Brought Renfe Spain rail pass but didn't get it

How long ago was this?

Contest the charge if you do not find the pass in your spam folder

I brouht the pass yesterday and I checked my credit card bank and they confirmed my card already charged by Renfe. I have checked all of my inbox and junk mail ,until now I still don't get the rail pass.

If you registered on the Renfe website, you should be able log into your account and view your purchases. You'll then have the option to print your pass (or tickets)

Your other option is to contact Renfe and ask for their assistance. Here are the contact phone numbers.

BTW, which pass did you purchase?

Once you obtain your "purchase code", or "pass number", you can cancel your pass, and book point-to- point tickets which may be less expensive than the pass, especially if you book discounted tickets in advance.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your suggestion.
I have already registered on the Renfe website before make a purchase, but when I log into my account there are no history of my purchases.

I purchased Renfe Spain Rail Pass (4 trips).

If I were you I’d defintinetly call Renfe:
tel:+ 34 91 232 03 20
The Renfe operators speak English.

I hope it all gets worked out for you.

Some time ago a poster on the forum described an annoying process he had to follow in order to turn what I think was the same rail pass we are discussing here into actual tickets. I don't remember the details, but I'm nearly certain a visit to a staffed ticket counter was involved. Heaven help you if that staffed counter is one of those in the regular sales area of Atocha Station. I say that after having spent 3 hours 15 minutes in line there today to buy a ticket using my Tarjeta Dorada (senior rail card). I assumed I would be able to get that ticket from a vending machine, but the machines don't sell tickets at the Tarjeta Dorada discount. As far as I know, the protracted delay I experienced today was not an anomaly.

A lot of the people spending hours in the Atocha ticket office were senior citizens. At just 6 euros the Tarjeta Dorada sounds like an incredible deal, but anyone counting on using the card should plan to buy his tickets online rather than at Atocha. I have no idea whether things are also bad at Chamartin and Barcelona Sants.

Atocha uses a take-a-number system. There were at least 400 numbers pending when I arrived, though I didn't know it because my number was lower that those currently being served. It turned out that the numbers go up to 800 then return to 001. I was # 259. During my time in the Land of Atocha there were nearly always just 2 or 3 staffed counters selling tickets for future travel. Given that even the simplest ticket purchase takes a few minutes, it's obvious that two or three agents could not come close to keeping up with that many customers. A fair number of customers do not arrive at the counter already knowing which train they want to take and the cost of the ticket; serving them can take quite a long time.

In short, the OP may well be very sorry indeed if he succeeds in getting that rail pass.

I think I just might have the credit card dispute the charge and then just buy point to point tickets.

I usually try never to deal with the Renfe ticket agents as I had an unpleasant experience with them in Granada blaming me for an error that they made. But again I'd dispute the charge and tell the credit card company that there was nothing issued. If Renfe disputes that they'd have to show a ticket or receipt.

I haven't had an issue with courtesy, but the sales process at Atocha needs an intervention by an efficiency expert. The miserable situation has been going on for years; I just didn't realize/remember that the vending machines couldn't be used to buy Tarjeta Dorada tickets. One might speculate that Renfe is forced for political reasons to keep the TD price artificially low (a similar deal in France costs ten times as much) and not modifying the ticket machines is a passive-aggressive means of discouraging TD use since a fair number of TD holders are probably not comfortable buying tickets online.

I have called the Renfe customer service. They told me that they didn't get any of my purchasing record. So, I decided to cancel this transaction and wait for the bank to return the amount back to my card. Then I won't buy rail pass again and will buy point to point ticket instead as recommendation.

Thanks for the update!

I think you’re better off buying point- to- point tickets, and at considerable savings if booked in advance.

Will be interested to see what happens to Renfe when the French low cost trains start to compete in Spain.

Hi from Wisconsin,
Oh gosh this is easy.

Call your credit card company dispute the charges. Then go to 'loco2'. It is a British website that sells Renfe tickets with no added commission. If you don't trust me on this. Go to "The man in seat 61". On the leftish side of the site is a list of nations. Scroll down to Spain and start reading. He use to recommend three alternates to Renfe (I had a dickens of a time buying tickets from them 5 years ago,. Never again,) now he is down to loco2. I used them and it was GREAT.

Remember, when purchasing you might have the opportunity to select coach number and seat location at no extra cost.

Forget Renfe.

wayne iNWI

I’ll second using loco2.com. I recently purchased Barcelona to Seville train tickets through them. The website couldn’t be clearer and easier to use. When I realized I made an error, loco2 was able to cheerfully fix it. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I had gone through renfe. My Spanish is worse than horrible. The only drawback to loco2 was that the only way to contact them was via e-mail. And with the time zone difference, it meant I wouldn’t hear from them for several hours. But they were about as prompt as could be in replying. I was totally impressed. If your itinerary is set and you book early, you can get steep discounts in the train fares.