Scots in Treignac

Sometimes I can get a better deal for advance tickets using the SNCF,Fr site rather than the UK site.

Last time I used the UK site I got an electronic ticket which was great because I didn't have to bother putting it into the machine at the station.

The advantage of an e ticket is that it doesn't have to be posted or collected.

Any experience of obtaining an e ticket on the French website?

Would I be able to use a UK visa(debit) or would I need to use my French bank card?

E-ticketing must be fairly common because the girl in my Tourist Office recognized my e ticket when I asked her what I had to do with it.

dmu

Hi, younger members of my family often buy E-tickets on the SNCF site, but I'm afraid I'm too old to cope with that, and prefer to get my tickets sent by post (provided I book far enough ahead).
I don't know about paying with a UK Visa card, as the SNCF site is now more secure. You must give your French Bank your mobile number before you book on-line, and when you've filled in the Payment details, your Bank immediately sends you an SMS with a Code number to enter. I don't know what happens if you use a non-French Card.
Hope this helps!

cyrian

UK cards should be ok but I prefer to use my French one.
I don't normally get an SMS through the SNCF site although for other sites.
UK cards also have secure payments where you are directed to VISA or MC sites and you have to enter your memorable info.
I have found the availability of e-tickets a bit patchy - sometimes they are offered and sometimes not. We did get them this time.
You need to provide photo ID if asked, to confirm that you are the registered traveller.
Alternatively, you can stick your bank card in the machines at the station and retrieve your tickets.

EuroTrash

I always use http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ and always get etickets, and I have in the past paid with a UK debit card. If there's tickets available, you can always choose to have them sent as etickets AFAIK. Seems by far the easiest option to me, you don't risk having to queue at a machine or at the guichet and you don't even have to compost them (I never get the blasted thing in the right way round). But you do have to take ID with you for the ticket inspector to check. (I guess to stop you printing off multiple tickets and giving them to all your friends and relatives!)

TinaBee

Same here.

Your name is printed on the eTicket so you need to have ID for the inspector to check against.

grannybunz

I am increasingly fed-up with SNCF and their ticketing arrangements. If we book on line we can't really choose our seats. I simply can't travel facing the wrong way. If we go into our "sation"( no railway line but a helpful person) we are often told that they can't tell which way the trains will be configured so they can't be sure that we will have front facing seats and the two facing each other seats are always booked from Marseilles, so no chance of anyone getting on in Avignon to get one.

E tickets - what chance if you don't have a clever phone? Absolutely no point for us because we have no signal where we live.

dmu

You can choose seats on-line or at a station, but there's no knowing in advance which way the carriage is facing. Can't you negotiate with the other passengers? It doesn't bother me which way I'm facing and I can't be the only one who would change places if you asked! As long as you've got a valid ticket, the Contrôleur doesn't care who sits where...
P.S. forgot to say that AFAIK you don't need a smart phone for e-tickets.

EuroTrash

Grannybunz you've baffled me with most of that.

I don't see the connection between smartphones and etickets? If you book online on your computer you can opt to receive your ticket as an eticket. They send you it by email and you print it off.

I believe there is also an option called an M-billlet which is a Smartphone app, but AFAIK that hasn't been mentioned on this thread - or did the OP actually mean M-billets and are some of us including me rambling on about the wrong thing entirely?

I'm sure there is an option to choose your seats online, though I never do, and I assumed you choose which way you faced - otherwise what's the point - but could be wrong. Not sure whether it might cost an extra euro or so.

AFAIK it's first come first served, so if you book well ahead before the Marseilles lot get in, you will get your choice of seat.

Chatter Static

http://help.en.voyages-sncf.com/en/f...ting-positions

It's obviously an issue on that route that Sncf need to deal with but it's hardly rocket science to work out what direction a train is going.

grannybunz

We tried the on-line booking twice last year. Thought we had done everything correctly but it just didn't work and when we got on the train we were actually sitting on either side of the aisle and facing the wrong direction.

The train was almost full and we only saw a conductor until Lyon at which point all we got was a shrug. We were going all the way to Rennes we eventually got to swap with others who were in similar positions eg a family of five who were scattered up and down the carriage.

We have been travelling by train with our senior cards for years and have never until the last two or three years encountered problems.

I am quite sure it is not senility because a neighbour with 2 kids found themsleves in different carriages when booking online to Paris and only managed to fix it by going to the station - it couldn't be changed on-line.

Sorry to sound pathetic but I simply have to face in the direction of travel or I feel awful.

dmu

But when you choose your seats, the numbers and location are displayed on-screen, with "fenêtre" or "couloir" clearly marked, so it shouldn't be a surprize...
I agree that it's pot-luck as to which direction you'll be facing, but still recommend negotiating with fellow passengers right from the start, even if it means being separated for the whole journey.

dmu

@GB, if it's of any interest, I've just been to Paris and back from Béziers and, each time, all the seats in my carriage (except of course the 4 "club" (?) seats) were facing forward! Better luck for you next time!

grannybunz

Were you travelling first class?

dmu

No, second class. Have you been speaking about 1st class in this thread? I sometimes take 1st class seats if they aren't much more expensive than 2nd class (with Carte Sénior)...
As a matter of interest, are e-tickets reimbursable or exchangeable?

Scots in Treignac

What are the benefits of carte senior ?

How long does it last and how often do you need to use it to make it worth while

Is it like the UK Senior Railcard where there is a discount even on the cheap advanced tickets. or is it like the National Express Card where the cheaper fares are excluded ?

Does it have to be sent to an address in France or can it be purchased at a railway station?