TGV booking deadline?

[philjo]

When do bookings close for TGV services? I may want to use a TGV service from Perpignan on Tuesday but won't know for certain until Monday evening. Can I still book then & collect the tickets at Perpignan on Tuesday, or could I actually leave it and book at Perpignan station on Tuesday before the train leaves?

Many thanks.

 

[Searle]

I don't know a huge amount about the French rail network, but last summer I was at Gare D'Austerlitz and was offered purchase an advance ticket for the next train (which was leaving in about 10 minutes), although it turns out all of the standard class seats had gone, so I wasn't able to buy a ticket for that train in the end. I don't know if the same procedure is carried out with TGV's however I would hazard a guess that it was.

 

[Picasso]

When do bookings close for TGV services? I may want to use a TGV service from Perpignan on Tuesday but won't know for certain until Monday evening. Can I still book then & collect the tickets at Perpignan on Tuesday, or could I actually leave it and book at Perpignan station on Tuesday before the train leaves?

Many thanks.

Tickets are sold until the train departure time (well, maybe it stops 5 minutes before, since train doors are to be closed 2 minutes before scheduled departure time). The only risk is if the train is fully booked, you will not get any tickets for this train.
So it' a better idea to buy the ticket on Monday evening and to collect it on Tuesday at Perpignan station, either at vending machine or at the ticket office. But you will need the credit card you used to buy the ticket on voyages-sncf.com.

 

[CC 72100]

Tickets are sold until the train departure time (well, maybe it stops 5 minutes before, since train doors are to be closed 2 minutes before scheduled departure time). The only risk is if the train is fully booked, you will not get any tickets for this train.
So it' a better idea to buy the ticket on Monday evening and to collect it on Tuesday at Perpignan station, either at vending machine or at the ticket office. But you will need the credit card you used to buy the ticket on voyages-sncf.com.

I have heard of English IP addresses not seeing the full range of tickets when using the website though, so be careful!

(In a similar way that the english language function on the RATP website means that you get Paris visite overload, which is as a ticket, doesn't offer great value at all on several journeys)

Visiting from a French ip address though is no problem, although I booked the tickets at a ticket office after consulting the price online.

 

[Gordon]

You can use a long distance SNCF ticket vending machine up until a few minutes before departure. Otherwise, use a website and try for collect, or even print at home (will you be at a machine connected to a printer?)

SNCF also now do tickets to your mobile, but I am not familiar with how this works.