train travel questions

I just booked my train travel for my family of five from Paris to Frankfurt. I am not sure what I need to bring other than my credit card and email confirmation to pick up the tickets. The email refers to: %26quot;To collect your ticket, please bring the file reference %26quot;,%26quot; of the associated name below, and the bank card used for online payment. %26quot; What is the file reference? What does that mean?

Anyone?

Thanks

Gibby

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The email conirmation and the same credit card will suffice.

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Assuming you booked through the SNCF website;

The file reference is the 6 charactor %26quot;Référence%26quot; usually consisting of uppercase text, eg; %26quot;ABCDEF%26quot;. It appears in the confirmation email after booking online.

Double-check your confirmation. In some cases, you only have a few days to pick up your tickets after online booking depending on the type of fare you chose. We have paid dearly for not reading the fine print. Many train reservations made through the SNCF in France require picking up tickets within a few days of the internet booking.

If you don%26#39;t have any extraordinary restriction on your fare, you only need to print a copy of the confirmation email you received from the SNCF and have your tickets issued at the train station prior to departure.

The SNCF requires that you use the same credit card that you used to book the journey to pick up your tickets.

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OK now you have me nervous. We are not travelling until the 24th of August! There is nothing in the fine print about picking them up soon. It just says%26quot;you are invited pick up this item in a SNCF botique or train station%26quot; The translation is not great. I will bring the email and the credit card.

How early should we arrive at the station?

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It sounds like you%26#39;re OK. Bring the original credit card used to make the booking and your passport to pick up the ticket.

If all is in order, you need to arrive, validate your ticket, and board before, but right up till just before the train doors close and the train pulls away. In reality, unless you stop by a boutique or station prior to departure to have your tickets printed, you need to build-in some time (up to an hour) to stand in line at the ticket window at the station.

Once you have the tickets in hand, you will need to %26quot;validate%26quot; them by inserting them into one of the yellow machines at the head of the train platforms before boarding the train. The machine will stamp a time and date on the ticket.

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Thank you so much for the information. I didn%26#39;t know about the validating part. I appreciate your help.

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