I've been to France four times. I'm starting to feel like I'm quite lucky, I've never been in France during a train/airport strike. I usually make all my own travel arrangements. However when we did a river cruise, we worked with an agent. Because I went "rogue" on the airline tickets, I did those myself. The agent commented that he avoided flying through Paris, "because they are always on strike". He likes Amsterdam for connectings. I still choose Paris, and apparently "lucked out". I have to say, that this current strike in France that I'm reading so much about and the disruption to peoples' travels and its a little unnerving. How long do these strikes typically last? Are they a certain time of year? Flying from Minnesota we typically do not have a lot of choices and end up flying through London, Amsterdam, Reykjavik or Paris. Should a person consider the possibility of strikes in France when making travel arrangements?
Posted by
Chicago
7900 posts
When there is train strike the union gives advanced notice of which days on the SNCF website
https://en.oui.sncf/en/train/strike
It is good idea to consider strikes when planning.
https://worldinparis.com/transport-in-france-strike-news-tips-for-traveling-to-paris
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10223 posts
There is no typical. There can be one-hour walk-outs, a one -day strike, a protracted conflict, a month-long battle. The laws requiring notice of strikes was implemented under President Sarcozy. Before that, notice didn’t have to be given.
All that said, there might be some sort of action threatened around the major vacation travel days—first weekend in July or August or near Christmas holidays. What is happening now is a first, long, and protracted.
Posted by
Colorado
5 posts
We are leaving on a two week trip to France on the 20th of June. We expressly timed it so we would not be in Paris using the RER during the strike days. Now based on an article I read on France24.com, they may extend this protracted strike into July. My heart sank a little when I read this, but our plans and itinerary are in motion and we will pray that our trip will be unaffected.
Latest update : 2018-06-15
"The head of France's main rail union on Friday announced it would extend months of rolling strikes into July even though the reforms it is protesting have been adopted by parliament....
Unions had planned to call off the strike on June 28, but CGT Cheminots chief Laurent Brun said his members would carry on with their walkouts into the busy summer season*."
http://www.france24.com/en/20180615-french-union-cgt-extends-train-strike-summer-sncf-rail
Tammy
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10223 posts
There are multiple unions and so far only one has called for more strikes. There’s more to watch before drawing conclusions. At this point, it’s the train engineers who have the highest percentage striking.