Help with fip travel

[adam0]

Hi all,
Anyone got good knowledge on the use of fip cards and coupons.

My wife and I are traveling from Paris to Barcelona and I am trying to work out the most cost effective way.

So far I have worked out that fip card gives us 75% reduction in France and 50% in Spain. On full standard fares obviously. As for fip coupons, both can obtain for France but only me for Spain (me being the employee)

Prob I have is I am reading conflicting things about cross boarder travel and fip coupons not valid only global fares. If that's the case could I not just use both fip coupons for myself, as I have France and Spain.? Then buy my wife a fip discounted from boarder to Barcelona?

It's very confusing, so appreciate any help. Thanks all

 

[150219]

It can appear daunting at first, but is reasonably simple to understand once you've cracked it!

This link is helpful at understanding the basics.

Rail staff 'priv' travel on European trains - a quick guide

A quick guide to the free and reduced rate entitlement for 'priv' train travel in Europe for British rail industry employees

www.seat61.com

I've made good use of both the coupons and discounts in the past and if you've got the confidence, even booking in person at the station when travelling is sometimes helpful.

Often when using the high-speed equivalent in Europe, the coupons won't be useable in their own right for free travel but can be used against a supplementary upgrade.

The best way to start is to get everything you are entitled to with coupons and the FIP card and plan the trains you want to use (with a few alternatives) and call the agents (on the link). They can be really helpful for you to navigate booking arrangements.

 

[185]

The Spanish have been very good every time we've dealt with them, and as for the prices charged, on the day (or the night before), over the counter, we were charged far less than 50% of the public fares listed online.

Eighteen months ago, we did Gibraltar to the UK and only one booking office let us down - the border, Hendaye SNCF, with Mme. Carolè Beer (Computer Parler Non! *cough*). Sold the wrong ticket (FIP50), and took 35 minutes to put it right (FIP75, code was CF77), no urgency, we missed two trains queueing despite fluent French. Nothing like that in Spain or the other booking offices in France - friendly, we were treated like their own.

 

[eddp]

I'm not up to speed on FIP fares, but just as a piece of info: the TGVs from Paris to Barcelona are no longer a joint venture between SNCF and RENFE, instead being run exclusively by SNCF, and so they might count as a "French" train all the way to Barcelona rather than just as far as the border. Likewise, other trains (eg Lyon-Barcelona or Marseille-Barcelona) are exclusively RENFE trains.

If your discounts are only valid to the border (assuming that is the first station past the border - ie Figueres-Vilafant on the Paris-Barcelona journey) then it's worth checking for discounted fares as there is a lot of capacity on that route and it might end up being that advance fares are cheaper even than a full fare + discount.

 

[rvdborgt]

I'm not up to speed on FIP fares, but just as a piece of info: the TGVs from Paris to Barcelona are no longer a joint venture between SNCF and RENFE, instead being run exclusively by SNCF, and so they might count as a "French" train all the way to Barcelona rather than just as far as the border.

Except that they don't. For international journeys, there's no cheap(ish) reservation either. FIP card or coupon gets you the same fare. It will probably be cheaper to split in Perpignan if you also have a FIP coupon for France.

 

[adam0]

Thanks for the replys guys, just confused a little as I have fip coupons for both France and Spain so will that now cover my journey Paris to Barcelona?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Global fares only apply in Spain - for all but local services you get charged a very reasonable flat fee (depending on class / train type) irrespective of distance. This applies whether you use a FIP card or coupon.

For the TGV from Paris you can use your SNCF FIP coupon, but there will be a hefty supplement on top depending on when you travel. They are often fully booked too. A cheaper alternative would be to take a Perpignan TGV and then local trains (which would be free on a coupon) to Barcelona via Cerbere / Portbou.

 

[adam0]

Global fares only apply in Spain - for all but local services you get charged a very reasonable flat fee (depending on class / train type) irrespective of distance. This applies whether you use a FIP card or coupon.

For the TGV from Paris you can use your SNCF FIP coupon, but there will be a hefty supplement on top depending on when you travel. They are often fully booked too. A cheaper alternative would be to take a Perpignan TGV and then local trains (which would be free on a coupon) to Barcelona via Cerbere / Portbou.

Thanks for the info. Can I ask, is the tgv to perpignan from Paris not the same as the tgv from Paris to Barcelona?

Was maybe gonna do an overnight in Carcassonne so probably go from Paris to Carcassonne then next day Carcassonne to Barcelona.

 

[rvdborgt]

Thanks for the info. Can I ask, is the tgv to perpignan from Paris not the same as the tgv from Paris to Barcelona?

