I'm sure it will work out OK. We have a fairly tight connection...the whole idea was to avoid having to go to the ticket agency.

Do you mean I can go to an sncf "vending" machine at CDG station and print the tickets there?

UPDATE:
My sister was able to print out all 4 tickets. Yeaaaa!

We finally noticed the missing text on my copies was all the black text. My black ink cartridge is fairly new, certainly not empty. But for some reason that was the ink that wouldn't print.

So all is well. Thanks everyone!

Need help with PREMS ticket info. We are seniors and as such, it appears we are eligible for exchange or refund on most Prems tickets.
We are planning a trip from Paris to Bayeaux in May, via Caen, or direct.
Does that mean we purchase a special "Discovery" ticket if
available, to get the lower price and refund option?
With one of these lower price tickets, I think we do not have reserved/assigned seats and need to find seats after boarding? How do we know not to select one that is already reserved by someone else.....and have to move, thus lessening our chance of finding another vacant one? Standing for 2 hrs is not an option :) Appreciate any and all direction re this. Thanks

I'm not an expert on this, but if a Senior Decouverte fare is offered, you can buy it.

I have never heard that seniors get refunds on PREMs tickets, where did you hear that? Seniors can get some refunds and other options on other tickets IF they have a special senior SNCF fare card, which you have to pay for. For those are discounts off regular Loisir fares, not PREMs. THis is the page in English on SNCF explaining senior fares and it doesn't say they can refund or exchange PREMs. http://www.sncf.com/en/reductions/seniors

Sometimes they do offer seat assignments on Decouverte fares, I believe, maybe it depends on the train and day/date. But that should be obvious when booking, if you are offered that option or not. I haven't been on one of the TER/IC trains recently that allowed reservations, but didn't require them, but the last time I was, the seats were clearly marked if they were reserved (there is a card that says reserved which is put in a slot on the thing over the seat (the bottom of the place where you can put bags overhead). I think they have to mark reserved seats when they are optional or the system wouldn't work very well, although I suppose there can be glitches in that system as the conductors have to make sure the seats are marked correctly.

<i>We are seniors and as such, it appears we are eligible for exchange or refund on most Prems tickets.</i>

It's possible you have confused ticket types. PREMs are neither exchangeable nor reimbursable. Normal fare tickets are exchangeable and reimbursable under certain conditions.

On the trains to Bayeux, both types of tickets are sold and while tickets are train specific, seats are not always reserved. It is generally possible to pay extra for a reserved seat, the cost is nominal. You can easily recognized reserved seats as there will be a name printed on a sticker and placed on the top of the seat back.

None of the ticket prices is very expensive, generally varying from 15€ to about 40€.

Thank you all for setting me straight. I was misunderstanding the statement regarding Senior Discovery since it was within the same box as the Prems. I will revisit the site, with that in mind.

HELP ! I am attempting to purchase Prems tickets thru Voyages-sncf.com and would prefer to have them mailed to me before I leave....but the address information required makes me think they are maiable only to an address in France. Can I have them mailed to the US ? If not, is it complicated to pick them up at the rail station, and why would I need my credit card again, if I am already paying for them now ? I assumed I would only need a print out or a scret code. My thanks to all who respond.

Yes, they will only mail to France, they can't afford to be mailing PREMs all over the world.

YOu need your credit card as ID, that's why. There is no other way to know you are the person who bought the tickets for sure. People can have the same name as others, for example, and even birth date, but even then it is much more security to make someone show the actual card used to buy the ticket. This is pretty common for lots of purchases done online by credit card, to make you show the card when picking it up. I also think it protects against fraud, as someone could steal someone's CC number and yet never have the actual card to show. It isn't complicated to pick them up, you just have to wait in line and it depends on how long the line is as to how long the wait, that's all.

Why do you have a problem with being asked to show your credit card?

What if the credit card expires and is replaced between purchase and use?

The credit card is only used for identification, not for purchasing. If the card expires, you still need it to pickup tickets.

If you lose or your credit card is reissued with a different set of numbers, you will be unable to pickup your tickets.

I have been having major problems trying to purchase or at least ascertain the price for a trip from Caen to Paris on May 11th.They keep telling me that tickets are not available as yet.I would hope to get PREMS but realize I am too early for them.I simply want to investigate the timing and pricing before PREMS are available. I also tried the iDTGV train and it doesn't appear to run from Caen to Paris??? We could take the chance and purchase tickets the DOD but as it's a Saturday I would rather not take that chance.Also I don't want to have to pay full fare if it's last minute.HELP!..please

If you just want to get an idea of times and prices for May 11, just take a look at what's available for May 4 (also a Saturday). Tickets for May 11 should be available on February 11.

For May 4, there are direct trains with 2nd cl. PREMS available for €15, 1st cl. for €25.

Do not wait until the day of travel to buy tickets as they will certainly cost more than they do when they are first offered for sale 3 months prior.

>> Tickets for May 11 should be available on February 11. <<

February 11 France time - so that's 6:05PM US Eastern time on Feb 10.

Stu Dudley

Thanks..and BTW..are there actually trains out of Bayeux?...or do those trains end up stopping in Caen for a connection? We will be staying in Bayeux.I figured we would drop our car off at Caen because we need to get our train to Paris there????

There are direct trains from Bayeux. €15 PREMS on May 4.