SNCF Christmas tickets at the best price are coming, here is the date and exact time to connect

The SNCF ticket office for the Christmas holidays opens soon , don't miss the call!

Every year, the SNCF puts its train tickets on sale for the Christmas period at least three months in advance and once again expects strong demand for purchases, since this is a period when many French people take advantage of the school holidays to return to their families, or spend their holidays in ski resorts. To travel at the best price, it is 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 have to book your train tickets for the end-of-year holidays. To take the train at the best price for the Christmas period, you will have to get up early: the SNCF will open at 6 a.m. its ticket office for journeys 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.

As you will have understood, you will have to get up early this Wednesday because the trains will fill up quickly. The later you book, and even during the day, the more you risk paying dearly for your ticket for Christmas. Indeed, from one hour to the next, the price for the same seat increases quickly. On the principle of “dynamic pricing”, as the SNCF explains in its short educational videos on social networks, “the prices of trains at high speed can change at high speed”… In other words, it's the law of supply and demand. 

By booking 11 weeks in advance, as BFM TV reminds us, you can 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. in advance.

So don't wait to go to the SNCF Connect websites and applications, in stations, shops and in SNCF-approved agencies. As a reminder, every second, 40 tickets are sold on the first day of opening of Christmas reservations… A word to the wise, remember to set your alarm!