Tgv-europe.com is now www.voyages-sncf.com as of April 2013... |
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Payment problems?Voyages-sncf is generating a stream of 'Help, it's rejected my credit' emails from Americans & Australians. Don't panic, you can still buy at true European prices with no fees here:
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In a logical world, French Railways (SNCF) would sell tickets to anyone from one central website, like most other railways do. But SNCF take a somewhat Machiavellian approach to distribution, with various websites and overseas subsidiaries trying to charge different prices to different people.
The main French Railways website is www.voyages-sncf.com, in French and various languages. In theory, anyone can buy tickets here, at the true European price, with full functionality.
SNCF has a UK subsidiary, Rail Europe Ltd, www.raileurope.co.uk, which also charges the official SNCF price, give or take the exchange rate used to convert fares into pounds. If you live in the UK, it's fine to use this.
SNCF has two overseas subsidiaries, Rail Europe Inc in North America (raileurope.com & .ca) and Rail Europe 4A covering Australia, Asia, Africa, South America (raileurope-world.com, raileurope.com.au, .co.nz, .co.za, .co.in, etc). The US site in particular can sometimes be (how can I put it politely?) selective about which fares they choose to show. For example I've seen Paris to Nice for $120+$7 fees at www.raileurope.com when voyages-sncf.com showed the correct SNCF price as €22 ($32) and no fees for the same train.
There's no reason why you can't buy tickets at the official SNCF price with no fees & full functionality at www.voyages-sncf.com. However, pressure is being put on SNCF to protect their overseas subsidiaries and www.voyages-sncf.com may try and divert you to one of the Rail Europes. For example, if you select 'United States' as your country of residence the results open on their US subsidiary site www.raileurope.com, so to buy tickets at voyages-sncf.com, you have to select 'Afghanistan'. Some nationalities, such as Malaysians, have their IP address detected and get diverted to Rail Europe before even reaching the voyages-sncf home page!
If you live in the UK: Watch for the pop-up!If you live in the UK you can book at www.raileurope.co.uk. Using www.voyages-sncf.com saves a few % on exchange rates & postage, but www.raileurope.co.uk is backed by a UK call centre if anything goes wrong, a big plus and it's easier & clearer to use. On the other hand, voyages-sncf.com allows you to select seating options on French trains, raileurope.co.uk currently doesn't. So it's your decision...
If you want to use voyages-sncf.com, look out for the automatic pop-up box asking if you want to be diverted to Rail Europe, make sure you select the second option to continue to voyages-sncf.com. I strongly recommend reading the booking tips below before using voyages-sncf.com
iDTGV (a special brand of cheap TGV) often gives problems at the payment stage, see workaround here.
If you live in the USA: Select Afghanistan, not United States...Go to www.voyages-sncf.com and select Afghanistan or Antarctic as your country of residence, then you'll stay with www.voyages-sncf.com and pay the true French Railways price.
It doesn't matter what country you select as long as you get an e-ticket or a collect-at-station option. Whatever you do, don't select United States as the search results will then automatically open on www.raileurope.com with higher prices & fees added. Voyages-sncf.com won't mail tickets to the USA, but you usually get emailed an e-ticket or can collect tickets at any main station in France. Obviously, don't buy international tickets that don't start in France (except for the Milan-Paris TGVs which are now e-ticketed in both directions). I strongly recommend reading the booking tips below before getting to grips with voyages-sncf.com.
At the end of the booking, it's perfectly OK to select the self-service collect-at-station ticket delivery option, even though their blurb tells you their self-service machines only take credit cards with chip & PIN, if your card doesn't have chip & PIN you simply go to the staffed ticket window instead, show your credit card and booking reference and get the tickets that way. Easy!
And just so you're clear: The fares on voyages-sncf.com are the official SNCF French railways fares, legally available to anyone without discrimination as to sex, race, nationality or religion. You are not deceiving them by putting 'Afghanistan' as your country, you are stopping them deceiving you!
iDTGV (a special brand of cheap TGV) uses its own extra-fussy payment system which regularly rejects overseas credit cards, so either book a regular TGV instead or see workaround here.
Payment problems? Can't avoid being diverted? Use these alternatives to voyages-sncf.com!
- French domestic trains: Book with no payment problems or diversions at either www.loco2.com (in English, no booking fee, accepts overseas cards, same prices as voyages-sncf.com with just a small % lost in the conversion to pounds, as long as you get e-ticket or collect-at-station options it's fine) or www.capitainetrain.com (in French, but so easy to use, same prices as voyages-sncf.com, no fees, accepts overseas cards)
- Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam or Cologne: Book at www.thalys.com or www.b-europe.com.
- Paris to anywhere in Germany: Book at www.bahn.de (often cheaper than voyages-sncf.com!)
- Paris-Switzerland: Book at www.sbb.ch or www.tgv-lyria.com.
