Having a difficult time finding train tickets

I am on the site right now. I have coach 18, seat 63 on the 12:22 TGV-Lyria on Sept 6 ready to go for 25 euro. All I need to do now is hit the "confirm" button. If they have 25 euro seats available, they have LOTS of seats available. You have some other problem.

Thanks for checking Sam!

Perhaps its the return date that's not bookable yet. Try booking each leg separately. The cheapest "Prems" rates sold online are probably not sold at SNCF boutiques. Rick’s France rail travel page has the link and tips for buying “Prems” rate TGV tickets through SNCF (cheap, reserved, nonrefundable, available three or four months ahead of your travel date) to print at home and pay with PayPal. It does not tend to work with US credit cards, unless you have an extra level of security set up.

Am I able to purchase tickets for another person as well. (A different last name)?

When you buy the tickets, just order quantity 2, in the purchase process, you will be asked to supply the name of the 2nd passenger. BTW, the last time I bought tickets, I got them using www.capitainetrain.com.
The purchase process with a credit card is less of a hassle, and they are the same price. Just give your cc co a heads up so they don't decline for being a foreign transaction when you are sitting at home. Capitaine Train has the same prices as the TGV site. I have not tried the Paypal route.

I am now able to get on the site and purchase tickets. my question is...if i pick them up in the station can i use my magnetic strip atm or does it require the chip type card?

You will need to get them at a manned window, as retrieving them from a machine requires PIN& chip. Why don't you use print at home?

Lol. Still no luck. I go all the through with the order, submit my bank info and the payment gets rejected. I called my bank and they advise they are not rejecting on their end. Any suggestions?

They >>say<< that they aren't blocking the transaction at the bank end. But I bet they are. Steve, did you actually call the number on the credit card just before you attempted the transaction and notify them - before the purchase - that you were about to make a purchase in France even though you were at home?

No Nigel, I didn't. I will try that and see what happens. Thanks!!

I think it's a problem with the SNCF site. I had my bank on the line while trying the transaction and it would not go through. I advised I was buying train tickets from a company in France. My bank information is submitted, it tells me I will be redirected to my bank's site for verification, then it tells me transaction denied without directing me anywhere. I've tried it 4 times. Has anyone else had this issue?

Try setting up a paypal account and use that. The previously mentioned www.capitainetrain.com now appears to require a Micrsoft Exchange 2010 account. Its all part of the fraud/hacking safeguards they have put on their systems.

I appreciate all the help and suggestions but this is really getting frustrating. I already have a paypal account and I looked up the paypal info on the site. It said to select "paypal" on the payment selection screen. Well I do not have that option. My choices are Visa, Mastercard, AE, and some other card. That is it. I found a good deal and feel like I am gonna have to pay much more to purchase in Paris because the site just will not work for me.

Ok, I can get through using this site. I copy/pasted it to make sure I got it right.
https://www.capitainetrain.com/en
You should be able to use your credit card on this site (after giving your credit card company a heads up)
The print-at-home ticket is an actual TGV ticket. I used it in January for Zurich-Paris for a 25 euro ticket.

Thank you so much Sam. i had such a difficult time purchasing on capitaine...kept getting errors. Finally it went through but I have reservations on the 2PM something train. i saved 20 euro but got them. we will be transfering from Basel to Lucerne so i assume I will be able to buy the Lucerne tickets at the Basel station, then hop on the next train to Lucerne. Is that correct? Do you know (or anyone for that matter) an approximate price in $US from Basel to Lucerne and how long it will take to get between the 2 cities? You have been an awesome help to me!!!!!!! I do not think I could have done this without your help!!!!! Thank you so much :)

There is a train at 6:04 pm (about 40 minutes after you arrive in Basel) and should cost 32 Swiss Francs, about $35. It takes 1 hour to Luzern. Also, 15 minutes later, there is a regional train for the same price that takes 1 hour and 15 minutes. Schedules at www.sbb.ch.