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Railcards: How to save money travelling by train in France

Travelling by train is one of the best ways to see France, as well as being better for the planet than flying or driving. However, train tickets don't always come cheap - here are the railcards and offers that can cut the cost.

Published: 7 October 2022 09:11 CEST
Updated: 19 October 2023 10:51 CEST
Railcards: How to save money travelling by train in France
(Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Railcards are the most common way to cut the cost of a ticket. In some cases, the card can even pay for itself in one journey. France’s rail operator SNCF has a range of cards available for everyone from impoverished students to regular business travellers with an expenses account to burn.

But if you’re not a regular traveller there are also a range of offers plus cheaper services to opt for.

READ ALSO Millions of train tickets go on sale in France for Christmas holidays

Liberté card

This one’s really for business travellers, who use the TGV or Ouigo and Intercité trains regularly. And it comes with a price to match – €399 for a year (€379 for anyone lucky enough to work for a company that is part of SNCF’s Contrat Pro plan). 

Holders can enjoy fixed, destination-based fares for business travel in France and beyond, with a card that guarantees cardholders 60 percent off SNCF’s Business Première fares when travelling standard class, and 45 percent off Business Première fares when travelling 1st class. 

Plus, there’s 30 percent off for you and an accompanying adult plus 60 percent off for accompanying children with SNCF’S Avantage fare.

Max Senior

Regular rail travellers aged 60 and over, who use TGV, InOui or Intercite trains at least twice a month can take advantage of this €79-per-month railcard that covers the cost of all standard-class travel outside peak hours from Monday to Friday.

The card is valid for all routes in France and to Luxembourg and Freiburg im Breisgau. You can use the card to book tickets from 30 days before departure right up to the last minute.

READ ALSO Yes, train travel from France across Europe is far better than flying – even with kids

Avantage Senior

Those aged 60 and over who travel by rail less regularly can buy a €49 Avantage Senior card that offers 30 percent discounts on first and standard-class travel on TGV INOUI, Intercités or TER trains for a year.

It also offers a 60 percent discount on tickets for up to three accompanying children aged between 4 and 11.

Standard class fares are capped for all destinations in France, no matter when they are booked – at €39 for a journey of less than 90 minutes, €59 for a journey of between 90 minutes and three hours, and €79 for journeys over three hours.

Max Jeune

A similar offer to the Max Senior deal is available for regular rail users aged between 16 and 27 who use TGV, InOui or Intercite trains at least twice a month. This key difference is that this €79-per-month railcard covers the cost of all standard-class travel outside peak hours seven days a week.

The card is valid for all routes in France and to Luxembourg and Freiburg im Breisgau. You can use the card to book tickets from 30 days before departure right up to the last minute.

READ ALSO UPDATED: The best websites for cross-Europe train travel

Avantage Jeune

Those aged 12 to 27 who travel by rail less regularly can buy a €49 Avantage Jeune card that offers 30 percent discounts on first and standard-class travel on TGV INOUI, Intercités or TER trains for a year.

Standard class fares are capped for all destinations in France, no matter when they are booked – at €39 for a journey of less than 90 minutes, €59 for a journey of between 90 minutes and three hours, and €79 for journeys over three hours.

Max Actif and Max Actif+

The Mon Forfait Annuel Télétravail pass is basically a season ticket, but for people who don’t travel every day. It’s ideal for part-time or remote workers, but can be used by anyone who has semi-regular train trips. 

Anyone who travels between two and three times a week on the same route can buy a Max Actif pass and travel 250 or times on the same line all year, weekdays only. The Max Actif + is basically the same, but for people who travel four to five times a week, and gives 450 journeys with no weekday limit.

Prices vary depending on the route you travel – full details are here

Weekly or monthly rail cards

Speaking of season tickets, you can also buy first or standard class rail cards that last a month or a week that allow unlimited daily travel, and tickets for €1.50 or less (via SNCF Connect or Trainline) for single or national routes.

Avantage Adult

For anyone aged between 27 and 59, a €49 Avantage Adulte card offers 30 percent discounts on first and standard-class travel on TGV INOUI, Intercités or TER trains for a year. It does not apply to the budget TGC Ouigo routes. You can apply to your discount to another adult travelling with you as well, so if you’re a couple you only need to buy one railcard and both can benefit from the discount.

It also offers a 60 percent discount on tickets for up to three accompanying children aged between 4 and 11.

