How can a private person put a SNCF train ticket on hold to combine it with its return journey later?

6/25/2019 9:05:39 AM

Disclaimer: I’m not sure if I correctly understood the question but here it goes: you can put a SNCF train ticket on hold, and buy the return journey later under certain conditions. But I’m not sure if you were expecting to combine the two trips to get a cheaper price for the round trip. You’ll get both early prices but no “round trip discount” (which I’m not even sure exist). Also, this will depend on the type of ticket you’re buying, many times, you won’t be able to do that, as the duration for which you can put a ticket on hold might be very short.

You need to book your ticket in a travel agency. The most popular one is Voyages-SNCF, and another growing one is Trainline (formerly Captain Train).

With Voyages-SNCF

After you’ve selected your journey, you can put it on hold instead of paying by clicking “poser une option” (in the French version). You’ll need to enter an email address to receive an email when the booking is about to expire.

I’m not so fond of Voyages-SNCF, which I often find confusing.

With Trainline

It’s easier if you create an account but you don’t have to. First, select your journey. Then, if you have an account, it’ll automatically put it on hold, if you don’t, you’ll be asked to enter contact information. One of the reasons I like Trainline better is because they always put your ticket on hold first and tell you right away when it’ll expire. Sometimes it’ll expire in 1 hour, sometimes in a few weeks, it depends on the ticket. But at least you know.

It’s also worth noting that if you already paid for your ticket, there are some types of tickets for which you can get a partial or full refund. Both Voyages-SNCF and Trainline should give you that information (here again, I find Trainline clearer).

However options are not available for every ticket

Vous pouvez poser une option pour un tarif échangeable et
remboursable, un train TGV, INTERCITÉS ou THALYS (voyage vers la
Belgique, l’Allemagne ou les Pays-Bas), et jusqu’à 48 heures avant le
départ du train.

You can put a ticket on hold for exchangeable or refundable fares, a
TGV train, INTERCITÉS or THALYS (trip to Belgium, Germany or the
Netherlands), and up to 48 hours before departure.

A non exhaustive list of fares that don’t offer this option:

  • Prem’s
  • iDTGV
  • THALYS NO FLEX
  • LYRIA
  • ELIPSOS
  • …

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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