Report: Bought all my French train tickets this morning!

One step closer to your trip happening … maybe several steps! Would ticket ticket prices be going up if you waited any longer? Or were they higher, earlier?

I purchased my second set of tickets for my trip to France in September, this morning as well. I tried SNCF/Oui and couldn't get it to accept VISA or Mastercard, but at least now one can check SNCF/Oui for schedule and pricing. Toccard on the forum recommended "Save a Train". Save a Train pricing was the same as SNCF. I couldn't get Save a Train to take my VISA but it did take my AMEX. My tickets were Toulouse to Paris. I had purchased the tickets for the beginning of the trip from Trainline (Paris to Bordeaux). Trainline did charge about $1.5 more per ticket.

ALSO, FYI, it does appear that TGV tickets purchased in advance can be exchanged for a fee prior to train departure.

@Cyn, TGV tickets are cheapest when they first come out. In my previous experience, the cheaper fares sell out pretty fast.

I was able to purchase ONE ticket on SNCF before it completely shut me out. I can still look at schedules, but I switched to Trainline. Each ticket was in line with SNCF prices except for a small service fee. I was happy to pay it so I can have tickets in hand prior to departure. Now on to Swiss tickets …

I was able to purchase my September tickets via Trainline this morning as well!
CDG to Avignon (had to go with Ouigo as the time worked best)
and Avignon to Gare de Lyon (SCNF) -- decent rate on this fare.

Does anyone have any pointers for the Ouigo trip? I pre-paid for bags ... any other insights that would be helpful from previous experience?

I haven't taken a Ouigo train/used a Ouigo ticket, but I've read you must be at the train station well before departure time--maybe 30 minutes? Check that very carefully.

@acraven is correct. The bag size limits are carefully policed and you must be at the station 30 minutes prior.

I, in fact, bought a first set of train tickets that were like 12 dollars - and they were for a OUIGO train. I did the whole transaction in French and managed to buy tickets with no luggage add on. In addition, the tickets that the SNCF site sold me only had a 14 minute layover to change trains and there was no way to correct it.

Between trying to go back in and purchase the ability to carry on our luggage and my inability to see a way to adjust our first travel leg to have us getting to the station where we board the OUIGO train earlier, I bailed on the tickets and considered it a lesson learned.

I’m glad you got your tickets Valerie. Do train tickets have to be purchased in advance or can you just show up at station and purchase?
When we planned a RS France tour last year, I enjoyed listening to the Join Us In France podcast. Lots of great episodes and Annie is French/American and lives in Toulouse.

@Tammy - I can't say as to all pricing but generally French rail prices go up as the travel day gets closer. I paid $72 for one of my tickets. If I am buying that same ticket for a train tomorrow, the price is $158.

Woohoo! Glad you got that taken care of!

I tried to buy earlier in the week and could only get the Ouigo fares and knew I didn't want to do that. On some of the TGVs there are single seats down one side of the car and since I travel solo, prefer that.

@Pam - you should be good now if you try to buy. The only real difference I could see between SNCF and Rail Europe is that the SNCF site let me choose seats on trains just like an airline would. The Rail Europe site asked me a few preference questions and then booked my seats. They are all fine but I wonder if they'll book a solo traveler in a single or not. Since I'm not traveling solo, I didn't get to see what questions they ask a single traveler.

My train appears to be two levels. If I could have booked through SNCF, I could have picked upper level and forward facing, which we would have liked. It really doesn't matter that much to us anyway. Better to just have it booked.

I've taken Ouigo twice; it seemed not complicated as it sounds here.

@Jazz+Travels: I don’t think it’s complicated but I do think it’s fair warning to others researching on this site that you need to pay extra for luggage and it’s easy to miss that on the SNCF site. And, even more importantly, SNCF will sell a ticket that is not a “legal” connection according to the OUIGO rules for how early you need to arrive before the OUIGO train departure.