Standard class fares are capped for all destinations in France, no matter when they are booked – at €39 for a journey of less than 90 minutes, €59 for a journey of between 90 minutes and three hours, and €79 for journeys over three hours.

For more information on railcards available in France, click here

READ ALSO Tourists and locals: Paris Metro tickets, passes and apps explained

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Rail sabotage: What to expect if you’re travelling in France this weekend

France's rail network was on Friday hit with an apparently coordinated series of arson attacks with rail bosses saying disruption will continue over the weekend. Here's a look at the latest, plus updates on road and air travel.

Published: 26 July 2024 16:08 CEST
Rail sabotage: What to expect if you’re travelling in France this weekend

Friday saw enormous disruption on the railways after a series of arson attacks on France’s key high-speed rail lines – find the latest here.

SNCF said that the travel plans of at least 800,000 passengers have been disrupted on Friday alone, while the transport minister announced that up to 50 percent of services on affected lines would have to be cancelled.

A quarter of Eurostar services between Paris and London were cancelled on Friday.

And the disruption is set to continue over the weekend – the arson attacks involved setting fire to “conduits carrying multiple (fibre-optic) cables” that relay “safety information for drivers” or control the motors for points that change rails.

SNCF’s CEO said: “There’s a huge number of bundled cables. We have to repair them one by one, it’s a manual operation” requiring “hundreds of workers”.

SNCF says services are expected to return to normal by Monday on most lines, but disruption will continue over the weekend.

Anyone planning to travel should check the latest on the SNCF information site here, or download the SNCF Connect app.

On Friday two in three trains were being cancelled on certain lines, and cancellations are likely to continue over the weekend. Services could also be rescheduled or delayed.

The disruption is mostly affecting the high-speed TGV routes in and out of Paris. Local lines are not directly affected but may suffer knock-on disruption.

West and south-west France – this is the most severely affected with no trains out of Gare Montparnasse at all on Friday morning.

Services restarted in the afternoon but only with around a third of the normal trains. Cancellations will continue but at least some services will run on this route over the weekend – although passengers who can postpone their journey are advised to do so. Those services that do run are expected to be very busy.

This affects services to the south-west including Bordeaux and Toulouse, and also the west including Brittany and Normandy lines.

East – trains between Paris and Lille and Paris and Arras are severely disrupted, including the Eurostar which uses the Paris-Lille high-speed tracks.

There are fewer cancellations on this line as trains are being diverted onto the slower local lines, although this is extending journey times by around two hours. On Friday a quarter of Eurostar services between London and Paris were cancelled.

South-east – the TGV Sud-Est axis, running between Paris and Lyon and onwards to Switzerland and Italy was not affected by the sabotage as an arson attack in this area was foiled. Services are running largely as normal with some knock-on disruption.

READ ALSO ‘Sabotage’ on French rail network before Olympics: What we know

Paris public transport is not affected by the sabotage although some services in the city centre are closed or diverted due to Olympics security protocols – more details here.

Roads

Sadly, things might not be much better on France’s roads this weekend – and the rail disruption seems certain only to make an already difficult travel weekend even worse. The French ride-share app BlaBlaCar said it had seen an 88 percent increase in bookings on Friday as people scrambled for an alternative to the train.

This weekend is France’s traditional ‘cross-over’ weekend for 2024. The chassé-croisé happens each year during the final weekend in July, is the annual moment when July holidaymakers start to return home while the August holidaymakers head off for their big summer getaways.

France’s traffic watchdog, Bison Futé, predicted that traffic will be heavy on Friday, with extremely difficult traffic conditions on the roads on Saturday, while Sunday will be slightly calmer.

READ ALSO Traffic: What to expect during the 2024 ‘chassé-croisé’ weekend in France 

Airports

The worst of the global IT outage appears to be over, but no one’s even going to attempt to deny that French airports are very busy at this time of year – it’s the world’s most popular tourist destination at the most popular tourist time of the year.

And airports in the Paris region, in particular, are gearing up for an especially busy period, with thousands of Olympic Games fans expected over the next couple of weeks.

From 6.30pm until 12 midnight (CET) on Friday, July 26th, a no-fly zone will be in place within a 150km radius of the French capital for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.

This will mean flights will be interrupted at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG), Orly airports, and Beauvais airports – this should have little effect on travel plans as airlines have adapted their schedules, having been notified of the no-fly security perimeter in 2023.

Flight resume as normal at 00.01am on Saturday and there are no expected disruptions over the weekend.

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