A friend and I are traveling around Europe in a month and I booked a ticket for a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris. In the browser I received a confirmation code and even chose my seats, and my credit card was charged by SNCF. I never received any emails regarding the tickets, which bothers me because they are paperless(I believe). On their sites I can't login to manage my bookings using my email address or the confirmation code. I contacted SNCF or Thalys using a form on their site and the reference number I had from the website and never received a response. I'm nervous about whether or not I actually have seats on the train, and if my confirmation will get me anywhere once I'm in Amsterdam. Any advice on whether I should actually call them, am in good shape, or need to hold payment on my credit card considering I can't seem to get anywhere with the, would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Paul
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I wonder if you made a mistake in your email address. That would explain not getting any emails and if you use it to login in, the confirmation code will not match your email. You may have to talk to a real person. I wouldn't cancel the charge as then you'd have no ticket at all.
Posted by
Newcastle, WA, USA
643 posts
And check your spam folder. You'd be surprised what ends up in there. But yes, I would call them and speak to someone.
Posted by
Boston
2 posts
You should have received two emails from SNCF. The first shortly after you concluded the transaction and the second 1-3 days later. The first contains the details of your booking and the second confirms your ticket and seat reservation and includes a scan-able, dot matrix bar code that you print outhighest qualityand press to the business end of a reader in the train station which prints and spits out your actual ticket. 1. Call your credit card issuer and find out if you have been charged for anything by SNCF. 2. If you have been charged, get the transaction number and send SNCF another email stating the charge and asking for the appropriate email files.
3. If you have not been charged, start again and follow the proscribed steps exactly. (And keep in mind that your credit card issuer my have denied the charge simply because it originated from a business outside the US. AMEX denied my initial attempt and called immediately to ask if I had made the charge. I said I had made the charge, hung up after being assured that all was clear, only to have AMEX deny the charge again. Mastercard worked first time, no fuss.)
Posted by
OP
Cleveland
2 posts
Thanks for the replies -- I have checked my spam folders and the like. I'll have to get the transaction number and contact SNCF - I've been trying to contact Thalys, but to no avail, and the SNCF site is in French, and I've had a hard time finding a phone number for them, too, but maybe I'll just start by calling Thalys (unfortunately I don't speak French!)
Posted by
Adelaide, SA, Australia
977 posts
A couple of years I had to contact Thalys by phone from Australia to make a reservation after a last minute flight cancellation from Bordeaux to Brussels. With my limited high school French I asked the person who answered the phone, "Parlez vous Anglais sil vous plait" (do you speak English please). They didn't, but put someone on the phone who did. Got our tickets and reservations all done.
Picked up tickets at Bordeaux station on arrival. Give it a try.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, United States
873 posts
This happened to us last year, though with NLHispeed, not Thalys particularly. We did get the email but the link to our tickets would NOT work. We had originally planned to take the train from Schiphol to London via Brussels, but our plans eventually ended up changing to just staying in Brussels, so we figured we'd ask the ticket kiosk at Schohol to print our original tickets for us and if they refused, we'd just buy tickets to Brussels. Long story short, we gave a print out of the confirmation number, our names, and billing info to the ticket clerk at Schiphol's train station, and he printed our tickets for us!