Summer is approaching and with it the first questions the French are asking about their holiday destinations. This Wednesday, March 12, the SNCF officially opens its ticket office for one of the busiest periods of the year. Since six o'clock this morning, customers can book their tickets to travel to their vacation spot between June and August. While hostilities have only just officially launched, tickets have already been available for several weeks for certain destinations.
According to the information presented on the SNCF website, it is already possible to purchase transport tickets until August 31 for INOUI and Intercités journeys. SNCF specifies that, in the case of OUIGO and the South-East axis (Paris-Lyon, Paris-Marseille and Paris-Montpellier) reservations are possible until December 13. It is therefore not yet possible to reserve for the end-of-year holidays, the ticket office should open in October, as is the case every year.
So advantageous?
As is often the case, Seats are snapped up because they are, in theory, advertised at a lower price than usual. These are what the SNCF calls Prem’s tickets, these reduced fares that would allow users to explore France provided they book in advance. For a trip between Paris and Rennes, it costs 67 euros without a discount card and during the weekend of July 14th in the early hours of the day. Prices climb to 99 euros for an hour and a half of travel from 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening. Residents of the Île-de-France region wishing to travel to the South will have to pay between 126 euros and 176 euros for a Paris-Nice flight at the same time.
It can be noted that, on most journeys, prices do not seem to be different from those charged throughout the year. On a Paris-Angers journey, it costs 89 euros for a one-way ticket.
Tips
To save some precious money, you sometimes have to know how to spend it. For regular travelers, the Adult Advantage Card or its Youth Advantage version (not just on weekends) allows you to benefit from discounts all year round in France and Europe. It is valid every weekend for one-way or return flights with an overnight stay. It is offered at 49 euros per year and allows you to have prices 30% lower than those offered. Note that for families, the card allows you to benefit from a 60% reduction on tickets for three accompanying children.
Another ally for economical travelers, the alert function. It allows you not to miss out on online updates and to benefit from the most attractive prices possible. On the SNCF Connect application, it is possible to access it via the “Account” tab. Three options are offered, “Reservation” to find out when tickets are online, “Low price” to find out when it is most interesting to buy and finally “Full train” when the journey you want is in high demand, but passengers are freeing up their seats. Please note that setting an option is also very practical when prices seem low, but you want to explore all the options available to you: carpooling, OUIGO or even bus.
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