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Can't book TGV Paris to Montpellier or Toulon to Paris

F
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I bought Eurail passes for me and my daughter, but the trains require seat reservations which I am not able to book! (I tried all the hacks suggested on this forum.)

The train TGV 6031 I am hoping for, leaves Gare de Lyon on July XX at 8:43 am and arrives Montpellier St Roch at 12:14.

The human phone agent said that the 8:43 train was totally booked. So, he proposed other trains that did have seats available

 7:12pm arrive 10:42 pm

or 

5:12 pm arrive 8:41 pm.

But I was unable to book those online either😐.

So I could theoretically book those over the phone - but they accept only an AMEX card from Americans- -which I don't have! 

I could buy in-person at the Gare - but, well, there's this problem of the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyway - if you know any way to buy a seat reservation, please let me know.

Un peu ridicule.

 

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Best answer by fsegre 21 June 2022, 00:08

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11 replies

seewulf
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Userlevel 7
Badge +14

I bought Eurail passes for me and my daughter, but the trains require seat reservations which I am not able to book! (I tried all the hacks suggested on this forum.)

The train TGV 6031 I am hoping for, leaves Gare de Lyon on July XX at 8:43 am and arrives Montpellier St Roch at 12:14.

The human phone agent said that the 8:43 train was totally booked. So, he proposed other trains that did have seats available

 7:12pm arrive 10:42 pm

or 

5:12 pm arrive 8:41 pm.

But I was unable to book those online either😐.

So I could theoretically book those over the phone - but they accept only an AMEX card from Americans- -which I don't have! 

I could buy in-person at the Gare - but, well, there's this problem of the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyway - if you know any way to buy a seat reservation, please let me know.

Un peu ridicule.

 

With a PassCoverNumber (Paperpass in case of Mobile pass you have to request for such one)  on the website of B-europe https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#Outbound

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
F
Rank

Thank you. They are not answering the phone number listed on the website. Is there another way to contact them to request this “Pass cover number?”

R
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Domestic TGVs in France can also be booked via NS. No pass cover number needed, no booking fee. Visa and Mastercard are also accepted.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
A
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Userlevel 7
Badge +9

You can also call  b-europe and make the reservation. No need of Pass Cover Number.

The phone call is rather expensive.

https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Contact/Contact-Centre

 

To get your Pass Cover Number, if you still will need it, you need to contact Customer Support through this form and ask for the Pass Cover Number.

https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001/requests/new

Customer Support is currently overloaded with requests so you will probably have to be patient to get help. Please let Customer Support know what date your travel will start so that they can prioritise your request correctly.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
seewulf
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Thank you. They are not answering the phone number listed on the website. Is there another way to contact them to request this “Pass cover number?”

Customer Support if Interrail have no phone number.

You can contact them via Twitter, Facebook or this service form https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001/requests/new

I´ am not working for Eurail or Interrail i just share my knowledge here. Please ask in the Community and not via private message as this is the fastest way to get an answer. I prefer English/German/ Czech for my answers. In case of Reservationquestions please share some details like Route, Date, Trainnumber as otherwise we can just provide general advices or answers
F
Rank

Domestic TGVs in France can also be booked via NS. No pass cover number needed, no booking fee. Visa and Mastercard are also accepted.

They were nice! I am still trying - but now need to upgrade to 1st class eurail to get a seat… At least they take multiple forms of credit. Still unresolved, but trying. Thankyou!!

R
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

They were nice! I am still trying - but now need to upgrade to 1st class eurail to get a seat… At least they take multiple forms of credit. Still unresolved, but trying. Thankyou!!

For domestic TGVs in France, there's a specific pass fare that allows 2nd class pass holders to use 1st class. It's a bit more expensive of course but usually quite OK.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
F
Rank

They were nice! I am still trying - but now need to upgrade to 1st class eurail to get a seat… At least they take multiple forms of credit. Still unresolved, but trying. Thankyou!!

For domestic TGVs in France, there's a specific pass fare that allows 2nd class pass holders to use 1st class. It's a bit more expensive of course but usually quite OK.

Do you know how to ask for that specific pass fare? what is the name?

R
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

For domestic TGVs in France, there's a specific pass fare that allows 2nd class pass holders to use 1st class. It's a bit more expensive of course but usually quite OK.

Do you know how to ask for that specific pass fare? what is the name?

Belgian railways call it "Pass Eurail Upgrade”.

Travel Conditions: “Passholder fare only valid if used in conjunction with a 2nd class Eurail Pass covering France and who wants to travel in 1st class. The journey travel date must be within the validity period of the pass. Fare with limited availability.”

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
F
Rank

Domestic TGVs in France can also be booked via NS. No pass cover number needed, no booking fee. Visa and Mastercard are also accepted.

They were nice! I am still trying - but now need to upgrade to 1st class eurail to get a seat… At least they take multiple forms of credit. Still unresolved, but trying. Thankyou!!

Thanks @rvdborgt  for helping me to find the best solution. You are a hero for directing me to NS  - it really worked ! A kind, intelligent, skilled customer service professional managed to book my seats and talk me through what was happening, How ridiculous that the Dutch are fixing the French rail challenges! The NS phone line is open 24/7 and the agent had perfect English and understood my challenges 100% He explained that there are limited seats for Eurail pass holders. Also, the system won’t book a seat for a long distance voyage, like Paris to Montpellier, if any single segment does not have a seat available. So he went at it segment by segment to see where the block was. I paid a service fee -but it was well worth it. In the end, I kept my second class eurail pass and didn’t get exactly the train I wanted, but I was able to reserve a seat, pay with a VISA (instead of SNCF workaround which was “borrow your friend’s AMEX🙄) and go to and from the places I want. I also understood that three weeks before travel, especially during the French school holidays is considered “late.” If I had known eurail SEAT booking would be so complex with Eurail, I would have opted for buying straight tickets - no pass. HUGE GRATITUDE to this c community when Eurail, SNCF, Rail Europe did not have a system to help me.  

R
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +9

You are a hero for directing me to NS  - it really worked ! A kind, intelligent, skilled customer service professional managed to book my seats and talk me through what was happening, How ridiculous that the Dutch are fixing the French rail challenges! The NS phone line is open 24/7 and the agent had perfect English and understood my challenges 100% He explained that there are limited seats for Eurail pass holders. Also, the system won’t book a seat for a long distance voyage, like Paris to Montpellier, if any single segment does not have a seat available. So he went at it segment by segment to see where the block was.

Wow, you really had an experienced member of staff. 

I paid a service fee -but it was well worth it.

Although they shouldn't have charged, since they don't do that anymore for tickets and reservations that cannot be bought via the NS website.

In the end, I kept my second class eurail pass and didn’t get exactly the train I wanted, but I was able to reserve a seat, pay with a VISA (instead of SNCF workaround which was “borrow your friend’s AMEX🙄) and go to and from the places I want. I also understood that three weeks before travel, especially during the French school holidays is considered “late.”

French trains can indeed become fully booked rather fast around holidays. I've seen that multiple times. The long Ascension day weekend is notorious for that. Even 2 months in advance it was already beginning to get difficult to find seats at all.

If I had known eurail SEAT booking would be so complex with Eurail, I would have opted for buying straight tickets - no pass. HUGE GRATITUDE to this c community when Eurail, SNCF, Rail Europe did not have a system to help me.  

It's not Eurail, it's the individual railway companies (in this case SNCF "we decide what you have to want”) that make it difficult - both and for passengers and for Eurail (who are not particularly happy with some of the railway companies either but probably won't admit that publicly...).

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.

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