I have heard that the French railroad won't mail tickets to the US??? If so, how can I buy them long enough in advance to get the low prices? Any experiences would be appreciated.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
There's no reason to mail them out. For some tickets you can print them out at home. For other tickets you simply enter a confirmation number into one of the ticket machines at the train stations to collect your ticket. You can collect at the windows as well.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
You may also see something to the effect of 'No Retrieval from a French ticket machine' - what they mean by that (definitely NOT the wording THEY use, but I think you'll recognize it if you come across it!) is that some ticket options require you to stick the credit card you used to purchase the ticket (from your home) into a ticket machine for the retrieval of a (paper) ticket. American cards don't work in these machines; they require a 'chip-n-PIN' type of credit card. So, the option you'd choose is either "print at home' or 'retrieve at a French ticket window', or words to that effect. BRING THE CREDIT CARD YOU PURCHASED THE TICKETS WITH! Otherwise, no tickets. You'll either be able to print a ticket at home, OR you'll get an email confirmation number to take to a FRENCH station (or whatever country you choose) ticket window (I've done this - super easy). 'Some' email confirmations (Rail Europe has some, for example) allow you to input a different kind of confirmation number into one of those 'retrieval' machines. Okey-dokey - now that I've thoroughly confused you, exactly where are you going? It 'may' be a game-changer...