I want to buy 2 train tickets from Barcelona to Cordoba; the travel date in Sept 14. I tried using the Deutsche Bahn web site, but when I input the information to determine the price, I get a message that says "we cannot sell your requested journey on line." Any advice on what I am doing wrong?
Posted by
Wengen
2495 posts
DB actually now can sell a lot of tickets for trips even whole outside of Germany. They are gradually building out their platform, linking to other systems, so that they can become a one-stop-shop for tickets for all of Europe.
So you can buy tickets there for trains outside of Germany.
Spain is however not well connected yet. DB For example will look up trains in the timetable first. That results in it discovering efficient short connections that RENFE, the national operator, does not want you to know about. They hate train passengers.
A good place to buy tickets for Spain is Trainline, as it will show you all three operators, allowing to compare prices.
Posted by
Singapore
557 posts
I would normally advise sticking with the train operator, but in this case, the RENFE site is super frustrating and complicated, so the recommendation of Trainline is a good one.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6974 posts
Buying the tickets from the company that actually runs the train is in general a good idea. So in this case I recommend buying your tickets from www.iryo.eu that also has trains between Barcelona and Cordoba, since Renfe's website is not that user friendly.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thanks everyone for your advice. I found the RENFE web site to be very unfriendly, as people noted. IRYO worked much better.
Posted by
Detroit, MI
1039 posts
With some effort I managed to figure out how to buy a ticket from the website of RENFE, before my trip to Spain, in 2022, and then it may have been seemed much simpler to buy some additional tickets. If on your first try searching, no tickets are available, there is a chance the train you picked is sold out; try a different time of the day. I have not attempted to use Deutsche Bahn to buy a ticket for outside Germany. Spend up to about a half hour if necessary, learning how to navigate renfe.com. In the unlikely event that the all the trains on September 14th are sold out, look for an ALSA bus ticket, or try a bus for part of your trip and a train for the other part of your trip. I tested renfe.com just now. The site works. People who say the site is hard to use are being in too much of a darn hurry and are not giving themselves enough time to learn how to navigate the site.