London to Barcelona

[RYS]

Hi all, I could do with some assistance trying to book this journey. The plan is to travel on 7th August 2014. From what I can tell it should be possible to depart London St Panras on the 09:17 Eurostar, change in Paris, and arrive in Barcelona at 20:40.

I am following the advice of the Seat 61 website, so I am trying to book on the Loco2.com website, and I am looking at splitting the ticket at Perpignan to save money. It is this issue of splitting the ticket that is causing me trouble. If I just search London to Barcelona, then it puts you on TGV #9715 departing Gare de Lyon at 14:07, arriving at Barcelona at 20:40 with no changes.

If I search London to Perpignan however, then I am given TGV #6065 which supposedly also departs Gare de Lyon at 14:07. It arrives Perpignan at 19:08. A search for Perpignan to Barcelona then puts you back on TGV #9715. This leaves Perpignan at 19:13 and arrives Barcelona at 20:40.

The timings suggest that the split tickets are the same train as the single ticket, but why is there a different train number? I'm really worried about getting stranded in Perpignan!

 

[Ian99]

I booked the same journey in reverse - Barcelona to Paris - on the sncf site. In order to get the same seats for the 4 of us, I just kept adding groups of 4 tickets to "my basket" until I had identical seats for both legs (the site allocates seats automatically but tells you what they are). I then deleted the spare seats.

As it happens I then had a problem with the credit card so ended up on the phone to Rail Europe to book the whole lot. The assistant on the phone was happy to book those split tickets ensuring the same seat numbers. Cost £8 extra but I thought worth it as they seem to have better access to the booking systems.

 

[lemonic]

It appears that on some days of the week, the train is run as 2 TGV's joined together until Perpignan where 1 unit (TGV 6065) splits and terminates there and the other unit (TGV 9715) continues to Barcelona.

Presumably, if you are only booking tickets as far as Perpignan, it will try and put you on the part of the train that terminates there.

 

[LexyBoy]

The service is run as a pair of TGVs as far as Perpignan with the front unit continuing to Barcelona, hence the two train numbers. I'd go with Ian's advice - though it could be that the website is deliberately putting passengers on 6065 to ensure there's room on 9715 for people who are travelling beyond Perpignan.

What I don't know is whether ticket prices will be different between the two trains, since they are treated as separate services.

(edit: snap!)

 

[Oscar]

It's quite common that there are cheaper tickets available on the TGV which just runs Paris <> Perpignan. Normally you can book tickets on either TGV as far as Perpignan, they are shown as two different trains departing and arriving at the same time. I understand that SNCF has had many more Paris - Barcelona bookings than expected so far this year. They were expecting people to mainly use the international services for South of France - Barcelona trips rather than journeys to/from Paris. You can book one ticket on the back TGV as far as Perpignan and then get out and change to the front TGV for your onward journey to Barcelona. There's enough time, just make sure you're at the right end of the train when you get out.

 

[TBY-Paul]

Just out curiosity, how much do you save by splitting at Perpignan. My wife and I did Darlington to Barcelona in Oct 2012, when you had to change a Figures, and also meant we had an overnight in Paris.
I'm looking at doing it again in Oct, again with an overnight in Paris. Hopefully this will give us the option of catching the 10.07 or 14.07 the following day.
Darlington to Barcelona can be done in a day, but from memory, the cost of getting from Darlington to Paris to connect with the 14.07 was so expensive it worked out cheaper to leave Darlington Midday and stay overnight. We saved around £70 doing that way.

 

[Oscar]

Paris to Perpignan in 2nd class starts at 25 € (rising to 102 € Loisir Plein Tarif / 109 € TGV Pro 2nde).
Perpignan to Barcelona in 2nd class starts at 29 € (rising to 45.10 € Essential / 54.20 € Flexi).
Paris to Barcelona in 2nd class starts at 59 € (rising to 176 € Essential / 210 € Flexi).
It is possible for example that 25 € tickets are available on the TGV which only runs as far as Perpignan and 29 € fares for the Perpignan to Barcelona section, while the cheapest Paris to Perpignan / Barcelona fares on the TGV which runs through to Barcelona are 80 € / 100 € +.

 

[TBY-Paul]

Thanks Oscar, I shall investigate a little more when dates of travel are confirmed, but it has opened new possibilities.

 

[RYS]

Thanks everyone I've booked it now, splitting the ticket saved over £100. Really looking forward to the trip!

 

[broomster]

I've just done a similar trip myself - London to Barcelona - but I did it slightly different...

I did Eurostar to Paris - £62 (couldn't get cheaper as i'd left it a bit too late to get the £40 fares..
Then I did Paris to Perpignan on the Tren De Nuit - for the loco haulage and to save on hotel costs.. That cost £31 for almost 500 miles of loco haulage
Then Perpignan to Barcelona later in the day on TGV which cost £25.50...

Total cost £118.50. Flew back with Ryanair for around £40...

Happy days

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as I enjoyed mine