SNCF's Carte Avantage discounts

In an over commercialised, consumer world, discounts can often seem like a time-consuming red herring. Too many companies want to get your attention, your data, your buy-in by promising that you, the canny consumer, have snagged a bargain. 

Far too often, discounts are not what they seem. There are too many strings attached, buried in small print, and you can end up getting caught out and wasting time. This is as true in travel as much as any industry. While reductions are available, they’re often limited and time-dependent, forcing you to travel in inconvenient weeks if you want to save a few quid.

You can spend so much time searching for reduced rail or plane fares that it feels like you'd have better spent the time working or just doing something else.

However, every now and then there are some genuinely worthwhile offers. in this case it's SNCF’s Carte Avantage. This railcard has a flat discount rate for trains in France that provide access to some of the best ski resorts in the world.

The railcard is available to all passengers regardless of nationality which almost immediately pays for itself.

How Carte Advantage discounts work

For €49, the Carte Avantage gives you a 30% discount on all TGV and Intercité fares in France and a 25–50% discount on some TER trains (route-dependent). The 30% discount also applies to certain international routes, the most useful for skiers being the TGV-Lyria between Paris and Switzerland and the Paris-Milan TGV via Lyon.

Note that if your outbound and inbound journeys fall within the same working week (Monday to Friday), the discount won’t apply (unless you’re accompanied by a child under 12). The railcard is designed for you to spend a weekend away. So, for one-week trips to the Alps, you need not worry.

These requirements don’t apply to youths (aged 12–27) with the Carte Avantage Jeune or travellers aged 60+ with the Carte Avantage Senior (both €49), so young and elderly skiers can access discounted travel anytime during the week.

A fantastic bonus of the Carte Avantage is that one accompanying adult can share your discount (i.e., one card for two people), and up to three accompanying children under 12 will get 60% off TGV and Intercité fares. Unfortunately, this two-for-one deal doesn’t apply to the Carte Avantage Jeune. SNCF has obviously designed the scheme with families with young children in mind, for whom it’s a real no-brainer. Teenagers will need to buy an extra Carte Avantage Jeune each. 

However, reminding us of the benefits of a nationalised rail network, the Carte Avantage places a cap on long-distance train fares at €89—meaning that you can book close to your travel date without worrying about price hikes. In case of last-minute changes, you can cancel or amend your booking up to seven days in advance.

You can buy the Carte Avantage online or via the SNCF-Connect app. Like UK railcards, it’s no longer a physical card but a digital QR code—although if you’re going phone-free, you can print off the code at home. As the Carte Avantage doesn’t require a photo, you’ll need some kind of named ID with you (e.g. your passport) when using it on-board. 

Make sure to buy your Carte Avantage before booking your train tickets, as you’ll need the card number to apply your discount at checkout. 

Unfortunately, the Carte Avantage does not currently cover Eurostar journeys, including Eurostar Snow. 

Using the Carte Advantage when booking journeys

You can book journeys online on the SNCF Connect and Trainline websites and use your Carte Advantage to get a discount.

Some rail-booking agents, such as The Travel Bureau and Trainseurope, can also apply Carte Advantage discounts when they book travel for you. Just let them know your Carte Advantage card number.

The rail-booking website Rail Europe still doesn't allow a Carte Advantage discount, but the company say they hope to add one in the future.

What skiers have told us about the Carte Advantage

Jen Murphy: 

"Carte Avantage Adulte - €49. Gets you 30% off train fares for yourself and an accompanying adult, 60% off for 3 kids under 12. Lasts 12 months.
Carte Avantage Jeune - €49. 30% off for yourself,  60% off for 3 kids under 12. Lasts 12 months.

"Both cards have a deal that any journey over 2.5 hours (I think) is capped at €89 each way.  Also you can change or cancel for free up to 7 days in advance of the journey.  Since covid times we have become very antsy about anything that can’t be cancelled.

"You just buy it on the SNCF website—but you have to do it separately to the tickets as you need the numbers of the cards to be validated. No photo or anything like a British rail card, it is just a PDF with a QR code that is sent by email. It takes under 2 mins to purchase."

Darren Ward:

"From Lille to Bourg (21st Dec, 29th Dec) on the cheapest tickets without discount was £497.48 (with booking fee on Trainline) with the Carte Advantage £310.81 (inc booking fee).

"The only place I found where you can get the card is here https://www.thetrainline.com/fr/compagnies-ferroviaires/sncf/cartes-abonnements-de-train/carte-avantage-adulte-sncf. If you use SNCF they require a French address. We used it last year with no problem and you only need one card to cover two travellers. For £44.53 for the year it pays for itself immediately. No issue with renewing it so well worth promoting it."

Where to buy the Carte Advantage

You can buy the Carte Advantage directly from SNCF or from Trainline.

Buy Carte Advantage from SNCF Connect

Buy Carte Advantage from Trainline

You can find out more about booking train travel to the Alps generally in our guide to booking train travel.