I need help from a voyages-sncf.com expert!

Hi

I am wanting to book 2 one way adult tickets, in a double sleeper Paris to Florence on the overnight train on 12 March - I am in Australia.

When I do a search on the website, it lists the different payment rules for people from different countries - ie., France Residents can pay upon collection of their ticket, people some other countries must pay online before collecting or printing their ticket etc. It seems to mention rules for every country bar Australia!

Are Australians allowed to book direct on the voyages-sncf website? I don%26#39;t want to book and pay and then turnup to collect my tickets at the station in Paris to be told I have broken some sort of booking rule and my booking isn%26#39;t valid!

Thanks.

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Hi Gemini,

I doubt that Australia is the only country not listed. The site probably only lists EU countries, US, and countries whose residents have made large numbers of bookings in the past. There is no problem booking from Australia.

This thread by Morgan_B gives very detailed instructions for booking on SNCF.

tripadvisor.com/…3511456

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The trick is to leave the country as %26quot;France%26quot; ... your goal is to be able to pick up your tickets when you get to Paris at any SNCF %26#39;boutique%26#39; (agency).

I%26#39;ve booked from America (also not on the list) several times with no problems at all.

Remember you must bring the same credit card you booked with to pick up the tickets, along with the email confirmation they send to you.

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Hi GeminiSix,

We are also Australian, and booked and paid for tickets on the Paris to Vienna sleeper on the SNCF site late last year. As the previous poster said, select France to collect your tickets, and print out the confirmation which will be emailed to you. We collected our tickets from the Gare du Nord a few days in advance, and had no problems at all.

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for some reason in the fisrt screen Australia does not appear in the country list but when you select another country (USA for instance) Australia appears in the following choice on the other screens !

they even give us an address in Australia which care about the booking for trains in Europe you can try yo contact them:

Rail Plus Australasia Pty Ltd

Level 3

459 Little Collins Street

3000 MELBOURNE VIC

AUSTRALIA

Tel: 1 300 555 003

Fax: +61 3 9642 8403

Email: online@railplus.com.au

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I am sure railplus jacks up the prices. If you want to save money is best to book via the net . Just use the guide I typed up that Faux pointed out. Happy travels!

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Hi,

I am facing a different kind of issue.

As per the sncf website, you can print all PREMS tickets from their website. We are trying to book from US. I have followed all the instructions from Morgan%26#39;s post.

But if I choose the PREMS fare ( Paris - Venice 3rd May, 2007) put the orders on the shopping cart, it always comes back with the option of pay online and ship to an address. Does that mean we cannot book PREMS?

In that case my only option will be to take the option of booking online and collect it from from a SNCF spot in Paris.

Any help/suggestion will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Suman

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Suman, you must choose not to take the insurance if you want to print the tickets.

remember what Morgan wrote

%26quot;21. You may or may not be offered cancellation insurance. Make your selection. You may not print tickets at home if you choose cancellation insurance.%26quot;

Hope this helps. :-)

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I don%26#39;t think the insurance issue is the OP%26#39;s problem. For some reason SNCF is reluctant to provide any option other than mail for PREMs fares on some overnight trains outside of France. Others have reported the same thing.

I think the solution is probably to call the English language SNCF desk at the number given in MorganB%26#39;s guide during normal French business hours. If you do that I think they may be able to email a confirmation number to you. If theyh cannot do that others have reported that they are willing to arrange to have the tickets mailed to you by express mail.

Another option would be to email your Paris hotel and ask them if they would be willing to have you give SNCF their address and hold the tickets until your arrival.

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Suman-Dallas: I, too, only had the option of tickets mailed to me when I chose the PREM prices. I called the English-speaking number and ordered my tickets over the phone with absolutely no problem. She gave me a Ref. number, and we are picking up the tickets when we arrive at Gare du Nord when we arrive on Eurostar. We are taking the overnight to Venice on 3/28 and got really great prices for 2 seniors in a 1st class 4-couchette. I also got them to email me a confirmation, and be sure and have the same credit card and that ref. number. Bon Voyage!!

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