booking process in English. The NEW version does not. Now if you choose France as the country in which you wnt to pick up your ticket, you are directed back to the French version (just as you have experienced).

If you don't want to guess your way through the French. go to http://tinyurl.com/6fz8af for a step-by-step explanation of how to do it in French. SNCF recently changed the appearance of some pages on its site so some of the screen shots on the Seat 61 site look a little different from what you will see on the SNCF site, but you should still find it easy to follow.

Thank you so much - what a great site! I did muddle my way through it and printed out tickets. I think I did it right. Can you tell me, I printed them out, and it comes printed in the booklet format. Is this normal, and how it should look?

Thank you again so much for your help. That website was most helpful!

Congratulations!

It's been three years since I printed Prem's tickets on the SNCF site. I'm not sure what you mean by "booklet format." I printed my tickets on standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper and what printed filled the page.

hi nb,

> I printed them out, and it comes printed in the booklet format.

The SNCF website says it must be in portrait format on A4 size (8.5x11 is OK) paper.

You can reprint your tickets.

At www.voyages-sncf.com click "aide"

click "Retrouvez votre référence de dossier SNCF et ®iDTGV"

You should be able to reprint.

(At least one could previous to the redesign of the site).

((I))

What I meant by booklet format is that the ticket itself shows up on the screen with 4 parts to it, each takes up 1/4 of the page. The upper left is the ticket, the upper right is information of our seats and train; the bottom left is the conditions and small print, and the bottom right is an advertisement for an Indiana Jones movie. This is a "Promo Duo" ticket, if that makes any difference.

Ira - how do I print in a portrait format? My printing choices do'nt include portrait in the Adobe format.

Thank you for your help...

Billie

Yes, the ticket should look like a booklet and then you fold it in 4. There are folding lines printed on it.

The movie ad changes from season to season. :) Indiana Jones has its world premiere at the Cannes festival in 2 weeks.

Hi Billie,

When you have your Adobe file loaded, click "File"

Click "Print Setup"

Click "Properties"
The menu should show "letter" and "Portrait"

If not,
click "properties"
click "page setup"
Set for "portrait" and "letter"

((I))

It won't let me print them again, as it says I have already printed them. But, if Kerouac is right, then I printed it as it should be. (I printed it just as the Adobe format that came up.) I guess if there is a problem, they'll let us know.

The funny thing is, the first one I printed only printed it on half the sheet of paper. (all 4 quadrants took up half the sheet of 8.5x11 paper. Does that sound right?

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for all your help!

They should fill up the whole sheet of paper, so you didn't print them correctly, but I'm sure you're not the first person to have ever done that. As long as they can still read the ticket, that's fine. I always think of all of the other cases that exist -- for example when the printer runs out of ink just as it is printing the ticket, or just really old printers that haven't been cleaned for ages. I'm sure that the SNCF agents have been trained to show some leniency, and in any case, they can always check the computer files if in doubt.

Thanks, Kerouac - fortunately, since it didn't look right the first time, I did print it off a second time and filled the page. So there should be no worries.

I don't know what I'd do without this board and all the awesome help. I would surely be lost!

Thanks so much!

I went on the site to look for tickets for early August (Paris to Bayeux). I am able to buy the tickets, but I don't have the option to print them out at home (I did say I was in france), only to have them mailed, or picked up at the station. I am I doing something wrong, or are some tickets not printable at home?

Most tickets are not printable at home, only a few special advance purchase ones are (PREMs, etc) because they are nonrefundable. I don't think Paris to Bayeux would ever have a special rate that would make them printable at home.

What I always do is print the tickets to PDF files, and then I can make as many copies as desired.

rhy,

There are a few trains that go directly from Paris to Bayeux (with a stop in Caen). Prem's are sold for those trains. But if you pick a departure time from Paris requiring you to change to a regional train in Caen to then get to Bayeux, you won't be able to print your tickets because you can't print tickets for regional trains. You can, however, book the Paris-Caen leg and print that ticket. Then just buy a ticket for the Caen-Bayeux leg when you get to Paris. Reservations aren't possible on regional trains.

Thanks, I did book my tickets (0712 from Paris to Bayeux). I change trains in Caen. The email says that I don't have a reservation. Does this just mean that I don't have a reserved seat? If so, will I get a reserved seat when I pick up the tickets, or will the train be open seating? Thanks for your help with this (hopefully I did everything right).

Reservations are recommended but not required on the Paris-Caen leg. They are not possible on the Caen-Bayeux leg. The message means that you have a ticket, but you don't have a reserved seat and you can pick any seat that isn't reserved. If you want a reserved seat, you'll need to pay 3€ for it at Gare Saint-Lazare.