I have reviewed all the information on I could find in this forum about Trains from Charles de Gaulle airport (as well as on the VERY helpful Inside Paris: Booking on SNCF link) but I still have a couple of questions about purchasing tickets in advance from the US.
We want to take the train to Avignon as soon as possible after we land. In reviewing the train schedules and prices, it appears we would be better off to take the RER from CDG to Paris Gare de Lyon and catch the TGV to Avignon from there, even though there are direct trains from CDG to Avignon. There are more frequent trains from Gare de Lyon to Avignon than from CDG to Avignon and there seems to be trains from CDG to Gare de Lyon every 10 minutes or so. The price seems to be better and the trains faster from Paris as well, even taking into consideration the 1/2 hour trip and price from CDG to Gare de Lyon. Are there any compelling reasons/advantages to take the train directly from CDG?
Also, if purchasing tickets in advance, what exactly does the %26quot;refundable and exchangeable%26quot; mean? My main concern is having some sort of delay in the flight and missing the train for which I have purchased a ticket. If that happens with a %26#39;refundable%26quot; ticket, will we be able to exchange and get reservations on the next train? It seems like I have heard it is only refundable and exchangeable if changed BEFORE the train leaves. Is this true?
I was planning on allowing at least two hours between the arrival time of my flight and the departure time of the train. Is that sufficient? Would it work to reserve on a later train (say even 3 or 4 hours past the flight arrival) and exchange the refundable ticket for an earlier train if we can get there in time?
How often are the TGVs to Avignon fully booked in advance so you can%26#39;t walk up and buy a ticket. We will be arriving CDG on Saturday, Sept 8 at about 11 am. I was hoping to catch the 1:20 or 2:20 pm trains from the Gare de Lyon.
Thanks in advance for your help!
|||
Well, it%26#39;s a no brainer: the frequencies to Avignon are the same ex CDG then ex Gare de Lyon, so I don%26#39;t know why you should huff and puff to the RER, drag your bags down, buy your ticket, change at Les Halles, try to find your way through the huge station that is gare de Lyon when you could be quietly taking your train ex CDG.
Let%26#39;s look calmly at the facts. We assume your plane arrives on time. You are out of immigration, customs etc. by noon. You have a train waiting for you at CDG station at 13h10, that will make you arrive at Avignon at 16h42 with a 20 mn change (same platform) at Valence. If you want to take your time and get a direct train, have a snack and coffee, wait for the 14h04, you%26#39;ll be at Avignon TGV at 17h14. The next ones ex CDG are 16h03, 17h04, etc. If you arrive at T2, it%26#39;s a 15 mn walk max to the station. If it%26#39;s T3 you%26#39;ll have to take the new inter terminal train, so factor in 30 mn max.
If you opt for the Gare de Lyon solution, you might just make it for the 13h20, with plenty of stress, sweating, running, looking around to find your train among the 20+ platforms of the station. It%26#39;s more likely you%26#39;ll have to aim for the 14h20, that arrives Avignon at 16h56. So we are back to square one (ie ex CDG! ). The next ones ex GdL are 16h20, 17h20, etc.
Exchangeable means what it means, ie that you can %26quot;exchange%26quot; it free of charge before the scheduled departure and up to one hour after it. After this, there is a fine of, I am not quite sure, 30 % or 50 %, but clerks at the CDG rail station are quite lenient and are likely to turn a blind eye to the one hour limit, knowing that it%26#39;s not your fault. Mid day on a Saturday in September, there will be plenty of seats available. You might lose the benefit of earlier booked rates though.
|||
I agree with Adele. There is no way I would trek into Paris to take the TGV to Avignon. I would reserve the 2:04 pm train, #9828 from CDG to Avignon TGV. Right now, PREM%26#39;S are still available for 35 euros. Prem%26#39;s are not exchangeable or reimboursable, but the price is a great one. Or, you could purchaes tarif normal tickets at 76.80 euros. Those would be exchangeable.
Below are the guidelines for exchanging tickets from the SNCF website. It is more beneficial to make the change prior to your train%26#39;s departure. However, if you book a full fare ticket (tarif normal), it is unlikely you would have to pay more to use it for a later train as Adele said.
Echanger votre billet
Echange de votre billet avec réservation
• Aucune retenue ne sera faite sur le prix de votre billet si vous échangez votre billet avant le
départ du train, dans les gares et les boutiques SNCF de la ville de départ du trajet réservé (sous
réserve que votre tarif vous le permette).
