Three of us will travel from CDG to Bordeaux on a TGV train (3 tx = $120 Euro one way) and then back to Paris Montparnasse a week later (Prem 75 Euro one way for all three). One of us is 61 but having a problem translating the Senior Carte info on SNCF website. The senior will travel south to Marseille and then hopscotch down to Barcelona (bus? train?) -- Trying to determine if Senior Carte @ 50 Euros would be practical. It it downloadable like the train tickets? Can it be used on buses? Any advice? Thanking you all in advance.
Sincerely,

Al O.

The Senior Card provides a "guaranteed" reduction of 25% and maybe up to 50%. Does not work on journeys with in Ile-de-Paris which is the immediate Paris area. It does not work on rail rides going out of the country so the Barcelona trip wouldn't qualify.

The full 50% reduction is determined by the seats available. If you're on a popular route at a popular time you'll probably get the 25% discount.

You spend 50euros for the card. To break even best case scenario you'll have to save 50% and spend 100euros on train tickets. (100euros x 50% = 50euros)

To break even worse case scenario you'll save 25% on 200euros worth of train tickets. (200euros x 25% = 50euros)

I'd figure I'm only getting the 25% reduction. Then determine if I'll spend 200euros on train tickets that are only within France the country, but not within the Paris area. For your case it sounds like you wouldn't be getting your money's worth out of the card.

The other thing to consider is the card is valid for a year. Will you be going back a couple of more times in the next 12 months and using more rail travel?

As a follow on to the above; I believe the card WOULD work as far as the Spanish/French border however and then a regular point-to-point from Cerbere (if going by rail) to Barcelona would take over...that ticket could be bought in France.

indytravel has kindly explained most of the details of the Carte Senior. Note, however, that the 25% reduction IS valid for trips from France to other RailPlus member countries, including Spain -- per the pop-up window on www.voyages-sncf.com . You can't print the Carte Senior online (nor tickets bought with it, nor full-fare tickets, just Prem's and other non-changeable discount tickets). This isn't important, because you can book tickets at the Carte Senior rate anytime and buy the card when you arrive in France.

I strongly doubt that the Carte Senior will save money on the indicated itinerary, but the only way to be sure is to price non-Prem's point-to-point tickets for the senior passenger. During the pricing process, you will indicate that the passenger is a senior, and that he/she has a Carte Senior.

As a benchmark, the full adult fare for the Marseille - Barcelona night train, with a 2nd Class couchette berth, is 62.15€.

As you know, Prem's fares are very generous, if you don't mind the loss of flexibility. You could have the senior passenger do Bordeaux - Marseille for 25€ with a Prem's ticket.

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California, USA

To reply to the question about buses, in some parts of France, local buses give a discount for seniors, but this is not dependent on having an SNCF card. I've used local buses in Brittany (including St-Malo to Mont St Michel) with my mother and she's had a discount simply by showing her passport, but in other areas (Caen to Honfleur, for example), there was no discount for seniors. There's no harm in asking when buying bus tickets.