It’s vacation time. How to lower the cost? There are some devices that you don’t always think of.
Whether it’s to pay for a means of transport, or to afford a nice place to go on vacation this summer, solutions exist to reduce the cost. Fanny Guinochet gives us some tips.
franceinfo: What are the arrangements for the train?
Fanny Guinochet : At the SNCF, certain cards – such as the Avantage card – allow you to have reductions, or capped fares. It exists also a slightly less well-known system: the paid annual leave ticket. It is a very old device, from 1936, which is little used. If you work, you can benefit from it. That allows you to obtain between 25 and 50% reduction on the price of the ticket for a journey of at least 200 kilometres. The whole family can get one of these tickets, provided they live under the same roof.
It’s a bit restrictive because, to take advantage of it, you have to fill out a form provided by the SNCF (at the station or online) and have it signed by your employer, andThen you have to have it validated at the station. Public officials benefit from it, as do job seekers.
Can businesses lend a hand?
Yes. The other system is holiday vouchers distributed by works councils. They are not mandatory, but 5 million working people benefit from them, either in paper version or in a dematerialized way. ATWith it, you can pay for your train tickets, but also for lodgings, campsites, commercial hotels, etc. This year they even make it possible to have reductions on the amount of motorway tolls.
For the young ?
It is little known, for young people aged 18 to 25 who are apprentices or student beneficiaries of a grant, or who just have low incomes, there are specific holiday vouchers: “departure 18-25 years old”. You can find them online, on the platform of the same name. Find out about all the conditions, aid can go up to 250 euros to finance a stay.
And the most modest?
Finally, for the most modest households, see if you are eligible for the VACAF scheme of the family allowance fund. Again, it depends on your income, CAF can take up to 65% of the cost of a week’s stay, so it can be really interesting. Also note that dTown halls or communities organize free days or mini-stays for people who cannot afford to leave.