SNCF Bookings with Non-EU Bank Credit Cards

[Saint Mike II]

As usual this Forum provides a bountiful amount of information however I have discovered one small problem for those of us trying to book train tickets very early. There was a post a month or so back saying that SNCF was now accepting bookings up to five months in advance. So I tried to book, but without any success.
Reason: The SNCF system does not accept payments from Non-EU bank supported credit cards. (Email from SNCF politely informed me why my bookings were not completing). Their recommendations (of us in Australia) was to use this web site: http://www.raileurope.com.au/?visitor_country=AU.
I have had a look here, however this site has a 90 day forward booking window. Hope this helps my fellow Aussie pilgrims. Cheers

 

[TMcA]

As usual this Forum provides a bountiful amount of information however I have discovered one small problem for those of us trying to book train tickets very early. There was a post a month or so back saying that SNCF was now accepting bookings up to five months in advance. So I tried to book, but without any success.
Reason: The SNCF system does not accept payments from Non-EU bank supported credit cards. (Email from SNCF politely informed me why my bookings were not completing). Their recommendations (of us in Australia) was to use this web site: http://www.raileurope.com.au/?visitor_country=AU.
I have had a look here, however this site has a 90 day forward booking window. Hope this helps my fellow Aussie pilgrims. Cheers

From the U.S., Rail Europe does not offer the best fares. In fact, some of the time their rates are significantly higher than booking with SNCF.

So I have used multiple times <<Capitaine train>> now <<BETS>>, I believe. Try their site and I think you will be pleased. Only caveat, based on my experience last April, is that you need to save your confirming email and follow its directions to receive your ticket from an automated kiosk in any large French train station.

 

[Kanga]

Yes, @Saint Mike II raileurope is very, very expensive in my experience! Better to use Captaine train. I've also booked direct with SNCF using my credit card and a hotel address in Paris. The only thing is that I had to collect my ticket in France from a railway station and I had to use the credit card used for booking to collect it.

 

[BShea]

A couple of days ago, I was able to book on www.voyages-sncf.com with my American credit card for my May trip. There was one additional step. The card had to be set up with my bank in advance to be used for online purchases from foreign countries. When I tried to book, I got a message to call my bank, which I did. After my secure account was set up, I refreshed the page and got a new prompt to enter my password that I had just set up with the customer service rep at my bank. (You can go back in and change it so it is secret). No problem. The booking went through and I printed out my tickets.

Previously, SNCF told me I could use my American credit card by doing the following: Click on the icon on the top right that says France with the French flag. Choose Europe (other countries) and you should be able to use your foreign card. Since my card worked the other way, I didn't use this system. Using this system didn't seem to give me the option of purchasing insurance, which for me is crucial since I worry about missing my train due to flight delays or traffic.

Hope this helps.


P.S. Below are the instructions I received from SNCF in case mine are unclear. If it doesn't work, let me know and I can contact SNCF for you to ask about Australian cards...

Bonjour Madame Shea,

Vous souhaitez obtenir des informations relatives aux modes de paiement autorisés sur notre site en version française.

Je vous conseille de changer la version du site et de choisir "other countries". Pour cela, je vous invite à vous rendre sur le petit drapeau situé en haut à droite de la page d'accueil du site, puis à sélectionner "other countries". Votre paiement avec une carte bancaire américaine aboutira.

Je me tiens à votre disposition pour tout autre renseignement et vous souhaite une agréable journée de la part de Voyages-sncf.com.

Cordialement,

Nicolas RIERELAR
Votre Conseiller client

 

[marbuck]

For the past 3 years I have used my Australian credit card to book trains on Voyages - SNCF using an Australian address. From memory I think they even posted the tickets to us.

 

[Slow guy]

I have struggled like everybody else to use the SNCF app. Sometimes I get it to work with my US card but mostly it fails. Lately I have been using an app called Trainline EU. It works great. Same rates as SNCF and no commissions like RailEurope.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hello and thanks for all the responses.
1. Have not heard of Capitane Train - can one of you post a full URL;
2. I have both an AMEX card and Master Card and neither works - its the fact that they are linked to an Australian bank the blocks or shuts me out of the SNCF system;
3. I tried Voyages - SNCF - same results - transaction would not complete.
4. How to collect tickets - not since 2008 have I had tickets posted to me (from France) - only option appears to be print your own;
5. Price differentials - will have a look at what "raileurope" charges - will probably have to put in a fake date (ie less than 90 days forward).
Cheers

 

[mspath]

Mike,

Capitaine Train is now Trainline.
See more here.
https://www.trainline.eu/?gclid=Cj0...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN6Gs92U9dACFVKeGwod0VgJRw

 

[Saint Mike II]

Thanks MS;
OK I have just check the prices for the same train (Paris to Bayonne - TGV Direct - 5 hours approx) and here are the prices:
SNCF & Trainline - both 119.90 Euros (first class) ; Rail Europe - 99.00 Euros (again first class). Now as I said I have to provide a fake date, so I chose the first saturday in February. I have to admit I have not booked with SNCF recently, but if Rail Europe is going to be E20 cheaper for the same train, same seating I know which one I will use.
Again thanks for all the feedback - it has helped me and hopefully it will help others travelling from Paris to St Jean. Happy Christmas.

