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Ouigo Train Help Paris/Marseille/Avignon

Posted by (Milwaukee, WI) on

Hi everyone,
My boyfriend and I are going to France in May. We booked round-trip train tickets with Ouigo to head to Marseille from Paris on a Thursday morning, arriving at 9:20am (and going back to Paris on Saturday night). Now we have the opportunity to visit a wine maker in Chateauneuf du Pape at 10am on Thursday. We'd never make it with the current plans.

Our tickets have some exchange options, but I can't change stations, so I can't get us to Avignon that morning instead of Marseille.

I can't find a way to cancel that leg either (in fact, I can't seem to cancel the tickets in general), so what happens if we just don't show up in Paris for the train to Marseille? I'm willing to eat the cost (the tickets were cheap) and book a new one-way ticket from Paris to Avignon. But will our return journey from Marseille to Paris on Saturday still be allowed? I know airlines get finicky and can cancel your return ticket if you don't show up for part of your journey. Not sure if the trains care.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Posted by
1882 posts

First, you have to catch a very early train on Thursday to make your winery tour or leave Wednesday night. I DO NOT believe trains invalidate your ticket if you miss a leg. If you opened an account you can cancel your ticket online. If you booked without an account, I'm not sure you can access your ticket. I am not 100% positive. Maybe some French residents can advise on this. There is a HELP tab on the upper right hand corner of their site to ask questions. Hope this helps some.

Posted by
26 posts

I have been scouring the internet, and I think I have my answer. Google translation is choppy, but I think this means I can ignore my Paris-Marseille leg and instead book a one way Paris-Avignon ticket. And they'll still let me use my Marseille-Paris return ticket.

Now I just have to decide if we want to do two wineries or visit Les Baux.

Can I cancel my reservation and get a refund?
The OUIGO offer allows you to travel at high speed from 10 euros! To guarantee these low prices, certain conditions must be respected which includes that your tickets will not be refundable.
Resale of OUIGO tickets is prohibited and tickets are nominative.
On the other hand, you can change certain elements of your booking like the time, the day, the name of the traveler. For more information, click on "modify my reservation".
And if you have booked a return ticket and only want to use one of the two tickets?
No worries, we are not resentful;). If you do not use your ticket OUIGO one way, we will not hold you rigor and you will ship on return, and vice versa!

Posted by
26 posts

Lord have mercy, the train to Avignon is the EXACT same train as the Marseille train. So... can I just get off at the Avignon station? It must stop, right?

Posted by
16895 posts

Yes, you can just get off at the Avignon station. Nobody monitors or cares about exiting. It would be more clear if the Ouigo timetable displayed a train number or stops along the way, but I'm confident that they are not dropping or switching cars en-route.

Posted by
26 posts

Yes Laura, that would be helpful!! Thanks for the reassurance. My train Paris to Marseille is number 7829. And when I go to book a Paris to Avignon, it leaves at the same time from Gare de Lyon and is train number 7829. So it must stop, and we will be ready.

Thankful I just saved myself $50.

Posted by
12315 posts

A thought:

If you're willing to eat the cost, a flight to Marseille is quicker, and cheaper, than a train. You would have to research a flight to Avignon (direct from Paris), I'm pretty sure you can get a flight direct to Avignon for about 50 euro, or less, per ticket. Air France flies their domestic flights primarily out of Orly which is quicker and easier than CDG.

I'd try to salvage as much of what you have already booked as possible, probably use the return ticket (and find out why train isn't the best option).

Chateauneuf du Pape has great wines, some of the best. I'd love to visit a wine maker there. Have fun.

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