Can someone confirm the proper URL to order TGV tickets online here? I have the RS France 2018 guide, and when I go to the URL provided, it is clearly not the right site. Nothing corresponds to the instructions in the guide. This is the URL in the book:
I think it's this one, but I'd like to get confirmation, since it differs from the guide. Odd.
Thank you.
Oui.sncf is the official SNCF website.
Hi brugesman. The problem is that your first link above contains 'scnf'. The French train company is sncf, not scnf. Perhaps you mis typed? Further complicating matters is that sncf has changed their branding and web site name recently. They are now using the oui branding. Either link you list (but with 'sncf' in the first instead of the scnf') will lead you to the correct website, which now features the 'oui' branding. Enjoy your trip!
Yes it's true,the SNCF has changed its branding/name and thus website. So the one that contains "oui" is currently correct.
(I think it's the dumbest thing ever, but there you have it.)
You can also buy French train tickets, at the same price as the SNCF site, at Trainline: https://www.trainline.eu/
This is more user-friendly and reportedly has better acceptance of non-French cards.
Either way, choose "print-at-home" tickets. The alternative is picking up tickets at the station, which is only possible at SNCF stations and adds time.
You can also buy French train tickets, at the same price as the SNCF
site, at Trainline: https://www.trainline.eu/ This is more
user-friendly and reportedly has better acceptance of non-French
cards.Either way, choose "print-at-home" tickets. The alternative is picking
up tickets at the station, which is only possible at SNCF stations and
adds time.
Chris F, is there an option to be paperless and have the tickets available on one's mobile phone like I have for Thalys and DB? I downloaded Thalys' and DB's apps respectively and my rail tickets for this autumn are on there.
Continental, I don't think so. At the bottom of the https://www.trainline.eu/ main page it says:
You can either print your ticket at a station or receive an e-ticket to print at home.
SNCF does offer mobile tickets, see here: https://ch.oui.sncf/en/mobile/m-ticket
But only on TGV, Intercités and Thalys. Presumably the ticket inspectors only have only been issued with the tech on those trains.
Excellent, thank you everyone! Yes, I transposed letters in my first link. Should have caught that.
Continental, thanks for the trainline suggestion. I came across that site recently and thought it was very user-friendly. Do you know if I'd have to pay a bit more for tickets there than if I buy direct from SCNF? Maybe they tack on a fee? Better acceptance of US credit cards is a draw, as well as the nice interface. If the price is the same, I'd buy from trainline.
Thanks again. These forums are such an excellent resource.
Oh, I see on trainline's home page, they say "The tickets that we sell have the same prices as the carriers’." So I'm inclined to buy on that site instead of SNCF.
Trainline doesn't appear to let me specify which Paris departure station I want (CDG). Plus I don't see any TGV departures in the search results. Maybe trainline doesn't have access to all the departures?
I see I can specify CDG as the departure point. That really should come up as an option if one enters Paris.
brugesman, I'm glad you're sorted.
The station at the airport is called "Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV", named after the airport. It is not in Paris, it is well outside the city boundaries, technically in the suburban commune (borough) of Tremblay-en-France. If you included all suburban stations when you looked up Paris it would be a list of hundreds. This happens in some other cities and leads to posts "which station do I choose?". You can't win☺
Trainline.eu's app indeed lets you load your ticket onto your phone rather than printing it. I buy tickets from them and travel that way (ticket on my phone) all the time.