 

[Kanga]

Wow. When I do the same search for my dates (Wednesday 19 April) using Trainline it comes back as 37 Euros, leaving Montparnasse at 14:28 and arriving in Bayonne at 19:35 - first class. And I can buy it now. When I do the same search using RailEurope (Australian site) it says it is too early to book - presumably because it only has a 90 day booking window.

Same train on 15 February is 42 Euros by Trainline. Same train, same day - RailEurope is $AUS 136.
So not sure what is going on @Saint Mike II.

 

[BShea]

@Kanga I second your wow! Are you looking at prices from Montparnasse or from CDG? Leaving from the airport may account for the difference in price.

Fares in May from Montparnasse to Bayonne are as low as 19€ if you book right now. I paid 49.90€ first class but it was because I wanted to leave earlier than 14h28. (I want to make the 17:30 bus connection to Saint Palais)

So, I'm assuming clicking on the "other countries" icon from the French site didn't work for you. You could also try paying with PayPal.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Thanks for the feedback. I will see what happens for the 7.28 (morning direct train). It might be that different departures have different charges. Cheers

 

[Saint Mike II]

Follow-up information. It is as I suspected. If you need to travel on a specific day (in my case a Saturday); your preferred train is a direct service (again my preference); your also prefer the shortest journey time (say less than 6 hours) then the price is E94 (2nd Class) & E119 (first class). The Sunday service departing around 14.30 is a lot less expensive - but it does not get into Bayonne until 19.35 and depending upon connections (21.10) and get into St Jean at 22.10 (definitely not my preferred arrival time, especially on a Sunday night).
Again my thanks to all who have provided information and advice in this subject. It's just another reason why we need to keep it going. Cheers

 

[BShea]

Bummer! Looks like you're looking to travel over a holiday weekend, so the IDTGV discount prices are higher. More trains will open up exactly 3 months before your travel date so you could wait to see what's available.

 

[julie]

I always check Rail Europe for comparison purposes but have never found them to be a lower price than SNCF. It used to be a bit problematic to book through SNCF and they had a tendency to change the way the system worked so you had to find a new workaround every year but I would always say that I wanted to collect the ticket in France and would just go to the machine to collect my tickets on arrival. It is even more straightforward since they introduced e-tickets.

Seat 61 gives full instructions on how to book rail tickets without being diverted to Rail Europe http://www.seat61.com/websites/voyages-sncf.htm#.Vp9TQ-RumUk

 

[Kanga]

Double like your post @julie

 

[Saint Mike II]

Bummer! Looks like you're looking to travel over a holiday weekend, so the IDTGV discount prices are higher. More trains will open up exactly 3 months before your travel date so you could wait to see what's available.

B - yes double bummer - its the May Day long weekend (Monday May 1 is a national holiday in France & Spain) - I should have realised there would be a reason for the prices being so different on the Saturday. I might have to book now rather than wait till the 90 day window opens.

Any comments about whether the 7.28 Saturday train would book out!! Cheers

 

[BShea]

If you look at Saturday March 11th, there is specific number of seats on the same train (7:28) that are cheaper than the idtgv price. Those seats open up at 12:01 France time and tend to go quickly. Once those specific seats are gone, the price will continue to rise as it approaches the departure date. I have never seen a TGV completely full, it's just a matter of the price one is willing to pay. My thinking is that you could wait until 29 Jan at 12:01 to see if the offers were any better, and if so, grab them then. There is also the possibility of taking the 8:28 train which would get you to SJPdP at the same time but would require a train change in DAX.

There is another option, which I am doing. Like you, I am not interested in arriving at SJPdP after 22:00, especially since the person I am traveling with has never been there and it's really fun to enter the town under the arch. We will be taking the 10:28 train from Paris to Bayonne and catching the 1 hour bus #811 from Bayonne to St. Palais. (The Saturday bus leaves at 18:10-19:15, so you could even take the 12:28 train.) St. Palais to St. Jean is about 30 km, which will give us a day or two of walking to get over some jetlag, stretch our legs and make any necessary pack adjustments before tackling the Pyrenees. There is also a bus from Saint Palais to SJPdP.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I followed Seat61 recommendations, I selected Switzerland, but was not given any other option other than printing the ticket myself. Using my MC immediately identifies me as not Swiss and the system rejected the transaction. So I will just wait until the other booking window opens. Cheers
(Happy Christmas).