I’ll also add that you can’t get your ticket until a couple of days before you travel. I don’t really understand why but those were the rules. For my other tickets, I have them printed and ready to go.

Is Ouigo bad for some reason? I just checked my tickets for September and both of my trips (Aix to Avignon and then Avignon to Paris) were booked on Ouigo. I don't remember seeing any other choices from the trainline website. Am I missing something?

@Espo - you'll want to check your ticket for the rules for your routing. It's kind of like flying RyanAir or Easyjet - a bargain but you need to follow the rules or there are a lot of add on fees.

Here's what the Man in Seat 61 says about OUIGO: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/ouigo.htm

That site is a great train resource.

I bought tickets for two separate Ouigo trains for Aug/Sep 2021, using the Ouigo (Android) mobile app (while in US). It was easy to buy, and to immediately download (as pdf) the (English) tickets. (In one case I did an exchange of RENFE tickets I had purchased earlier.) I plan to print the downloaded tickets out before leaving for France. The tickets state to board the train no later than 2 minutes before departure (nothing about being at the station 30 minutes in advance). My luggage is within limits, so there should be no extra luggage charge. The ticket just states to ensure luggage has a name label. One of the tickets is for 2nd class, the other for 1st. (I purchased 1st because at time I bought it was only a ~5 euro difference in price between 2nd and 1st class). The tickets can be refunded or exchanged for no or a small fee. If it is within 30 minutes of departure time, the tickets can be exchanged up to two times for the same journey on same day (but after first exchange become non-refundable).

I have ridden "regular" TGV in past; hopefully this will go as smoothly as those trips.

What are the luggage limits on Ouigo trains?

In answer to question on Ouigo luggage limits. From the Ouigo website:
"Your ticket price includes one item of hand luggage and one item of carry-on luggage. Maximum luggage dimensions: 55 x 35 x 25 cm for cabin bags and 36 x 27 x 15 cm for hand luggage.
"Got a bigger piece of luggage? From your shopping cart, simply choose “additional luggage” from the “My OUIGO options” tab.
"How much does it cost? This option will cost 5 euros when booking or after purchasing your ticket. If you forget to select this option, you will be charged 20 euros when you get on the train."

That's a tight size limit for the larger bag: 21.65" x 13.78" x 9.84".

Shoot! Our Medium Briggs & Riley bags are 68.5 cm x 47 cm x 29 cm. So, you guys are saying that we can't travel on a OUIGO train with those?

That means we sit at CDG for 6 hours and wait for the TGV direct at 14:47. I don't see any RERs connecting to a Paris city station coming up. Or is that a different website? I know there was an InOui from Gare de Lyon at 11:51 a.m. Can we make that?

CaliMom: According to the below quote from the OUIGO website you can bring that larger bag for a fee. 5 euros, if you pay before boarding the train. If not, the cost will be 20 euros. Apparently you can get the 5 euros option anytime from purchasing the ticket until BEFORE you board the train. If you didn't purchase your ticket at the OUIGO website, I don't know the mechanics of adding payment for the luggage fee before boarding.
"Got a bigger piece of luggage? From your shopping cart, simply choose “additional luggage” from the “My OUIGO options” tab.
"How much does it cost? This option will cost 5 euros when booking or after purchasing your ticket. If you forget to select this option, you will be charged 20 euros when you get on the train."

Thank you Jeff! I completely mis-read that! I really appreciate it. :)

Meanwhile, I just received word that my outbound United flight time was changed and my return Air Canada flight was canceled. LOL! So now I have the option to rebook the entire ticket at no additional cost. I may change my outbound to be timed better with train service. And I may stay an extra two nights now. Just when I thought I was on the home stretch of planning...

If my "new" flight arrives CDG at 7:45 a.m., can I make a 9:58 a.m. train? I have read here that people suggest 3 hours. If not, we can wait for the original one planned at 11:57 a.m.