Carte avantage
The card
I have a SNCF discount card which costs 49€ per year which gives reductions on certain trains within France. Each year for Black Friday, they have a promo where you can get 50% off the card so if you’re thinking of getting a card around then it might be worth waiting.
For me, the main advantage is the 30% off train tickets, but there are other advantages such as a reduction on train tickets for kids and 15% off SNCF services. There are some exceptions where the 30% discount doesn’t apply like when there’s a prix cassés which is a discounted ticket offered by certain regions on certain trains.
You can buy the card online, and select what date you want it to start on. There is a difference between the youth and adult cards. The youth gives you 30% off regardless of the day, but the adult pass gives you 30% off on weekends or when you have a return trip that contains at least one overnight.
Is it worth it?
I’ve had the carte avantage for a few years now, but never tracked how much money I’ve saved with it (but I’ve definitely saved money each year). This year, I want to see how much money it saves me.
My current carte avantage is valid from the 6th June 2024 for one year.
Journeys by train
I love love love travelling by train, it’s one of my favourite ways to travel. At times it can be stressful, like when there’s a delay or a cancelled train but overall I find it to be a really enjoyable experience.
I’m going to briefly mention the trains I’ve taken and the amount saved on each journey
Paris to Saint Quentin
I took the TER from Paris to Saint Quentin on the 6th June. I booked the train on the 28th May, so a little over a week before travelling - I had looked a few times and the price didn’t seem to change.
I paid 20,80€ for this 1h37 train instead of the full price 27,70€.
total saved: 6,90€
After Saint Quentin, I took the train to Lille but I didn’t save any money on this train because it was a prix cassés ticket. I then took the eurostar to Brussels and then took the eurostar to Paris a week later - so I didn’t get an discount on these tickets with my carte advantage. I wrote a blog post about my time in Belgium here.