• 50% de retenue vous seront appliqués, si vous échangez vos billets Tarif Normal, Abonnements
et Pass’ Entreprise après le départ du train. Vous avez jusqu’à 60 jours après la date de réservation
du billet pour effectuer cet échange. Pour les autres tarifs, l’échange n’est plus possible.
• Après le départ de votre train Corail, vous pouvez obtenir une nouvelle réservation “place assise”
pour 1,50? pendant la période d’ouverture à la réservation du nouveau Corail.
BON À SAVOIR
Sur un train à réservation facultative, vous pouvez utiliser votre billet sans tenir compte des
dates et horaires de votre réservation, dans la limite de validité de votre billet.Vous n’aurez
en revanche plus de place réservée. Le compostage du billet est obligatoire pour en valider
l’utilisation.
Echange de votre billet sans réservation
• Aucune retenue ne sera faite sur le prix de votre billet pour obtenir, sur la totalité ou sur une
partie du trajet initial, un billet avec une réservation, une réduction moins importante ou un
surclassement.
• 10% de retenue vous seront appliqués dans tous les autres cas.
Ces conditions sont applicables depuis le jour de l’achat jusqu’à la fin de la période d’utilisation
indiquée sur le billet.
Si vous avez acheté votre billet auprès d’une agence de voyages agréée SNCF
Vous pouvez échanger votre billet auprès de cette même agence, en gare ou dans une boutique
SNCF. Vous pouvez aussi utiliser une Borne Libre Service pour un trajet identique à celui que
vous aviez réservé.
Si vous avez acheté un Billet Electronique dans une agence de voyages agréée, vous pouvez
l’échanger auprès de votre agence par simple coup de téléphone, avant de retirer votre Billet
physiquement sur une Borne Libre Service. Un Billet Electronique est soumis aux règles d’aprèsvente
générales.
Les Bornes d’Echange Minute (BEM) TGV, Téoz ou mixte
Situées à proximité des quais, elles vous permettent d’échanger jusqu’au dernier moment
et en 20 secondes votre réservation du jour pour le prochain train au départ sur la même
relation, pour le même tarif et avec les mêmes critères de confort.
Gares équipées de BEM TGV(1) :Aéroport CDG2-TGV,Aix-TGV,Angers, Arras,Avignon-TGV,
Dijon, Grenoble, Le Mans, Lille-Europe, Lille-Flandres, Lyon-Part-Dieu, Lyon-Perrache,
Nantes, Paris - Gare-de-Lyon, Paris-Montparnasse, Paris-Nord, Poitiers, Rennes, St-Pierredes-
Corps,Valence-TGV.
Gares équipées de BEM Téoz(2) : Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges, Nevers, Paris-Austerlitz.
Gares équipées de BEM mixte(3) : Bordeaux, Marseille, Montpellier, Nîmes, Paris - Gare-de-Lyon,
Toulouse, Nancy, Paris-Est, Strasbourg.
(1)BEM TGV : n’échange que les billets TGV. (2)BEM Téoz : n’échange que les billets Téoz. (3) BEM mixte : échange les billets TGV et Téoz.
Le guide du voyageur
|||
Adele and Toutou, you are lifesavers!! I can%26#39;t thank you enough for your excellent and well-reasoned advice! I did have some concern about attempting the trek to GdL, and the chaos and confusion that comes from such a large and busy train station (especially in what I expect will be a fragile and jet-lagged condition). Also, I had somehow missed seeing that the 14:04 direct train still had the Prem tickets available. I am usually willing to spend extra money to save time while on vacation, but I will be delighted to spend 47 euros less per person and lose only about 1/2 hour on the arrival in Avignon. The 14:04 allows a greater safety net for a delayed flight (weather in Houston, or some darn thing). You two are taking such excellent care of us, where should we go for our coffee and snack?
;-) Thanks again for taking the time to help a stranger!
|||
Coffee and snack..
Where, in CDG, the train station or in Avignon?
|||
You%26#39;re welcome, jb! By coffee and snack I meant at CDG%26#39;s train station, waiting for your train. Granted, it%26#39;s airport / station stuff, but still I think it%26#39;s better than what you would get in an equivalent US location!
And, BTW, re-reading my post, I saw I wrote %26quot;T3%26quot; when I actually meant %26quot;T1%26quot;. But, since you are talking about a Houston connection, I am assuming you are flying CO, or an AF code share, which means landing at T2... normally.
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 7:19 pm, September 03, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment