FIP Montpellier to Barcelona

[AdamL]

Hi, I have two questions but I have posted them seperately to avoid confusion.

The first one is...

What is the best way of travelling from Montpellier to Barcelona using FIP tickets. I have the French railways (SNCF) coupon and FIP card only.

My guess would be to buy a reservation on a TGV from Montpellier to Perpignan as long as it stops there and then a seperate FIP reduced rate ticket (and most probably a differenct seat) from Perpignan to Barcelona. Just for interest, would a RENFE coupon have made any difference?

If anyone has done this route I would very much appreciate feedback and costs.

Thank you very much for any help!!!

 

[30907]

As they always say in the Fares forum, what do you mean by best?

If time isn't of the essence, but money is, you could use regional services changing at Port Bou, with some extra coastal scenery as a bonus. Without a RENFE coupon the Spanish fare is IIRC 11 Euros

But I think you're wanting to use the TGV route? So sorry if that's not much help.

 

[reb0118]

Hi, I hold an FIP card and French & Spanish free coupons.

I recencly did a journey from Barcelona to Nîmes via the high speed line. Due to the French & Spanish not releasing quotas into the general booking systems that DB UK (who are the European ticket agents for RSTL) use they were unable to book this train for me. They (DB UK) advised contacting SNCF who in turn said they could not help as my journey originated in Spain* and advised contacting RENFE.co.uk. RENFE.co.uk stated that they were in fact a separate agency acting on behalf of the Spanish rail company and were unable to issue FIP tickets and in any case they added a booking fee which at £10 per ticket was as I thought at the time a further 33% surcharge to the fare.

Therefore the advice was to acquire the tickets locally in Spain prior to travel. The downside to that was that we were to arrive at Barcelona at 08:50 off the Trenhotel from Vigo and depart again at 09:20 on the TGV to Nîmes. Normally half an hour would be sufficient to get tickets but Barcelona is notorious for long queues at the longo curso counters and there is also the hassle of the pre boarding security check for high speed trains inc. the TGVs.

So, what did I do? As we had a few hours in Vigo prior to departing on the Trenhotel** the very helpful staff in the office managed (after lots of animated discussion) to issue us through tickets from Barcelona to Nîmes at 7.90€ each - I had originally asked to split fares at Perpignan and use my free french coupon from there but the Spanish system could not book this and at 7.90€ for the through ticket I was not complaining, even though we got seats on the lower deck we had a lovely view (two Brazilian lovelies - a mother & daughter combo)!

I will attch my tickets for this trip ~ the Barcelona - Nîmes one is in the middle.



*Our rail journey actually started in Portugal

** I would thoughorly recomend this train ~ less than £50 pp pn with a FIP card

 

[185]

Just remember, if your on a UK FIP

France - 75%

Spain - 50%

Make sure you get the best price on the French side, I often show them the discount printed on the rear of the card as they'll assume your 50% :P

 

[reb0118]

Yes, I've been stung a few times for that in France - not all clerks realise it is 75% for internal journeys in France (as well as Belgium & Ireland). I believe however if you cross an international boundary the discount is only 50% for the through fare.

Conversely I am sure that on some occasions I have been issued with a reservation/supplement only when asking to buy an FIP fare for the TGV - these have always been accepted on the train however - I paid 1.50€ from Haute Picardie to Lille Europe recently with no coupon.

My advice to the OP is just to buy at Montpellier prior to travel - show everything to them, FIP & free pass, and see what they offer. Mention Perpignan as a split option - seat61 states this for public fares so why not for staff too. Write down your explicit requests in French (unless of course you can speak it) as this can help.

I can see the following 4 options that may be offered from Montpellier:-

1) Free coupon to Perpignan; 50% from there to Barcelona.
2) 75% to Perpignan; 50% from there to Barcelona.
3) 50% to Barcelona.
4) A special FIP fare as I got above (probably most likely).

Let us know how you get on.

 

[AdamL]

Thank you for all the replies. I bought a ticket today for travel on Saturday and was surprised to hear the best fare offer was 35.60 euros. Much higher than expected but that could be down to limited availability. First two choices of train were fully booked for at least FIP rate fares. The ticket was Montpellier to Barcelona (she couldn't split it at Perpignan due to again no availability). I live and learn if i should've got this fare cheaper but its hard work when harder any English is spoken and most the trains are full!!! But once again, thank you for your replies. It was much appreciated.

 

[reb0118]

Just though I'd add some info. to this thread. I recently needed to book one stop on the Franco-Spanish high speed line - Figueres Vilafant to Perpignan, as is usual I was unable to obtain this in the UK so did so at Lille Europe upon my arrival in France. No FIP availability left by the time I booked so I was stung for 16.60€ for a half hour journey! This was not even a full fare ticket but some form of advance fare - not impressed!

That said the high speed fares in Spain were much more reasonable 6.75€ from Irun to Zaragoza & 10.00€ from Zaragoza to Figueres Vilafant.

 

[dutchflyer]

That said the high speed fares in Spain were much more reasonable 6.75€ from Irun to Zaragoza & 10.00€ from Zaragoza to Figueres Vilafant.

Thats nearly the same then as the obligatory REServation for InterRail holders-thats 6 (NON-AVE) and 10€. Unless the 6 has been raised recently. I have no FIP or any staff tickets.