The SNCF ticket office for the Christmas holidays is opening soon, don’t miss out!
Each year, the SCNF puts its train tickets for the Christmas period on sale at least three months in advance and once again expects strong purchasing demand, since this is a period when many Many French people take advantage of school holidays to return to their families, or spend vacations in ski resorts. To travel at the best price, it’s better to be warned: first come, first served… How not to miss the opening of sales?
It is therefore this Wednesday, October 2, 2024 in the morning that you will need to reserve your train tickets for the end-of-year celebrations. To take the train at the best price for the Christmas period, you will have to get up early: the SNCF will open its ticket office at 6 a.m. for trips between December 15, 2024 and January 8, 2025 on TGV Inoui and Intercités, and between December 15, 2024 and July 4, 2025 on OUIGO Grande Vitesse. SNCF specifies that certain international destinations (Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) are already open for a period extending until March 30, 2025.
You will have understood, you will have to get up early this Wednesday becauseThe trains will fill up quickly. The later you book, and even during the day, the more you will risk to pay dearly for your Christmas ticket. Indeed, d‘one hour to the next, the price for the same place rises rapidly. On the principle of “dynamic pricing”as explained by the SNCF in his short educational videos on social networks, “high-speed train prices can change at high speed”… In other words, it is the law of supply and demand.
By booking 11 weeks in advance, as BFM TV points out, you save up to 38%. For example, you will save 22 euros on a journey between Paris and Metz compared to 9.5 euros on the same journey booked a week later. On a Paris-Lyon, you will save 14 euros on average on a reservation 11 weeks in advance, compared to 8.5 euros on the same reservation 10 weeks in advance.
So don’t wait to go to the SNCF Connect sites and applications, in stations, shops and in SNCF approved agencies. As a reminder, every second, 40 tickets are sold on the first day reservations are open for Christmas… Word to the wise, remember to set your alarm!