What are the best discount cards for over-55s in France?

Did you know there are a host of discount cards for older people in France?

From lower-cost travel to discounted show tickets, they are an easy way of making your money stretch further.

Often the cards can be used online as well as in person, meaning you can take advantage of the discounts from the comfort of your own home.

Below, we take a look at some of the best cards available to older people in France.

The all-in-one Réduc-Seniors

This is perhaps the best-known – and most useful – card as it covers a huge range of discounts across a number of activities.

Available to those 55 and older, the card costs €49 a year. It offers a comprehensive set of discounts, allowing you to easily make your money back.

Accommodation advantages from the card include cheaper fees for camping sites, gites and hotels.

Most discounts are around 10% - 15% but can reach up to 40% off with certain hotel chains.

There are also discounts of up to 52% to major attraction parks such as Disneyland, ZooParc de Beauval, Parc Astérix and la Cité de l’Espace.

Lower-cost tickets for spectacles are also available, with around 50,000 shows providing discounts to those with a Réduc-Seniors card.

The card even offers discounts on travel, including with cruise companies and holiday sites such as CentreParcs, MSC Croisières and Belambra.

Smaller, intermittent discounts at independent shops and restaurants are also available with the card.

Finally, the card offers practical discounts for healthcare (including contact lenses, hearing aids, thalassotherapy spas, and even two hours of free home care), insurance and energy companies. It can even increase the primes available for energy renovation work in your home.

You can order the card online here using the official website.

Read also: French towns offer free app to boost social links for over-55s

Travel discount cards

The SNCF Carte Avantage Senior offers discounts of between 25% and 50% on TGV, TER, and Intercités rail journeys in France.

The card is available to those over the age of 60.

It also provides discounts for children travelling with you and can cap the maximum cost you will pay for tickets on TGV trips, depending on the length of the journey.

You can order the ticket on the SNCF website – usually the ticket costs €60, but is on sale until August 12 for €49.

AirFrance’s Carte Senior – for those aged 65 or over – gives discounts on domestic flights of up to 30%. It also allows you to change your ticket for €10, or cancel your trip and ask for a refund for €20.

You can order the card here, which at the time of writing, costs €49 for one year.

The Club Senior Carte AVIS offers discounts of up to 30% on car hire domestically and up to 20% outside France.

Every time you use the card you also unlock an extra upgrade, and it allows you to skip queues at the company’s car agencies.

The card costs €65 and lasts for two years, after which it can be renewed for €45. You can look on their website here or call 0820 333 444 (calls cost €0.12 per minute) for more information.

Read also: Why are so many people in France living to 100 now?

Local discount and leisure cards

In larger cities (Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice) discount cards for public transport networks are available.

They may also be available in smaller cities, or covering larger areas housing a number of towns within a department or region.

Depending on the city, it could apply to those over 60 or over 65, and either provide local travel at a discounted cost or free.

You can find out more information at the city’s mairie, or by searching online for your specific city/area to see if they have a senior card.

These ‘senior city cards’ may also offer discounts for local shops and facilities – alternatively, many places like swimming pools will offer free discount cards to seniors.

Last but not least, you can always ask if there is a senior discount wherever you are, such as in the cinema.

A number of places provide discounts for over 60's or over 65's, available by simply showing your carte d’identité.

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