FIP in Spain

[Jim88]

Hello all... hope you can help.

I've only used our FIP passes once, and never in Spain. We are there now, in Malaga, and hoped to go to Seville on Friday (last minute decision/change of plan... if it works re cost and seat availability.

I just don't know how to do it, so I'm sat here in our apartment having a look.

I'm not safe guarded, so not coupons. I've had a brief read of seat61... do we just pay reservation fees, or is that on top of a ticket cost? I'm probably going to go to a Renfe ticket office tomorrow and ask, but wanted to know what I should expect to do/get.

Any advice appreciated, thank you.

 

[Peterthegreat]

You just go to the ticket office with your FIP card(s) and ask for a ticket to Seville.
Assuming there is space you will get a ticket.
There are two types of train on this route each with it's own fare.
The slower train with conventional stock or the high speed train which reverses at Cordoba.

 

[Jim88]

Thanks Peter. We will have to make use of the faster, more expensive train, to make the day worth it.

Can you clarify what it is we will pay? Reservation fees only (as I hope I have read correctly) or 50% of what Trainline says it costs (currently ~£250)?

 

[ricohallo]

The FIP discounted tickets in Spain are usually the same price as those sold to those with coupons, should be about €6,50 for Avant trains. There's no quota for FIP tickets, as long as there are places available FIP tickets are sold.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Thanks Peter. We will have to make use of the faster, more expensive train, to make the day worth it.

Can you clarify what it is we will pay? Reservation fees only (as I hope I have read correctly) or 50% of what Trainline says it costs (currently ~£250)?

Yes. It's a massive €6.50. That's all. Includes reserved seat. Takes just over 2 hours.
The slower train takes over 3 and half hours but is a bargain €4.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Tuesday at 20:59 ==

The FIP discounted tickets in Spain are usually the same price as those sold to those with coupons, should be about €6,50 for Avant trains. There's no quota for FIP tickets, as long as there are places available FIP tickets are sold.

Agreed!

 

[Jim88]

Great. Thank you both for your help!

 

[Watershed]

The RSTL guide to FIP travel states that you should be charged the reservation fee plus 50% of the public fare but in my experience of using FIP in the past, I was never charged any percentage of the public fare - only the reservation fee, which as others have said, is very cheap and makes coupons almost worthless in Spain!

 

[AndrewE]

Our most recent experience (18 months ago) was of compulsory reservations on relatively short trains, so beware! (Especially on Fridays/weekends and around a public holiday.) We found the road coach network is a good fallback, just go to the coach station and buy your ticket (only an hour or two in advance) and you get a reservation on whatever departure you choose.)

 

[AdamWW]

Our most recent experience (18 months ago) was of compulsory reservations on relatively short trains, so beware! (Especially on Fridays/weekends and around a public holiday.) We found the road coach network is a good fallback, just go to the coach station and buy your ticket (only an hour or two in advance) and you get a reservation on whatever departure you choose.)

Though it appears that these can also get booked up at busy times too.

Last year I caught the narrow gauge train from Santander to Bilbao on a Sunday evening and my fellow passengers included a family who had arrived from the UK and had planned to go by coach. They didn't book tickets beforehand as they didn't know when they would be out of the airport, but when they got there everything was full.
Maybe they were particularly unlucky.

Fortunately the train isn't reservation compulsory and in any case was nowhere near full.