Paris to Barcelona Priv

Ray90 · 23 Aug 2019

I'm looking to book Paris to Barcelona with an FIP/International coupon however when I enquired via bookmyrst I was quoted £94.00 per passenger in 2nd class. Does this sound right? I had a look via trainline/loco2 and I could book the journey for less without the FIP. I also asked if I can split the ticketing Paris-Perpignan and Perpignan-Barcelona and was told this is not possible.

Any advice would be appreciated.

RailUK Forums

Mag_seven · 24 Aug 2019

Ray90 said:
I'm looking to book Paris to Barcelona with an FIP/International coupon however when I enquired via bookmyrst I was quoted £94.00 per passenger in 2nd class. Does this sound right? I had a look via trainline/loco2 and I could book the journey for less without the FIP. I also asked if I can split the ticketing Paris-Perpignan and Perpignan-Barcelona and was told this is not possible.

Any advice would be appreciated.

FIP fares are generally about 50% of the full "open" ticket so in most cases can be more expensive than some "advance" tickets that are available to everyone. You do of course get flexibility with the FIP fare that you will not get with an "advance" which tend to be non-refundable.

185 · 28 Aug 2019

I think France/Belgium/NIR/Ireland are still 75% reduction for UK FIP holders.

That said, with a journey beyond the French border, the 50% should apply for the full journey.

Ray90 · 29 Aug 2019

Thanks for the responses. I guess it just is what it is! I wanted to plan a little adventure London - Paris - Barcelona - Madrid - Bilbao but it's just not financially viable this time. Might save that idea for Germany. Decided to take flights to and from Spain paid for with airmiles. Internal Spain travel will be by train.

Craig2601 · 1 Sep 2019

If you are using the coupons then you can simply reserve a seat on he French tgv for as little as 1.50€, as it was 3€ for me from Cannes to Girona, although a regional train was used from the border.

Please Explain · 2 Sep 2019

The problem is that those direct TGV's are set at "global price" tariff, so simply avoid them! A cheaper and time effective option is to take either of the InterCités de Nuit from Paris Austerlitz to Port-Bou (weekends only) or Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg and then transfer to local train along the coast or through the Pyrenees (both very scenic).
Use SNCF and RENFE coupons and you just pay the EUR18 supplement for a couchette on the ICN to/from Paris. You obviously save a hotel bill this way too.

Mag_seven · 9 Jun 2023

Ray90 said:
I'm looking to book Paris to Barcelona with an FIP/International coupon however when I enquired via bookmyrst I was quoted £94.00 per passenger in 2nd class. Does this sound right? I had a look via trainline/loco2 and I could book the journey for less without the FIP. I also asked if I can split the ticketing Paris-Perpignan and Perpignan-Barcelona and was told this is not possible.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Does anyone know what the current FIP fares (in both standard and first) are for this journey? (Paris to Barcelona direct).

rvdborgt · 9 Jun 2023

Mag_seven said:
Does anyone know what the current FIP fares (in both standard and first) are for this journey? (Paris to Barcelona direct).

2 friends of mine recently bought (independently from each other) Barcelona-Narbonne with FIP, which was €50 in 2nd class. The fully flexible fare seems to be €109. For Paris-Barcelona, the fully flexible fare is €239, so the FIP fare could be around €110. It might be cheaper to buy a reservation Paris-Perpignan for €1.70 and then a FIP fare to Barcelona in the same train.
Edit: the €1.70 reservation is valid with a coupon only, of course,

Cheshire Scot · 9 Jun 2023

185 said:
I think France/Belgium/NIR/Ireland are still 75% reduction for UK FIP holders.

Active staff only, but not retired (50%).

185 said:
That said, with a journey beyond the French border, the 50% should apply for the full journey.

Traditionally it would be 75% to the ticket frontier then 50% beyond, I have no idea if that still applies. And of course different rules for Global Pricing.

185 · 10 Jun 2023

The prices charged by RENFE over the border rarely seem to be 50%, indeed our generous Spanish friends have given us some quite brilliant fares over the years, and I encourage anyone carrying Renfe's staff to find them the best (legitimate) fare in a similar fashion.

AlterEgo · 10 Jun 2023

rvdborgt said:
2 friends of mine recently bought (independently from each other) Barcelona-Narbonne with FIP, which was €50 in 2nd class. The fully flexible fare seems to be €109. For Paris-Barcelona, the fully flexible fare is €239, so the FIP fare could be around €110. It might be cheaper to buy a reservation Paris-Perpignan for €1.70 and then a FIP fare to Barcelona in the same train.
Edit: the €1.70 reservation is valid with a coupon only, of course,

If you’re travelling outside of the peak summer season, you can go first class for 99 Euro and often much less, by booking in advance. I paid 99 Euro in April a few weeks before travel.

Paris to Barcelona Priv

Ray90

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RailUK Forums

Mag_seven

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185

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Ray90

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Craig2601

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Please Explain

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Mag_seven

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rvdborgt

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Cheshire Scot

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185

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AlterEgo

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