- Paris-Madrid or Paris-Barcelona sleeper trains: Book at either www.renfe.com (see tips on using Renfe.com here) or www.petrabax.com/renfe.
- Paris-Barcelona by daytime high-speed train, book Paris-Figueres with www.loco2.com (in English, no booking fee, accepts overseas cards, same prices as voyages-sncf.com with just a small % lost in the conversion to pounds, as long as you get e-ticket or collect-at-station options it's fine) or www.capitainetrain.com (in French, but so easy to use, same prices as voyages-sncf.com, no fees, accepts overseas cards). Then book Figueres-Barcelona with either www.renfe.com (see tips on using Renfe.com here) or www.petrabax.com/renfe.
If you live
in Australia, Asia, Africa, South America...Go to www.voyages-sncf.com.
A few nationalities such as Singapore & Malaysia now seem to be automatically redirected to www.raileurope-world.com the moment they type voyages-sncf.com into their browser. And if they try and use the French language version voyages-sncf.com, it may be shown as 'down for maintenance', another Machiavellian tactic. However, in most cases you'll now find that www.raileurope-world.com charges similar prices (give or take a small booking fee) as voyages-sncf.com, so you might just want to use it instead. However, you may want to look at the alternative websites listed below.
If you aren't redirected and you land on the voyages-sncf.com home page, select your own country of residence but be alert for pop-ups saying that you're being diverted to 'Our Local website' which means Rail Europe. If you see this box, make sure you click the link that says 'Continue onto voyages-sncf.com'. I strongly recommend reading the booking tips below before using voyages-sncf.com.
iDTGV (a special brand of cheap TGV) uses its own fussy payment system and regularly rejects overseas credit cards, so either book a regular TGV instead or see workaround here.
Payment problems? Can't avoid being diverted? Use these alternatives to voyages-sncf.com!
- www.raileurope-world.com does not usually charge the same price as voyages-sncf.com, give or take a small fee. You might just want to use that,
- French domestic trains: Book with no payment problems or diversions at either www.loco2.com (in English, no booking fee, accepts overseas cards, same prices as voyages-sncf.com with just a small % lost in the conversion to pounds, as long as you get e-ticket or collect-at-station options it's fine) or www.capitainetrain.com (in French, but so easy to use, same prices as voyages-sncf.com, no fees, accepts overseas cards)
- Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam or Cologne: Book at www.thalys.com or www.b-europe.com.
- Paris to anywhere in Germany: Book at www.bahn.de (often cheaper than voyages-sncf.com!).
- Paris-Switzerland: Book at www.sbb.ch or www.tgv-lyria.com.
- Paris to Turin or Milan, www.raileurope-world.com; Paris to Rome, Florence, Venice by sleeper, click here.
- Paris-Madrid or Paris-Barcelona sleeper trains: Book at either www.renfe.com (see tips on using Renfe.com here) or www.petrabax.com/renfe.
- Paris-Barcelona by daytime high-speed train, book Paris-Figueres with www.loco2.com (in English, no booking fee, accepts overseas cards, same prices as voyages-sncf.com with just a small % lost in the conversion to pounds, as long as you get e-ticket or collect-at-station options it's fine) or www.capitainetrain.com (in French, but so easy to use, same prices as voyages-sncf.com, no fees, accepts overseas cards). Then book Figueres-Barcelona with either www.renfe.com (see tips on using Renfe.com here) or www.petrabax.com/renfe.
Useful
tips for using voyages-sncf.com...Un-tick the 'direct services only' box: On voyages-sncf.com, this box is ticked by default. That's fine if you are certain that there's a direct train. But remember to un-tick it to see results which involve a change of train (or to see any results at all if the journey always involves a change of train).
If it prompts you with a choice of stations, it's generally best to select the one with the 2-letter code for the country in question after the place name, for example 'Milan (IT)' for Milan, 'Vienna (AT)' for Vienna, 'Berne (CH)' for Bern and so on. If it's in Germany, pick the one which includes 'Hbf' (=Hauptbahnhof or main station), for example 'Cologne Hbf (DE)'. For Venice, select Venice Santa Lucia, the main station in Venice. For Paris, select 'Paris - all stations (TGV-FR)'.
'Season Ticket' & 'Loyalty program': You probably haven't got a French Railways loyalty card or season ticket, so just leave these boxes well alone!
When booking overnight trains, it will only offer fares for couchette or sleeper accommodation in the class you've selected. So leave '2nd class' selected if you want to book berths in 6-berth couchettes or 4-berth or 3-bed sleepers all of which are technically 2nd class, but select '1st class' if you want to book 4-berth couchettes or 1 or 2-bed sleepers, these are all technically 1st class (the range available will of course depend on the train in question).
When the search results appear for overnight trains, it will show prices but unfortunately won't explain which type of couchette or sleeper those prices are for! Don't worry, simply select the cheapest fare, and the word 'Choisir Ma Place' or 'Choose my place' will appear. Click this, and a drop down box will appear which allows you to switch between different types of couchette and sleeper in that class. Make quite sure you book the right type of couchette of sleeper.
