It is not a first, these summer holidays 2023 are under the sign of inflation. All the components of the trip are experiencing rising prices, be it transportation, accommodation, daily expenses…
However, many devices, sometimes little known, allow households, especially the most modest ones, to simply reduce the bill or make great savings, and even some simply go on vacation.
SNCF: think of the “annual leave ticket”
If the Avantage card (49 euros per year) allows you to obtain discounts or capped rates on trips, you should not forget the SNCF annual leave tickets, a device dating from 1936 and ultimately used very little.
The offer, open to all, applies to trips of at least 200 kilometers in second class. Allows you to get a 25-50% reduction in ticket price once a year (not necessarily during major holidays).
An entire family can get one of these tickets to travel as long as they live under the same roof and the children are under 21 years of age. If you are single, your parents can also benefit.
To benefit from it, you must fill out a form (available online and at the station) and have it signed by your employer or your municipality depending on your status (employee, trainee, craftsman, job seeker, retiree, etc.) . This form must be left at the station for validation.
More and more employees are taking advantage today vacation vouchers. Issued by the National Agency for Checks-Vacances (ANCV) and generally distributed free of charge by works councils based on salary, they work a bit like restaurant vouchers.
They allow you to pay for train tickets, stays, restaurants, tolls, transport or leisure. More than 200,000 organizations and merchants accept them in France. They are valid for 2 years from the date of issue.
They exist in a paper version, but now they are increasingly dematerialized in the form of a card. It is then used like a credit card and allows you to pay to the nearest euro, unlike paper checks which have a face value.
The device “Departure 18:25”
Also promoted by the National Vacation Voucher Agency, this system is aimed at the population aged 18/25, the population that, proportionally, goes on vacation the least often for economic reasons.
Specifically, it allows you to benefit from aid of up to 250 euros to finance your vacation with a limit of 80% of the price of the stay and with a remainder of at least 50 euros to pay.
To benefit from it, you must be between the ages of 18 and 25, reside in France and have a reference tax income (RFR) of less than 17,280 euros per year for a tax part. Or be in one of these situations:
- Holder of an apprenticeship contract in progress or expired less than 3 months ago
- Holder of a professionalization contract in progress or expired less than 3 months ago
- Student who receives a higher education scholarship based on social criteria
- Future job holder
- Holder of a generation contract
- Beneficiary of a contractual path to support employment and autonomy (PACEA) or signatory of a Youth Commitment Contract (CEJ)
- Second chance school student
- child welfare recipient
- Volunteer in civic service whose mission is in progress or has been completed for less than one year.
Companies with more than 50 employees must have a works council. The latter can give access to preferential rates from different travel or leisure providers, rates that apply to the whole family.
Aid from the Family Allowance Fund
If you benefit from CAF aid, you can take advantage of the VACAF scheme, “holiday aid for your family or children”. This help is available in two ways: holiday aid for children or families (AVE and AVF).
The AVF is a grant for a stay of one week calculated from the family quotient for the current year. At most, CAF will cover 65% of the cost of a week’s stay with a maximum limit of 550 euros. The aid is deducted directly from the cost of the stay, so the beneficiary will only pay the difference.
3,600 holiday villages and campsites have the VACAF seal and therefore allow you to benefit from reduced prices.
The AVE, for its part, is a third-party payment aid for children’s vacations. Allows an outing in colony or camp during school holidays. It can cover from 40 to 70% of the cost of your child’s stay depending on your family quotient.
In order to benefit from the AVE or AVF, you must meet 3 conditions:
- Receive a family benefit paid by CAF or MSA
- Having 1 or more children (the allocation criteria based on the age of the children are specific to each department)
- Have a family quotient generally less than or equal to 700 euros (this amount may be different in your department)
The stays are organized by a center labeled by VACAF or your CAF. The aid is paid directly to the organizer who deducts it from his invoice.
It is not necessary to carry out any formality to benefit from these aids. “If you are entitled to this aid, your Caf or MSA informs you during the first quarter of the year by post or email,” explains the service-public.fr site.
Source: BFM TV
