My family and I were in France a few months ago and our train from Paris to Arles ran late. Before we debarked, the train personnel gave us information about obtaining a refund from SNCF, which I did before we left the country. (It entailed sending our train tickets and some other information to Toulouse.)

Cut to a month or two later after I had totally forgotten the whole thing and...voila! In the mail I get two "Bon Voyage" vouchers from SNCF worth 40 euros, valid for the next year. Say no more! I am ridiculous, it's enough to make me buy a plane ticket back to Europe (and of course include France), as I can't let the 40 euros expire! (Any flimsy excuse will do.) So in February I will go to Lisbon (first time!) for eight days, followed by five days in beautiful Paris, always Paris (tenth time, I think).

So my question for the SNCF experts out there is, is there a way to use such vouchers when buying PREM fares over the website? I just took a first pass at the site and it's not readily obvious how this is done so I thought I'd ask to see if somebody out there has first-hand knowledge of the process. (I've bought lots of tickets on the SNCF site but never tried to use any type of discount, and so far the only number I can find on my vouchers isn't working.)

Anyway my ticket that I'm trying to buy isn't too expensive, I'm probably just going to do a daytrip from Paris to Reims, but if I wait and buy the tickets there, the advantage of the PREM fare will be lost, the vouchers will be a push and I'll have to admit to my family that I'm a scammer! Which I am! But still! (I know...at least on this travel forum a statement like that means I am preaching to the choir for the most part.)

So that's the deal. Any help with making me feel like I'm saving a few euros while spending hundreds (thousands?) would be appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help Fodorites.

I had a voucher last winter after my train was seriously delayed. As far as I could see, it could only be spent in an SNCF ticket office. That's a problem, because tickets for long journeys are best booked in advance on-line, while tickets for short local journeys are best bought from a machine. Luckily, I was able to use my voucher in September to travel from Caen to Paris.
If you're staying in Paris, perhaps you could use the voucher to make a day trip somewhere like Chartres or Rouen.

That reminds me that I have only two months left to use my compensatory 1st class Eurostar ticket to London before it expires. I guess I can do a day trip if necessary.

I don't believe there's a way to use a voucher for an online ticket, but I would call SNCF to find out for sure: 011-33-8-92-35-35-39 (that's the no. from the USA).

Belated thanks to all for the input! I think I'll just wing it once I get there and plan to use the vouchers at one of the SNCF ticket offices, especially since the daytrips I'm contemplating aren't *that* expensive (relatively speaking) and more importantly, I am wavering on my day trip options!

I was originally thinking I'd visit Reims but just viewed kerouac's lovely Chartres photos and, well, I want to go there now too! So many decisions and I look forward to kerouac making me change my mind at least a few more times before February.