Paris - Rouen: lack of flexible tickets

[Old Yard Dog]

I have just tried to purchase flexible tickets from Paris to Rouen and back from voyages-sncf (on the phone as their website is useless) and was shocked to discover that it is impossible to buy tickets which are valid on any train (no matter how much you pay).

"Flexible" tickets are apparently only exchangeable before you travel. So you are stymied if you miss your train and have to pay again for another ticket. This is crazy for a busy commuter route.

I probably won't have time to queue in Rouen for a ticket on the only train which will get me back to Paris in time to get my flight home, so I had no choice but to pay.

I'm going out by Eurostar but have to fly back due to timings. I couldn't get through to Eurostar domestic ticketing as they don't answer the phone, so had to risk buying three separate tickets Runcorn - London (not CIV), London - Paris, Paris - Rouen in order to get senior railcard discounts on an advance ticket for the first leg. So much for seamless integrated rail travel.

 

[radamfi]

I thought regular tickets were valid for 2 months? After stamping, you have to finish the journey by midnight the following day.

 

[30907]

"Flexible" tickets are apparently only exchangeable before you travel. So you are stymied if you miss your train and have to pay again for another ticket. This is crazy for a busy commuter route.

Surely "before you travel" means what it says, not "before scheduled departure"? I.e. If you miss your train you go to the booking office and exchange it for one for the next train.

 

[radamfi]

Is the problem here that the ticket is being sold as an e-ticket? I just tried to book that trip on the normal French language site, and it gives this as the fare conditions:

TARIF NORMAL : Billet échangeable sans frais avant le début de validité. Pendant sa validité, billet échangeable sans frais pour obtenir un billet avec une réservation, une réduction moins importante ou un surclassement. Dansles autres cas d'échange et en cas de remboursement une retenue de 10% sera appliquée jusqu'à la fin de validité. Pour le service e-billet disponible sur certaines relations : confirmation e-billet à imprimer, sans compostage, utilisable pour un voyage uniquement dans le train et à la date indiqués. E-billet échangeable et remboursable sans frais avant départ. Après départ, e-billet non échangeable et non remboursable.

For the English site, it is much less detailed:

Fully exchangeable and refundable before departure. Non exchangeable and non refundable after departure. For tickets without a seat reservation: For an exchange or refund before or after departure, up to 10% of the ticket price will be withheld.

So it looks like the English site seems to give conditions for the e-ticket. I can understand the e-ticket having no refund value after the departure time.

But it does suggest that you can pick up the tickets from the machine. If you pick it up from the machine, you might as well buy from the machine as that line doesn't require reservation. I've never had to queues very long at SNCF machines.

The best bet might be the buy the ticket at the machine (or ticket office) on arrival at Paris Nord after you get off the Eurostar. You should then get a ticket with 2 month validity.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

I ended up ordering a printed ticket (not an e-ticket) on the phone. And I haven't got a seat reservation in either direction. So it will be interesting to see what happens if I miss my train (in either direction).

 

[radamfi]

So are they posting the ticket to your house? If so, hopefully it will show the 2 month range that the ticket is valid for. If that is the case, you are fine on any train. It will show the time of the train you intend to get but that is just a suggested service. You just have to remember to stamp the ticket on the platform.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just noticed that tickets without reservation will no longer have 61 days validity from 2 September. They will only be valid for 7 days.

 

[CC 72100]

I ended up ordering a printed ticket (not an e-ticket) on the phone. And I haven't got a seat reservation in either direction. So it will be interesting to see what happens if I miss my train (in either direction).

To be honest, there is a reasonable chance that you won't be checked anyway. When I did a Paris - Rouen day trip, on the way out it was 2x Double-deck units (forming a train of 10 coaches), all stops between Mantes LJ and Rouen, with the guard in only one of the units. My ticket was therefore not checked.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

So are they posting the ticket to your house? If so, hopefully it will show the 2 month range that the ticket is valid for. If that is the case, you are fine on any train. It will show the time of the train you intend to get but that is just a suggested service. You just have to remember to stamp the ticket on the platform.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just noticed that tickets without reservation will no longer have 61 days validity from 2 September. They will only be valid for 7 days.

The tickets have just arrived. The Paris - Rouen ticket was half the price of the Rouen - Paris one, and is only valid on the specified train and non exchangeable.

The return ticket is a "Normal" ticket which is exchangeable under the conditions you have detailed.

This is despite the fact I made it crystal clear that I wanted a flexible ticket in both directions, almost regardless of price (I'm not paying!), and after the salesman had gone to speak to his supervisor and phoned me back. He seemed to imply that there was some sort of quota for each train and that validity conditions were changing from month to month. I'm bemused.

 

[radamfi]

Sounds like the moral is to book online, but don't use the official English language version of the SNCF website. Either use the French language version or use www.capitainetrain.com which is recommended by Seat 61 as being easy to use. The only 'catch' is that you can only buy tickets that you can pick up from the machine, or get an e-ticket. I prefer to pick up the tickets rather than get them posted to avoid any issues with the post as you don't usually get a queue at the machine. If I'm getting a non-changeable ticket then I would go for an e-ticket.

Obviously for tickets that don't need reservation, as we are talking here, you can just buy these from any SNCF machine in France.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Sounds like the moral is to book online, but don't use the official English language version of the SNCF website. Either use the French language version or use www.capitainetrain.com which is recommended by Seat 61 as being easy to use. The only 'catch' is that you can only buy tickets that you can pick up from the machine, or get an e-ticket. I prefer to pick up the tickets rather than get them posted to avoid any issues with the post as you don't usually get a queue at the machine. If I'm getting a non-changeable ticket then I would go for an e-ticket.

Obviously for tickets that don't need reservation, as we are talking here, you can just buy these from any SNCF machine in France.

Thanks for the advice.

I did try and ook online using the SNCF site, but was not offered the "normal" ticket for the outward leg. Hence the phone call.

I possibly won't have time even to go to a ticket machine or ticket office on the return leg as I have a tight connection after my meeting.

So sounds like the best policy would have been to go to the ticket office or machine at St Lazare on the way out and buy a return.

In contrast, I've just booked a complex series of tickets in Germany & Austria using the DB phoneline in England with absolutely no problems at all.