SNCF Senior Carte Avantage
 

Planning a trip in Sept with several rail segments in France. The Carte Avantage seems like a great deal; however, I can't complete the purchase online. It kicks me out and doesn't seem to allow a US address. Are these cards only available for French citizens? And, if not, do I have to get one for myself and one for my husband? Sorry, couldn't find answers online.

I bought one each for myself and husband with a Canadian address and credit card, using the SNCF-connect web site. TBH the math just barely worked; your calculations may vary.
Trying to remember, but the SNCF site may have required 2 factor authentication for the credit card. Is your card set up for that?

There is some sort of bug in the system because I have been unable to renew my senior card online or even in a ticket machine for the last 3 years. The system tells me that my birthdate is incorrect. Luckily I live near Gare du Nord, so I just go there to renew it.

Thank you both. I tried again and was able to purchase senior cards for both of us in a separate transaction. Then I went to book tickets. But now the system won't let me add the card # to my profile. It says it is invalid. I'm entering the last 9 digits from the number. Maybe I just need to wait a bit for it to be recognized.

The last nine digits are indeed what you should enter. Fingers crossed that they get recognized soon.

For those interested in a Carte Advantage, recommend you check out The Man in Seat 61’s website. Informative discussion of the ins and outs, pluses and minuses.

It is such a vast website it might help to provide the direct link:

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-...-avantage-sncf

Thank you all, I think I am now able to apply both senior passes to my purchases.
I'm not sure how old the information in the Seat 61 site is (It is helpful though!) but now there is also a TGV inOui train type and this is the premium service over Grande Vitesse.

Thanks for circling back. As we plan more use of trains in future trips, I will be very interested in your report at the end of your travels.

TGV is just the generic name that covers Inoui, Ouigo, Eurostar, and Lyria for French-built models, ICE for the German one, AVE for the Spanish one and Frecciarossa for the Italian one.

Darn! I regret to say that I'm still having trouble on the SNCF site. I booked one pair of tickets with our Senior cards. The card is associated with my profile. However, I am not trying to book a second trip and it says that my card # is not valid. It even autofilled from our profile! So frustrating!

Have you tried clearing your 'cookies' ? Try using a different browser.

Most people looking at the Carte Avantage just see the 30% discount on French domestic trains, but there are a couple of less obvious benefits worth knowing about.
First, the discount isn’t limited to France. The card also works on certain international routes:
- Italy (Turin, Milan)
- Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich with TGV Lyria)
- Germany (with Deutsche Bahn connections)

Second, the Carte Avantage Adulte lets one adult companion travel with you at 30% off — this does not apply to the Senior card.