Save on tickets at French cinemas

The average ticket costs €6.64 as cinemas offer more initiatives than anywhere else, says the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français (FNCF).

Despite competition from Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, 2019 was a record year, with 213.3million tickets sold, 6% up on 2018 and the second best year in the past 50 years.

Twice a year the FNCF organises days when tickets in many cinemas cost just €4.

This month is the Printemps du Cinéma from March 29-31, and summer has the Fête du Cinéma at the end of June.

Last year, three million people took advantage of the offers at printempsducinema.com and feteducinema.com.

Many cinemas offer discount booklets of five, 10 or 15 tickets – check how long they are valid for – and some have deals for over-65s or under-26s.

In some areas, the government’s Pass Culture for all 18-year-olds gives free access to €500-worth of cultural sites – see pass.culture.fr.

Orange customers can also get a code each Tuesday to buy two tickets for the price of one – see cineday.orange.fr.

UGC and Gaumont chains offer unlimited access cards at €20-€22, which help film buffs.

In addition, big towns often have deals for cheap seats linked to bus passes or similar.

Don’t forget, too, to ask the cinema for its own offers.