SNCF ticket reimbursement: how to be reimbursed if the train is canceled with the strike?

Canceled train tickets refunded at 200%? This is the shock announcement from the SNCF on the eve of a strike that will cheerfully disrupt the Christmas of rail travelers. But what are the terms and conditions?

[Mis à jour le 21 décembre 2022 à 22h45] The Christmas weekend will not be easy for rail users. A call for a strike by controllers, which runs from Friday December 23 to Monday December 26, 2022 in the morning, will clearly disrupt the festivities. While many French people have already expressed their anger, the SNCF has tried to calm the tensions as best as possible. “I want to apologize for the company. It’s unacceptable. The French need to breathe”, reacted Wednesday, December 21 in the morning, on the airwaves of franceinfo, Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, before proceeding to a strong announcement: “I have decided on exceptional reimbursement measures. We will reimburse 200%. It’s Christmas, this strike is unacceptable. This gesture, we had to.”

On Wednesday evening, the SNCF delivered some details on Twitter. In its message, the railway company explains that “all travelers who have a train canceled over the period from December 23 to 26 by TGV INOUI, Intercités or Ouigo for a destination in France or Europe will benefit from a free exchange or a full refund, as well as compensation in SNCF Voyageurs vouchers of a value equivalent to twice that of the canceled trip”.

How to obtain compensation from the SNCF?

“This compensation will be accessible in the coming days by completing an online form”, which has not yet been made available. Note that “this compensation cannot be delivered at the station, in the shop or by telephone”. While 200,000 travelers will be impacted by the SNCF strike, out of the 800,000 rail passengers expected this weekend, Christophe Fanichet announced Wednesday morning that this strike will cost “several tens of millions of euros” to the SNCF.

Ticket exchange: what measures have been announced?

A traveler wishing to exchange their ticket for another day may do so free of charge, at no additional cost, even if the ticket is displayed at a higher rate than that initially reserved. “The exchange is absolutely free,” explained Christophe Fanichet. Users “can take a train to the same destination, any other day, without any fare increase”. The SNCF advises to carry out this exchange on the Oui Sncf website and not in the station where the counters should be stormed in the next few hours.

But to exchange your ticket, you still have to find a train that is not full for the Christmas weekend, which is very complicated for many destinations, as noted this Wednesday morning by the editorial staff of Linternaute. com. Find all the forecasts of the SNCF on our article.