There are also TGVs that terminate in Perpignan. In addition, the TGV to Barcelona sometimes consists of 2 trainsets, each with their own train number (because SNCF), of which one terminates in Perpignan.

Was maybe gonna do an overnight in Carcassonne so probably go from Paris to Carcassonne then next day Carcassonne to Barcelona.

Carcassonne-Barcelona can easily be done without reservations, via Portbou.

 

[adam0]

There are also TGVs that terminate in Perpignan. In addition, the TGV to Barcelona sometimes consists of 2 trainsets, each with their own train number (because SNCF), of which one terminates in Perpignan.

Carcassonne-Barcelona can easily be done without reservations, via Portbou.

Thanks so much , much appreciated. It gets very confusing as on rail deliver group it mentions crossing a border where fip doesn't apply. I guess the answer there is to go to perpignan then buy from there into Spain.

 

[rvdborgt]

Thanks so much , much appreciated. It gets very confusing as on rail deliver group it mentions crossing a border where fip doesn't apply. I guess the answer there is to go to perpignan then buy from there into Spain.

If you have FIP coupons, then you don't need to buy anything for the reservation-free trains (and that includes the MD trains from Portbou). SNCF coupons should be valid to Portbou in the SNCF TERs and Renfe coupons should be valid in the Renfe regional trains from Cerbère to Portbou/Barcelona.
If you want to use FIP discount, then you should know that SNCF and Renfe don't sell tickets for each other, so the best is then to buy a discounted SNCF ticket for a TER to Portbou, and there buy a discounted Renfe ticket to Barcelona.

 

[Alexm]

Just to jump on this topic, the local trains in the Barcelona area are operated by Rodalies Catalunya - Does this grant 50% travel with a fip card? Anyone any ideas would be appreciated. So I know Barcelona - Girona has local and media distancia trains wondering if can get 50% on the local trains as wanted to stop off at some of the smaller locations en route with the beaches

 

[Tb12]

Hi all,
Hoping someone might be able to help with a question about FIP coupons.

I've booked a trip from London down to Málaga (and the return), with a few stopovers through Spain that haven’t posed any issues. I booked the tickets through International Rail. However, the one leg they weren’t able to book for me was Paris to Barcelona.

I’m a bit unclear about what the FIP coupons actually cover for that section. Are they valid at all between Paris and Barcelona, and if so, what sort of discount or benefit should I expect? I did speak to an advisor, but even with the FIP discount, the fare seemed surprisingly expensive.

Any advice or clarification would be much appreciated!

 

[rvdborgt]

I've booked a trip from London down to Málaga (and the return), with a few stopovers through Spain that haven’t posed any issues. I booked the tickets through International Rail. However, the one leg they weren’t able to book for me was Paris to Barcelona.

I’m a bit unclear about what the FIP coupons actually cover for that section. Are they valid at all between Paris and Barcelona, and if so, what sort of discount or benefit should I expect? I did speak to an advisor, but even with the FIP discount, the fare seemed surprisingly expensive.

AFAIK it's expensive on all international TGVs. Also, you can't use FIP coupons on the TGV to Spain, but there are only FIP-discounted tickets. A friend of mine did Barcelona to Narbonnen and that was already €50.
So what exactly are you travelling on? FIP coupons plus reservations, or tickets with FIP discount? In the former case, you could get a domestic TGV reservation to Perpignan (€2) and then a discounted FIP ticket. That may be cheaper than a FIP-discounted ticket Paris-Barcelona.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jul 2025 ==

Just to jump on this topic, the local trains in the Barcelona area are operated by Rodalies Catalunya - Does this grant 50% travel with a fip card? Anyone any ideas would be appreciated. So I know Barcelona - Girona has local and media distancia trains wondering if can get 50% on the local trains as wanted to stop off at some of the smaller locations en route with the beaches

RDG say that FIP facilities are valid in the Rodalies de Catalunya operated by RENFE (Rodalies isn't an operator). You'll have to buy a discounted ticket from a ticket office.

 

[AdamWW]

RDG say that FIP facilities are valid in the Rodalies de Catalunya operated by RENFE (Rodalies isn't an operator).

Which includes the line to Port Bou.

 

[Giugiaro]

International travel on high speed rail between Spain and France with FIP is different between operators:

Renfe accepts FIP coupons.
SNCF only accepts FIP cards.

SNCF does not sell FIP discount tickets for their TGV in Spain.
Renfe, in France, may allow FIP Coupon and Card reservation of seats with the conductor on platform, if seats are available.

See more on FIP Card.eu