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By varying the method of calculating travel time, the carrier was able to increase its prices on ten lines, without travelers holding the “Avantage” reduction card being informed.
At a time when the SNCF is showing off the advantages of its subscription cards, the operation has gone relatively unnoticed except for those, nonetheless numerous, who have had to suffer the consequences. Flashback to fall 2021. The carrier is launching cards called “Advantage”, one of the properties of which is to guarantee maximum prices, provided that certain circulation days are respected. One of the two return trips must be made between Thursday and Monday. In this case, the price of each ticket cannot exceed 49, 69 or 89 euros if the journey takes respectively less than 1h30, from 1h30 to 3 hours, or more than 3 hours, even if the ticket is taken at the last minute. In the commercial strategy of the SNCF, this card is a response to recurring criticism of the high price and the constant increase in fares on TGV lines. Massive success: three years later, 4.5 million customers have been won over.
A certain number of them are nevertheless disillusioned. In July, and without any prior information, the Paris-Angers, Paris-Mâcon, Paris-Aix-les-Bains, Paris-Morlaix, Marne-la-Vallée-Chambéry and Paris-Chambéry connections suddenly changed their price and switched from a maximum price of 49 to 69 eur
