Hi all -
My family and I were delayed over three hours on a recent Paris-Colmar route. Apparently I am entitled to a 75% refund as a result. I see that my options are cash refund or voucher. The cash refund requires bank information for a European bank account, so it is pretty much a non-starter. I will likely not use a voucher in the next 12 months.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
In that case, why bother? You will get no benefit and only consume your time and theirs. You were able to get there, although late. So were you really out anything? I can see if you lived there, then this would be a good option, but for a one time tourist ticket, there really is no benefit.
Well, yes, that is an option.
However, since it is a few hundred euro, I thought I'd ask here first. Perhaps someone has figured out how to get a refund back to the credit card, or perhaps the voucher is transferable, etc.
"The cash refund requires bank information for a European bank account" - it probably requires an "IBAN" (= International Bank Account Number). Yes, this is the way bank accounts are referenced in Europe, but also in some other countries as well.
With the IBAN system you can send money easily, I can log into my online banking, and send money at low cost to any other bank account as long as it has an IBAN. This is why they use it.
You don't say where you are from, but does your bank in any way support the IBAN system?
Is there any money transfer system in your country that supports IBAN?
TransferWise may be able to help...
What you need is the SWIFT number for your bank. The IBAN number translates to your account number.
Thanks, everyone. TransferWise ended up being a good solution for me.
Mike, so glad to hear you are getting your refund. For those of us who might be in your situation in the future, what steps did you have to go through with Transferwise and the SNCF to get the refund back to your US bank account? What were the Transferwise fees? Thanks in advance for sharing.
Sure. It was fairly straitforward. I opened a no-fee account with TransferWise that allows me to send, receive, and hold money in multiple currencies, including Euros and US dollars. The account provides an actual European checking account number, etc. - exactly what the SNCF site was asking for. TransferWise charges a very modest transfer fee (a few dollars at most) and they use a favorable exchange rate (no markup).
Once set up, I simply used that new account info with SNCF's online refund form. I received a confirmation within a day or so. And the actual money showed up about a week later. I can now store it on my TransferWise account to use on their debit card, or transfer to my regular bank for a small fee (very small, less than $2)
