Bus ticket from Granada to Cordoba

This probably just has to do with the time zone difference (you guys aren't in Europe now?).

Solution will be to change the time zone of your phone to CET (Central European Time) and that your calendar should be set to Gregorian.
For IPhone: Go to Settings > General > Date & Time.
Turn off Set Automatically. Is this setting dimmed?
Change the time zone
Tap Time Zone and enter a city with the time zone that you need (in casu Madrid)

Don't forget to switch it back afterwards !

Thank you for that suggestion. Do you know how I would go about that on a laptop? I’m a tech dinosaur I’m afraid!

You should be able to do the same on a laptop- on mine I click the clock, then I have 3 dots at the top, click the dots and it says 'Adjust date and time' then I can choose whatever world time zone I want to be in. There will be some way on your laptop to do the same.

You don't need to be unduly concerned at this point. Although it is possible for buses to sell out, that won't happen very far in advance. You have time to figure this out.

Have you been trying to buy the bus tickets late in the day? If so, simply performing the transaction in the morning may solve the problem.

I've never tried to change the time/time zone on my PC, but it appears isn31c's instructions would work on my (Windows 10) PC.

The Train leaves super early (6:15) or not until mid afternoon.

There are more trains, but at this moment you only see the AVE trains. Renfe tickets for Alvia and Avant trains are available 62 days before travel. You can buy AVE train tickets up to 90 days in advance.

Check the trains within the first 2 months (62 days) to see if these timings suit you (they won't be available for your date until next month) instead of the very long bustrip.

I’ve tried it with the clock change, nope. I’ve tried it with my husband’s computer, same.
I did notice, however, if I pick the NEXT bus out (10:00), the date stays the same. April 27. But if I take the first bus, 8:30, it changes to April 26. So wierd!

I appreciate the info on the trains. I think I’ll just let this lie a bit and pick up next month when more options are available. But really…so weird!

Thanks everyone!

I did notice, however, if I pick the NEXT bus out (10:00), the date stays the same. April 27. But if I take the first bus, 8:30, it changes to April 26. So wierd!

I do strongly suspect this is just bad coding on the website's front. Janey -- I assume you are in the part of Oregon in Pacific time? If so:

• 08:30 on April 27 is 23:30 on April 26 -- i.e. the previous day -- in Oregon (Pacific Time)
• But 10:00 on April 27 in Madrid is 01:00 the same day (April 27) in Oregon (Pacific Time), hence the difference

I've noticed similar date/time quirks on, say, the SNCF website, where they've poorly implemented code, assuming that everyone who is searching is located in the same time zone.

Thanks for your post as I’m traveling the same route in April. I was curious if the bus vs train is particularly scenic? I think when the schedules come out the train arrives as same time as bus but of course bus is much longer. Thanks!

(I’ve been looking at train schedules in February thinking they will be similar in April once released)

Thank you all for your ideas/help.

First off, I DID hear back from ALSA. They admitted they had computer code issues on nonSpanish pages of their website. It was suggested I order the tickets on the Spanish translation. Not a problem, my Spanish is good enough for that. But, it didn’t work in Spanish either!!!
I’ve passed that on to ALSA but have not heard more.

I did look at the other train sites for February and March when schedules are available but they seem to have the same crack of dawn train and then mid afternoon and evening trains. And the price is considerably more. We can both go by bus with changeable tickets and pick your own seats for 41E. Most trains are way more than that for one person!

I think we want to stick with our bus option. There are several stops with the bus ride but they’re quick and even if we end up having to take the second departure we will still be to Cordoba by noon, giving us more time there. And I did have the right hand side up near the bus driver in mind.

I’m still open about it for a few more days, but I still stand by my original assessment that this is “so weird!"
Best

Thank you all for your ideas/help.

First off, I DID hear back from ALSA. They admitted they had computer code on nonSpanish pages. It was suggested I order the tickets on the Spanish translation. Not a problem, my Spanish is good enough for that. But, it didn’t work in Spanish either!!!
I’ve passed that on to ALSA but have not heard more.

I did look at the other train sites for February and March but they seem to have the same crack of dawn train and then mid afternoon and evening trains. And the price is considerably more.

I think we want to stick with our bus option. There are several stops but even if we end up having to take the second departure we will be to Cordoba by noon, giving us more time there. And I did have the right hand side up near the bus driver in mind

I was able to buy ALSA tickets last year but had problems with a few other websites in Spain. Try changing your internet browser or try using a different device. We took the afternoon train from Granada to Cordoba and it worked well for us but it was more expensive than the bus. Good luck!

I wanted to give an update for all who gave excellent (although unworkable!) suggestions for me to get my early morning Granada to Cordoba bus tickets in April. For some reason, the first bus out would be on one day, but when you looked at the checkout cart, it was for the previous day. I emailed back and forth with ALSA for quite awhile. They informed me it was a software issue and it would work if I purchased the tickets on the Spanish version of their website rather than the English. Nope. They recommended a different computer, a different browser, clear your cookies, change the time on your computer, and call ALSA (they answer in rapid Spanish). I pushed 1 on the hope that would get me a person but I ended up on a recording which was never answered by a person.) In short, nothing worked.

Finally, in an email, ALSA again suggested I call their free customer service number and do it over the phone. The number is only free if you’re in Spain, but I have an international calling card so I used that and pushed 2 this time. Somebody answered! I was ready with a explanation in Spanish that I prepared about needing help in English to buy some tickets. I was asked to hold for an English speaker. After several minutes, an employee came on and I was able to get the tickets, including seat assignments! I was very thrilled as I was planning on giving up and buying the second bus out. What a relief! I hope this information will be helpful to someone else having website issues. Don’t give up!

Glad you were able to accomplish it! You were admirably patient and persistent!