Picking Up Train Ticket Purchased Online

When I had a Paris-to-Munich ticket in 2013 I picked it up from a machine at the station using a regular (non-chip) Visa card, no problem.

Are you saying that you used SNCF to buy French train tickets for a French train? And that you want to collect them from an SNCF machine in Luxembourg? That could be difficult because Luxembourg is a CFL station, not an SNCF station.

Luxembourg has a decent ticket hall upstairs from the tracks, near the bus station. My memory is that they have two ticket counters and several CFL machines. I don't remember seeing an SNCF machine there, nor do I remember seeing a DB machine there.

When you bought your tickets did the screen say that you would be collecting them in Luxembourg?

Last summer I had a tight connection in France and managed to pick up my French train ticket (bought from SNFC) at a Raileurope boutique in Brussels. You might see if there is a Raileurope boutique in Germany where you could pick up the ticket. Note: I did not purchase the ticket through Raileurope. They did charge a 10euro fee for picking up the ticket, but that was cheap compared to missing the train connection.

Regarding using your Chase card with a chip in an SNCF ticket machine, it may work--but don't count on it. According to a list on the Flyertalk chat site, Chase cards are chip-and-signature cards, not true chip-and-PIN cards. Chip-and-signature cards usually don't work in SNCF ticket machines if you are PURCHASING a ticket. I'm not sure if they will work if you are just trying to print out a ticket that has already been purchased. Sorry, but you won't know for sure until you try it. It's doubtful the Luxembourg station has an SNCF machine anyway, so I would head for the ticket office and hope for the best. Getting them in advance at a Rail Europe boutique sounds like the best solution. Maybe a travel agency could help too?

I also doubted that Luxembourg station would facilitate the ticket pick-up, but when I test a booking on SNCF, it does specifically say that pick up is available at "French stations and Luxembourg" and says that Luxembourg does have a self-service terminal.

At the same time, the web site says "cards without Chip and PIN cannot be used for withdrawals at ticket machines." Since your card worked to purchase the ticket, and you have a PIN, I feel hopeful about it working for pick up, but I doubt that any of us have tested that specific case.

john,

It has been my experience, so far, and including the time i was in Paris (Mar 2012) that i had no problems retrieving my tickets from the ticket machines. Also, my lone credit card was not a chip card. If i remember correctly there were different machines. Some the color of the SCNF and some were yellow?

From what i understand, some of the machines need your original card you used to purchase the tickets and some just need "A" card to activate it from sleep. The machine i used had a "blank" screen, so i was assuming it was "asleep". Once i inserted my non chip credit card, the machines woke up and gave my card back and all i needed to do was to input my code that was emailed me up receipt of the ticket purchase. Just make sure you stick around long enough to get ALL of the stuff the machine may spit out.

happy trails.

since the title of the thread didn't say the OP used SNFC to purchase the tickets, I want to add for future purchasers who might come across this thread the suggestion of using Capitaine instead. SNCF says

For outward travel from France, you can collect your tickets from a
station or SNCF shop in France. You must present the bank card and the
confidential code you used for making the payment. Note: you can also
collect your tickets from the Self Service Terminals available in
France or at Luxembourg station. This retrieval method is not
available for tickets paid with non-chip and pin cards such as
American Express, some foreign cards and e-cards. Bank card must be
shown

We purchased tickets using a non-chip credit card on the Capitaine website last summer. We picked them up at a train station in France by just using the code they gave us in an email, no credit card required

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I have decided it is safest to cancel the Luxembourg to Strasbourg ticket purchased from SNCF which requires retrieval from a ticket machine and purchase the ticket from RailEurope which can be mailed. This involves S&H, but at least I will have ticket in hand. Interestingly, Capitaine does not sell tickets for this particular train. Earlier and later trains yes, but not this one. Capitaine allows pickup with a retrieval code and not credit card. Also, learned that this train originates in Brussels and that I can purchase tickets from Belgian train website that enables pickup with a retrieval code. And I learned more about American chip and signature cards. Yes, a pin can be assigned, but the pin is not embedded in the chip like European chip and pin cards. So, while the pin will enable use of the card at atms, IT WILL NOT FUNCTION LIKE A EUROPEAN CHIP AND PIN. I have used my chip card to buy tickets in England, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and other European countries, but not because it had a chip and a pin assigned, but because the ticket machine accepted cards with a magnetic strip. I now have an understanding. Part of this understanding is that SNCF makes it harder than it is in other countries. Germany and Italy are much easier, other than Italy times you out, which is a problem if you are buying several tickets.