thatās why the card I have lasts till next April
but historically, there have been years when it wasnāt till May that I saw the next 50% off promo for the SNCF annual cards.
Having said that, for a specific set of trips in France over a 1-month period, there is a corker of an offer ongoing currently. 80 euros or so for unlimited travel in France for a month. Been around for a little while, but I think they are watching carefully as to whether they will continue, they donāt promote it widely, canāt remember but I think itās over 60ās only, on the website
Nahā¦ Iāve managed to get over that juvenile madness (finally)ā¦ Iām happy to be ā35ā for everā¦
It was a very happy/good time in my lifeā¦ so Iāve decided to stick with itā¦
Iām not a taker at only 33% off as I have one valid to April. There are 2 other deals I could contemplate that will still be available then for the few trips Iād currently possibly do after that. At the previous 50% off Iād have bought one just on spec even if potentially not using it (did the past 2 years). But not at -33%.
Off to Avignon by train tomorrow, using our brand new Senior rail cards . Saved quite a bit just on that journey, and will save morethan I paid after then next journey in February. I got the 50% off offer, so only ā¬49 for both cards.
still not interested in starting even in June. As mentioned I already have an SNCF card valid till April and the slight possibility of 2 trips between mid Apri and June I can already use 2 other deals for without needing a railcard. July and August I avoid trains.
So if you already know youāre unlikely to use it in its 1st 4 months thatās the saving gone. ie 33% discount equates to 4 months of the card value.
SNCF could get me to take a punt (and support them as I have continued to do the past 2 years even though I knew I would be unlikely to use it and didnāt) at 50% off but not at 33%.
Iāl buy it, if necessary at full price, on the first trip I need it on - and happy now to leave a gap between cards. 16 euros can easily be saved for my next 2 potential trips by other means after my current card runs out.
It worked out just right for us, getting the 50% off, as weād already planned to do 3 train journeys of more than 3 hours between December and May, so it was a no brainer. We donāt just not do train journeys in July/August, we donāt go anywhere other than locally.
I am married to a retired UK railway employee . We have international rail travel discount cards. To book tickets using our discount, we have to go in person to the ticket offices and book the tickets. But this past week when I went to SNCFās ticket office in Limoges to book a trip and use the rail travel discount card, I was told that the system couldnāt recognize the discount card.
I donāt mean to alarm anyoneā¦ I donāt mean an SNCF discount card. Itās one from the UK railway system. The confusing bit, to me, is that I used it successfully to travel in Spain last December 2023, and after crossing over the border from Spain into France the SNCF ticket office in Hendaye France was able to apply the discount.
At SNCF Limoges this past week, I was told that the booking system for the ticket offices, is in transition. I was told that I could go to the SNCF app and book tickets and the app would recognize the rail travel discount card. So when I got home, I went into the SNCF app. But, I canāt find anywhere to enter the card number.
Anyway. The young man at the SNCF ticket counter at Limoges told me the system transition/upgrade whatever, would be completed in an unspecified amount of time, but maybe it would be completed in a monthā¦ He didnāt seem to know anything, he kept having to check with his colleagues and I didnāt think to press him for an explanation of where on the app I should go to enter the discount code.
Are there by chance, any UK retired railway international discount card holders on SF? Perhaps you could tell me your experience. It seems odd that Spain was so easy, and yet in France it is so difficult to now get the discountā¦ I was surprised when the fellow at the ticket counter told me to go to the app. I think that I was getting the runaround, donāt you?
Also, I donāt quite understand why I canāt book an overnight train on SNCFā¦ Has anyone been successful booking one online from Paris to Barcelona?
thatās why the card I have lasts till next April 
. Saved quite a bit just on that journey, and will save morethan I paid after then next journey in February. I got the 50% off offer, so only ā¬49 for both cards.