Diederik
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 10 years ago
We are having some problems booking a reservation for the TGV/AVE train from Marseille to Barcelona (departing 08h05, arriving 12h31). I'm using TGV-europe.com for the booking. Unfortunately, when selecting Global Pass for both travelers, the journey costs us 150 EUR (75 per person).
The strange thing is, booking the part from Marseille to Perpignan separately, costs just 12 EUR. Perpignan to Barcelona costs 61 EUR. (30 per person). That makes the journey way cheaper. This is exactly the same train as the one that would cost us 150 EUR, the only difference being that we have two different tickets.
But still, it should be cheaper. The part in France should cost 6 EUR per person (TGV supplement) and the part in Spain should cost 10 EUR per person. That makes the total 16 EUR per person instead of 30 EUR per person. The part from Perpignan (FR) to Figueres Vilafant (ES) is the problem here, apparently.
[b]Is there any way to book international tickets for the right price?[/b] I read that you could get your reservation at a SNCF ticket office on the train station of Marseille St Charles, but I doubt about taking the guess of booking 2 days beforehand. [b]What will the price be if we book the tickets that way, and is there a chance of there being no tickets available for our journey (because the reserved seats for Interrail are already booked)?[/b]
Other routes are unavailable, since we won't make it to Barcelona within a day using the little yellow train.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
- InterRail reservations for the TGV/AVE Elipsos France - Spain are currently only available at stations in France or Spain, not in other countries, not online.
- TGV Europe is now voyages-sncf; for your bookings please use our affiliate link [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf/reservation[/ux] (for InterRail reservations) and/or [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf[/ux] (for regular tickets) to support our work, thank you.
- The 75€ fare for Marseille - Barcelona as well as the 30€ fare for Perpignan - Barcelona are just regular tickets with the Essential fare, and do not take into account your InterRail pass since InterRail reservations for travels into Spain are not available online as explained above.
- If you want to take this train you will have to make the reservation in France - not neccessarily in Marseille though which means you could try and get the reservation when entering France (Lille? Paris?).
- Do you want to travel with the Petit Train Jaune as well? ...I am a bit confused. You could also get from Marseille to Barcelona without using a TGV/AVE by travelling via Avignon - Montpellier - Narbonne - Perpignan - Cerbere - Portbou - Girona which is a long journey, but possible. Or, get the TGV/AVE to Perpignan only and continue from there as explained above.
- I have a Barcelona - Valence reservation for the direct TGV/AVE which was 15€, expect a similar price for a Marseille - Barcelona reservation.
-To support the free information and the forum on railcc, please be fair and buy your official Interrail pass via our railcc partner link: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Thank you! :)
Flo
Diederik
Traveller
1 comments
[quote]
- The 75€ fare for Marseille - Barcelona as well as the 30€ fare for Perpignan - Barcelona are just regular tickets with the Essential fare, and do not take into account your InterRail pass since InterRail reservations for travels into Spain are not available online as explained above.
[/quote]
Thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I noted that on the Voyages SNCF website, time for them to implement international Interrail bookings into their system :/
[quote]
- If you want to take this train you will have to make the reservation in France - not neccessarily in Marseille though which means you could try and get the reservation when entering France (Lille? Paris?).
[/quote]
I'll be entering France from Italy, on the fourth of August. We will be making the trip to Barcelona on the sixth of August, so that is two days beforehand. Is there a chance that the train is full and we won't be able to book once we arrive in Marseille?
[quote]
- Do you want to travel with the Petit Train Jaune as well? ...I am a bit confused. You could also get from Marseille to Barcelona without using a TGV/AVE by travelling via Avignon - Montpellier - Narbonne - Perpignan - Cerbere - Portbou - Girona which is a long journey, but possible. Or, get the TGV/AVE to Perpignan only and continue from there as explained above.
[/quote]
The Petit Train Jaune won't be an option, since we wouldn't be able to make it to Barcelona in a day (from Marseille)
[quote]
- I have a Barcelona - Valence reservation for the direct TGV/AVE which was 15€, expect a similar price for a Marseille - Barcelona reservation.
[/quote]
Thanks for the price indication, that's something I couldn't find anywhere. €15,- is a lot cheaper compared to the Voyages SNCF fare.
[quote]
-To support the free information and the forum on railcc, please be fair and buy your official Interrail pass via our railcc partner link: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Thank you! :)
[/quote]
I already bought my pass on the Interrail website but I'll make sure to book other supplements through the railcc links! 8)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
[quote]
Is there a chance that the train is full and we won't be able to book once we arrive in Marseille?
[/quote]
Hard to tell...there is no definitive answer yes or no. If you would not get a reservation you could still get to Barcelona within one day along the route I described above (not included the Petit Train Jaune).
[quote]
I already bought my pass on the Interrail website but I'll make sure to book other supplements through the railcc links! 8) [/quote]
That's sad to hear but thanks for being honest to tell. You could also help buy coming back to us with your experiences - reservation fares and information etc are always helpful!