SNCF train out of Charles de Gaulle to Brussels

what, exactly, does it say on your confirmation? Did you book this through Air France, or SNCF, or a travel agent?

I booked flight to Paris on Air France and connecting train to Brussels through Travelocity. The confirmation document stated. Air France7179 operated by SNCF railways, "economy class/Coach L" and to confirm seats with airline. When I contacted Air France they said they couldn't help with train. I've since secured a tel. # for train. Since we only have a 2 hr. lay over to get baggage, check passport and walk through customs, I was hoping I wouldn't have to get on another line to secure seat assignment. As I can't print tickets yet, I just don't know if the document I'll have that says "economy class/coach L" is sufficient to get us on train, or are there seat assignments. thanks Nigel for response to my inquire.

Do you have a confirmation / PNR number for your train? Probably a six digit letter / number combo. If so, go to https://en.oui.sncf/en/train-services/order-follow-up and click on 'my bookings'. Should be able to view your reservation including seat assignments. Enjoy your trip!

kriegersatpr, you have done something very strange. Why did you buy your ticket on Travelocity? I didn't even know they sold rail tickets. It is usually simpler to buy direct from the train company (SNCF).
Normally, when you buy tickets for TGV (French High Speed trains), the ticket includes a seat. On the ticket it gives date, time, train ID and your seat numbers. A ticket for a TGV without a seat is not a valid ticket.

And 2 hours is a tight timescale. Transatlantic flights can easily be 1 hour late. And immigration (passport checks) can easily take 1 hour. Plus walking from your aircraft, getting to the station etc. all take time. picking up luggage is usually quick as you have taken so long to get through immigration that your bags are already on the carousel. The only thing that doesn't take time is customs.

You need to get back to Travelocity, and find out how to get a seat number, and change to later train to be safe.
Without date and time I can't look up train times for you.

If you booked this all as one ticket, what happened was your train from CDG to Brussels was assigned an Air France "flight number." (Air France no longer flies from CDG to BRU, but does this train connection instead). Among other things, this means that if you miss the train because the incoming flight was delayed, they will put you on a later train at no extra cost.

If you booked this all as one ticket, here's Air France's page about how it works: https://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/resainfovol/avion_train/reservation_avion_train_bruxelles_airfrance.htm

If you booked this separate tickets, then I'm not sure what to do.

Good for you buying the Air France air-train combo ticket. The train will be handled like a connecting flight. You won’t have to deal with luggage but just transfer to your own AF waiting room in the CDG train station. I saw the AF-Train passengers as I was schleping my bags and wishing for a seat in the crowded waiting room, and swore next time I’d be smarter and fly on the combo ticket. It’s a good deal. Yes, you’ll have an assigned seat. There are gate people for you, just like with a flight. On top of it all, you are in 1st class and earn miles.

You happened to get a US call center employee who wasn’t informed. The same crews are handling Delta, AF, and KLM. Glad you asked us.

Personally, I would have booked directly with AF, but it should run smoothly and be straight forward.

You can pick up your train ticket at a kiosk at the station. They are yellow and there should be a fairly large bank of them along with some white machines that sell tickets. The ticket booth line is likely to be long and slow. In theory, you're supposed to have the same credit card you purchased the ticket with but in practice, they're just like the ones at the airport. I put in my confirmation and my last name, it shows everyone in my party (for me, just me) and then lets you print tickets for some or everyone.

Some tickets have seat assignments, others say on the top they are good for 2nd class to Brussels starting at a given hour. If your ticket has seat assignments you need to make that train (again in theory). If not, you need to validate your ticket as you board in smaller yellow machines that are usually mounted on poles as you walk to the platform.

I've missed my train out of Paris by a couple minutes before. For some reason I had one train station in mind. When I printed my ticket, however, I realized I was at the wrong place and didn't quite have time to get to the correct station. I went to, what I would call, a conductor in the station. He said no problem just catch the next train and sit in second class. When the on board conductor checked my ticket, I told her I'd missed my train and was told to get on the next one. She didn't even give me a dirty look, just went on to the next passenger. The next train wasn't as direct, so I lost time but nothing else.

I'm a little worried whether you can make your train. It takes me an hour to get to the RER at CDG, and I've already had my passport stamped in Iceland and carry only a small shoulder bag. So no passport line, no luggage line and it's still a full hour. Hopefully, your ticket is flexible and you can simply catch the next train if you're late.

We have a similar situation, but with flights and train all booked with Air France on one itinerary. We’re flying from Portland, OR to Amsterdam and on to Strasbourg by train. We also do not have seat assignments for the train leg. The itinerary says, “Seat selection at check in.” I’m assuming that the check in is in the CDG train station and not at flight check in?

We arrive at CDG at 10:45 a.m. and depart by train on AF7105 at 12:44 p.m. It hadn’t occurred to me that our bags would be checked through to Strasbourg, so that will save us some time. Bets, I’m encouraged to know that there’s a dedicated room for Air France travelers. That should make this easier.

AF 7179 is definitely the train. As I said earlier, you’ll have a separate waiting room, you’ll have Air France personnel handling your ticket, and you won’t have to deal with checking luggage because AF handles it all. If you Google Air France 7179, you’ll get the info. I don’t think Brad needs to be a little worried.

Nancy, this page on the Air France website has all the details. Just scroll down and select "Train from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Strasbourg": https://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/resainfovol/avion_train/reservation_avion_train_strasbourg_airfrance.htm

Brad, this is like a connecting flight all on one ticket, except the second leg is a train instead of a plane. So, if the incoming flight is delayed, they will put you on a later train at no extra charge.

booked flight to Paris on Air France and connecting train to Brussels through Travelocity.

As I read this OP bought his air directly from AirFrance and in a separate transaction bought the train ticket on Travelocity.

If that is the case it seems like they are independent transactions and not a co-ordinated single trip.

A two hour window looks mighty tight.

Ah joe, as a retired grammar policewoman, aka composition teacher, I assure you that the problem lies with the overused, imprecise conjunction « and ». If we change « and » to « with », it’s clearer. If you search for AF 7179, you’ll see it is the SNCF train from CDG to Brussels. Furthermore, Travelocity doesn’t sell point-to-point rail tickets.

Fear not fellow forum frolickers—the teacher’s red pencil has been destroyed—retired.