TGV tickets - cheap

In the past, at the suggestion of those on this forum, I used Captain Train to buy TGV tickets (now Trainline: https://www.trainline.eu/). Haven't used the new company, but Captain Train was great. Tickets were the same price as from SNCF, and easy to purchase. And yes, for a TGV you do need to make a reservation, and the earlier the better for the lowest price. It used to be that tickets weren't released for sale until 90 days before the travel day, but that may have changed to 120 days.

When you buy a ticket for a French TGV train, it comes with a reservation. It will say date, time, train No., coach No. and seat No. on the ticket. For the cheaper tickets advance-purchase you cannot later change trains, you are committed. Reservation is only a separate process if you have a pass.
I would buy from SNCF directly, or as Robert says, Trainline ( https://www.trainline.eu/ ) which has the same prices but is more user-friendly. In both cases you get print-at-home tickets e-mailed to you.

Great site! I wish I had known about it on Friday as I struggled to purchase tickets on the sncf.com site last Friday. After not comprehending why we 3 couldn't sit together in first class, Paris to Brive, I realized there just weren't 3 seats together. Then when I tried to book Marseille to CDG 3 weeks later. My credit card was rejected so many times - I just gave up, even after using another card. Later that evening I used https://www.b-europe.com/Travel without incident.

Thanks for the advice!

Last summer I found some TGV trips on SNCF that were not listed on the site I still think of as Captain Train. The fares were pretty good despite being less than a month away.

I'm not sure what was going on there, and unfortunately the SNCF site is not easy to use. But my advice would be to check both sites for the times and dates that you want.

Reservations are both required and included with TGV tickets.

I always use Captain Train (now Trainline.eu). Never a problem, easy site to navigate.

Since SNCF doesn't accept all American credit cards, it works best if you're offered a cheap "Prems" fare, since they accept PayPal for these, but not for other fares (one of the great mysteries of the universe). That fare name is not used on all routes. The trainline site should also sell Prems fares, or used to.

Travel dates seem to be released for sale in blocks by France, rather than rolling out one new date every day, and also vary by route. For instance, France-Spain TGVs are already for sale for travel through July 1. If you're booking now, you may find that the first-class discount price looks pretty attractive. On Duplex trains, if try to book on the upper level (which may be 1st class) for a better view. But second class is also fine and all seating is reserved.

I hope you're aware of this once-daily option that bypasses Paris. The regional train ticket probably can't be booked as early as the TGV and doesn't need to be.

Tours dep 14:18 +0 TER 6322 Train Express Regional Direction: St-Pierre-des-Corps 2nd class only

St-Pierre-des-Corps arr 14:23
 
Transfer time 9 min.

St-Pierre-des-Corps dep 14:32 TGV 5334 TGV Duplex Direction: Marseille-St-Charles

Avignon TGV arr 18:43 +0
 

Hi,
I'm looking to book 3 tickets (myself, wife, and 5 year old son) from Paris to Avignon on Saturday, July 15th. Trainline.eu offers the 3 tickets for 135 Euro (2nd class) and 170 Euro (1st class)...price is for all 3 persons...says iDTGV. The only option is "exchangeable"..."non-exchangeable" tickets are not available.

I'm 6' 3" and would like extra leg room. Does 1st class offer enough extra room for the price difference?

Is it best to book now or will fares lower at all?

Will more routes/times open up?

Thanks for your feedback.

Ryan

There's not a significant amount of difference in leg-room in first-class.
The best choice would be for you to book a solo seat, either in first or second class, so you could have more room. That's what I do when I travel with my dog, who has to remain in a carrier. Your family could probably book seats right across the aisle from you.

If you have the option of flexible travel time, you might check for lower prices during off-peak hours and days of the week when nobody is travelling.

iDTGV is only available on certain routes and consists of special cars added to the regular train. Note that some cars may be designated as quiet, which means no cell phones and carries the expectation that small children will be kept quiet too. It has the advantage of selling tickets well in advance at very low prices so early purchase is wise. SNCF will put you on alert for special deals if requested.

I bought my TGV tix from Brussels to Paris 120 days out...

At 6'3" you should be comfortable in either class. I do prefer first class and find it to be worth a bit of an upcharge. But, as TGV seat prices change with demand sometimes the difference is low, sometimes not worth the extra. Since this is true, it's usually best to book TGV seats as soon as you can (I think they go on sale 90 days out), but I have heard of cases where prices dropped on trains that were not selling well.

iTGV is interesting. It's basically a set of separate cars added onto a regular TGV train. The seats there are sold exclusively online so are often quite a bit cheaper than the regular seats. You'll have a different train number on your ticket, but the train will obviously leave and arrive exactly the same as the equivalent regular TGV train number. When we used it, the cars were divided into Zen and Zap zones ... clever marketing for quiet vs lively. We were in the more lively, but it was honestly just the same as any other TGV ride we've had. I think iTGV is definitely worth the savings. We booked on Captain Train and had the same great experience as everyone else seems to have had.

I did make one mistake printing out our tickets and ended up with doubles of one leg, and none of the next. After a bit of going back and forth with a non-english speaking conductor, things ended up fine. Love the TGV. Wish the USA had an equivalent.