FIP & Coupons from London - Berlin

[rakoczigabi]

I've never used FIP facilities but am planning my first trip from London to Berlin.
I've read through RST website, but i still have a few questions, and I'm hoping to get answers here.

Travelling dates , just in case there's a difference in days:
14. September and return on the 17. September

The route i've looked into is:
London - Brussels Midi ( Eurostar - with FIP discount £34.50 / way/ person )
Brussels Midi - Köln Hbf ( DB )
Köln Hbf - Berlin Hbf ( DB )

So my question is regarding the coupons. Never used any, and I've asked a few of my colleagues and they haven't done any international travel so they couldn't help :/

Brussels Midi - Köln Hbf = can i use the " German Railway Company - DBAG " coupons because it s a DB route or will I need to have a " Belgian National Railways - SNCB " as well because we crossing borders?

For the Köln Hbf - Berlin Hbf journey I assume I still be able to use the "German Railway Company - DBAG " coupons because thats operated by DB ?

My last question is regarding the return journey, I'm okey with the Eurostar, but its regarding the coupons.
Can i use the leftover boxes on the coupons? Or will I need to request new ones? I can see they are valid for 3 months, but just not too sure.

Thanks for your help

 

[steevp]

I can answer your last question - coupons aren't valid once you return to your home country (and if you get caught it will be treated as a travel irregularity)

 

[87015]

I can answer your last question - coupons aren't valid once you return to your home country (and if you get caught it will be treated as a travel irregularity)

s
That only applies to bordering countries which you get two sets of coupons for (ie SNCB) - more than valid to go back to Germany four times in the three months should you choose.

OP - you'll need SNCB coupons or a FIP single for the Belgium portion on paper.

 

[steevp]

Ah yes forgot that it only applies to bordering countries:
"If an International Coupon has been used on a railway adjoining or bordering the railway of issue, it may not be used again for any further journeys on this railway after the return journey has been made to the issuing railway (i.e. if you return to GB). For the avoidance of doubt, adjoining railways are those which are linked to GB by another FIP member, including ferries and Eurostar. Therefore, the adjoining railways are SNCF, SNCB, NS, NIR, CIE (France, Belgium, Holland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland) but not Denmark or Norway. Part used coupons for non-adjoining countries may therefore still be used."

 

[rakoczigabi]

Thanks for the answers and explanations both of you. It does make sense now

 

[DaiGog]

On your return leg, be sure to use ICE from Köln to Bruxelles as you're not valid on the Thalys services with FIP coupons. Each date box on the coupon is valid for two consecutive days, so if you wanted to break your journey somewhere overnight then you can do so using the same box.

If you do decide to return to Germany within the three month period of validity then you can use your remaining date boxes without problem. Officially, as stated above, your Belgian coupon is not valid for a return trip but I've never had an issue - forewarned is forearmed though if you decide to risk it!

 

[bunnahabhain]

I'm making this very journey on Thursday infact. You'll need your SNCB and DB coupons, travel on the DB ICE, as the Thalys is subject to the global rate fare (similar to Eurostar for FIP). Your coupon for DB is valid for the length of the coupon (3 months) , the SNCB coupon is valid for the duration of your stay on the continent. Once you return to the UK the SNCB coupon will expire because it is a 'neighbouring country' (NS, SNCB, SNCF and CIE all count as neighbouring). You get two SNCB coupons a year, and one DB coupon, if you're likely to be going towards the end or beginning of a year it rolls into the next year as well. So for example if you're travelling in January 2019 , you could use your 2018 coupon by booking it from December.

My top tip, go onto DBs website and book a reservation for your journey, I think it cost me €9 each way for myself and my partner, and that's for Brussels Midi to Berlin Hauptbahnhof. If you need any advice let me know, I've done a fair bit of travelling on my coupons now.

 

[the sniper]

With cross border travel and FIP coupons normally the principle to remember is that you need a coupon for who's infrastructure you're travelling on, rather than which company is providing the train/service.

 

[rakoczigabi]

Thanks again for the explanations
We’ll going to order our coupons a bit closer to our travel dates.
As I said this will be the first time using the coupons I was a bit concerned about how they work. But now it’s all clear and we looking forward to our travels