Check on the confirmation page that you've booked the right type of couchette or sleeper. The translation from French is very poor: '2nd class sleeper' actually means you've booked a 2nd class couchette in 6-berth compartments. 'First class sleeper' actually means you've booked a couchette in a 4-berth compartment. 'T3 cabin' means you've booked a berth in a 3-bed sleeper, 'First class double' means you've booked a berth in a 2-bed sleeper, 'First class single' means you've book a single-bed sleeper.
If you are booking a City Night Line train between Paris and Germany, I strongly recommend using www.bahn.de instead, as amongst other things this handles the German child age limits on these trains correctly.
Booking Eurostar: It's usually best to book a Eurostar ticket between London & Paris as a separate journey. Use the recommended Eurostar times shown on the relevant pages of this website as a guide, but feel free to choose an earlier Eurostar from London, or a later Eurostar returning from Paris, if these have cheaper seats available than the recommended Eurostar connection, or if you want to stop off. Don't forget that on your return journey, your departure date from Paris to London will be the day after your departure date from Italy to Paris! .
Don't worry if your seat numbers aren't consecutive! The system does normally book all of the passengers on one booking in seats next to each other! For example, seats 62 & 68 in a 2nd class car on a Eurostar Italia Frecciarossa are in fact side by side. And in a 2-bed sleeper, berths 21 & 25 are in the same compartment, with 22 & 26 in the compartment next door. For seat numbering plans for European trains, see the train seating plans page.
Important: UK postcodes: It may not accept UK postcodes. Try adding your UK postcode as part of the address (so the postman can read it) then use '123456' or a French postcode or whatever it takes to get the system to accept the postcode. Feedback appreciated!
Names on e-tickets: Remember when entering you name that the the first box marked 'name' = your surname, the second box marked 'forename' = your first name.
Tickets are sent from France but normally arrive at UK addresses within a couple of days.
Payment problems? Voyages-sncf.com normally accepts all credit cards from all countries. But some banks are now so worried about fraud that they put a 'hold' on your credit card the moment any unusual foreign transaction goes through. So if your credit card doesn't work, it could be your bank's fault not the website's. Try contacting your credit card company to confirm that you're making a legitimate transaction and ask them to unblock your card. It's also reported that the French Railways website will only accept one booking per day from any one foreign credit card, with a maximum value of €150 per day or €300 a week. Obviously, it's therefore handy to have a second card if you want to exceed these limits! Also, if a card is rejected for any reason, their website may automatically reject that card again if it is used within the next 24 hours. So even if you have called your bank to 'unblock' your card after a first failed transaction, you may need to wait 24 hours before using it again, or try another card. Feedback on this issue would be appreciated!
You'll need the original credit card to collect the tickets! If you're booking a journey that starts in France, you can choose to collect tickets at any main French station (you cannot collect from stations outside France, so bear that in mind!). You need to show the same credit card that you used to make the booking.
Chip & PIN credit card necessary to collect at station? NO! The voyages-sncf.com website says that only cards with Chip & PIN are accepted for collecting tickets from the self-service machines, but you can still select this option without a chip & PIN card and simply collect your tickets from the staffed ticket counter instead, quoting your booking reference and showing the original (non-chip & PIN) credit card used to make the booking. The confirmation email you will get after booking actually says this, even if the website doesn't!
iDTGV payment problems: iDTGV a special brand name and fare structure SNCF gives to a couple of daily TGVs on a handful of routes designed to compete head-to-head with budget airlines, with booking opening 120 days ahead. In many cases an iDTGV will operate coupled to a regular TGV, which is why you'll often see two trains in your search results with exactly the same departure time but different prices and logos, one a normal TGV, the other a cheaper iDTGV. Note that none of the Rail Europes, either UK or overseas, can sell iDTGV, you can only buy iDTGV tickets online at www.voyages-sncf.com or their own website www.idtgv.com. Now the important bit, failed payments for iDTGV: Bookings involving these cheap iDTGV trains often fail at the payment stage, far more often than problems occur when paying for normal TGV trains. That is because iDTGV has been set up as a separate company and has its own separate payment processing system, which has clearly been set up with fussier card acceptance parameters than the normal SNCF voyages-sncf.com system. However, if you email them with the last 4 digits of your credit card number, they will unblock your card, or so they have told at least one seat61.com correspondent. You can find their contact details at www.idtgv.com or try information@serviceclient.idtgv.com. Feedback would be much appreciated!
Thello: It cannot book the Paris-Italy sleeper trains run by Trenitalia, for these see www.thello.com.
If you're from the USA, select Afghanistan to avoid being bumped
to Rail Europe. As long as you get a collect at station or
self-print ticket option, you're fine...
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