At last ! The SNCF site will accept at the beginning of May the use of holiday vouchers for the payment of your train tickets. If these vouchers could of course already be used for these purchases, it was not possible to carry out this transaction in a dematerialized way, the SNCF forcing users to go through the physical agency box to pay for their tickets with these holiday vouchers.
In 2022, the SNCF is moving up a gear: from next month, purchases on its SNCF Connect site or from its application can be made with dematerialized holiday vouchers (“Chèques-Vacances Connect”).
How to exchange holiday vouchers for their digital equivalent?
If you have paper coupons, however, you will first need to “convert” them to digital format on the “Le Guide Chèque-Vacances” website of the National Agency for Holiday Vouchers.
The service is free (postal return of tickets at your expense, however) and requires prior to having an account on France Connect, the platform for access to public services. The exchange of physical coupons for their digital equivalent is also only possible for a minimum amount of €30 and requires the use of a smartphone (minimum version iOS 11 or Android 5.1).
For your digital checks to be activated, you will need to return the physical checks by post (allow two to five working days for the activation period from the receipt of the paper coupons).
Attention !
Holiday vouchers are not valid for all the services offered by the SNCF: journeys in Ile-de-France and internationally are excluded, offers including services also.