r/UnethicalLifeProTips 16h ago

Travel ULPT request: falling asleep on international trains

I’m taking the Interrail this summer. I’m looking for a way to get from Paris to Barcelona but the TGV seat reservation for the direct route is more than I’m willing to pay. I’ve also found other routes but I noticed the first train of the route I was thinking of taking (Paris-Perpignan-Portbou-Barcelona) is the same train as the direct train (Paris-Barcelona). So, hypothetically, if I were to fall asleep on my train (which is what I would do regardless of the circumstances as the train departs at 6 am and we were gonna stay awake till then) and miss my stop at Perpignan, for whom I would have booked my seat and just continue till Barcelona sleeping, would it be an issue? Has anyone tried this before on TGV trains?

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12

u/Electronic-Future-12 16h ago

Pay the ticket m8, it’s a busy line and it gets sold out, especially in the summer months. Another passenger will ask you to move out of their seat and then the controller will figure out your fraud attempt. The fine is more expensive than the ticket.

Also, they are more than used to this ruse.

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u/downbadsloth 16h ago

Alright, thank you

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u/ChrisinNed 15h ago

You would still need a reservation from Paris to Perpignan right? Would that not be the same cost as a reservation to Barcelona?

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u/downbadsloth 15h ago

No, it’s much cheaper. But I’ll just book the direct ticket atp

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u/rapidstandardstaples 11h ago

Did you check and see what the ticket cost of Paris->Perpignan and then Perpignan->Barcelona is? Maybe it's cheaper. You may need to change seats in Perpignan, but you'll definitely be controlled between Perpignan and Barcelona and get hit with 150eur (or whatever) in fines. The people who do the controls are commissioned on the amount that they fine per trip so they're definitely not gonna cut you any slack. 

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u/ChrisinNed 10h ago

It's €15 more. Compared to the cost of an Interrail holiday that is a pretty insignificant amount