Hello.
I am thinking of doing this because I have read posts stating that prices go up closer to the date of travel. I have also read that thetrainline.com is a better place to buy tickets than the renfe site.
Finally, I have been reading about a discount TD card that can be used in person, but is this necessary? Thetrainline.com offers seniors' discount prices.
I would be grateful for any comments on any aspect of this issue.
Chris in Waterloo
Hello. We have been using Rail Europe whilst here in Spain. Booked 5 trips from Canada about 6-8 weeks ahead because yes prices do increase as you get closer. You can book certain fares that come with 70% refund and there is a 6-10$ surcharge per booking. I have also been able to select a senior >60 fare on all prebooked tickets. All in all would recommend as easy site to navigate and no problem with using Visa. Train travel is marvellous here…too bad Canada can’t do the same!!
Whatever you do don't use Rail Europe. They are a third party ticket reseller meaning their prices are higher and they do not have the full train schedules of the actual companies that actually own and operate the trains. For Example you should use https://www.renfe.com/es/en to buy train tickets for Spain. As far as buying tickets in advance if you tell us which specific point to point routes you are traveling on we can tell you which ones you need to buy tickets in advance for and if the tickets are available yet usually 90 to 120 days out.
Well according to the man in seat 61..whom I trust as having way more knowledge about train travel in Spain and elsewhere than someone’s opinion… “Option 1, buy at www.raileurope.com, recommended...
The quickest & easiest way to buy Spanish train tickets is at Raileurope.com with cheap advance-purchase fares & print-at-home or collect-at-station tickets. You can choose to pay in €, £ or $. There's a small booking fee.
Raileurope.com links directly to Renfe's (Spanish Railways) ticketing system and charges the same price as Renfe themselves with the same print-your-own ticket delivery. Unlike Renfe's own site it's in plain English without any of Renfe.com's quirky translations and no credit card rejection problems.”
It is not an opinion it is a fact; many like me here have had the experience of using Rail Europe and know that it is not the best option of you want to save money and have access to the full train schedule. But of course do whatever works best for you.
I'm running into similar problems.
I got a rail pass, but come to find out I can't reserve train tickets online, so i think i'll be returning that.
I am also wondering if you buy individual train tickets from a site like renfe.com or one of the third parties, can you get a refund on unused tickets? Say for instance you get sick and have to cancel your trip?
The Spanish rail pass seems to be very, very difficult to use. No one seems to have a good--or even decent--experience with it.
Policies regarding changes and refunds vary by type of ticket. For the fast trains there are three categories of tickets: Basico, Elige and Premium. If you do a schedule search on the Renfe website (https://www.renfe.com/es/en) and click on one of the fare boxes for the train you're considering, the rules for that type of fare will pop up.
My personal favorite website for plane/train/bus transportation in Europe is Omio (https://www.omio.com). I can't imagine anything simpler to use, and their customer service is outstanding. I'm happy to pay a few extra Euro's per trip for it.
Great info to have as I am searching for train tickets for our upcoming trip.
Chris, I didn't catch what your travel dates are but the Spanish National Train, Renfe, will put a limited number of discounted train tix up for sale. Ouigo also operates some high-speed trains in Spain. Right now, there are discounted tickets for sale through September. So. if you're going in June, July or August or September, this is the perfect time to buy your train tickets online. I use "TheTrainline.com" to see what bullet trains are running for what price. (Omio is another good site). There usually are several that are deeply discounted. But the discounted tickets soon sell out leaving the higher -priced tix available. Trainline is really user-friendly and, for my time, it's worth a couple bucks per ticket to be able to buy an online ticket in less than five minutes. The Madrid to Barcelona train route on the bullet trains can cost as little as 16 euros for a July travel date if you buy them now. Wait until July and the same ticket can cost 189-225 euros. Other routes to save big money are Madrid to Granada and Madrid to Seville. Granada and Seville are linked by a regular train that takes about 3 hours so, if you;re going to both of these cities, you can just take a regular train between them. The discounted prices available by buying in advance make it possible to take the fast trains for a bargain price and takes the hassle and lines at the airports out of your vacation once you arrive in Spain.
"TheManinSeat61" has more details.
Have a great Trip!
Thank-you everyone. You have given me lots to go on when planning our time between Sevilla, Cordoba, Toledo, Salamanca, Segovia and back to Madrid. And for those who inquired, we will be on the Rick Steves My Way Spain Tour from Sept. 15 to 25 (Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Ronda and Sevilla) and then on our own for 8 days after that.
Chris
Previous advice to not use Rail Europe is correct! I know buying direct is more difficult, but Rail Europe is horrible. One of our train rides was cancelled in July and they basically refused to refund us the money. I had to dispute through my credit card company and they even lied and said we used the tickets. I then sent proof of purchase for plane tickets on the same date our train was supposed to leave and finally won my dispute.
Meanwhile, I had been emailing Rail Europe and they kept telling me that it would take up to 4 weeks to get my refund. Three months later and they have still never attempted to refund our money - EXTREMELY DISHONEST COMPANY THAT WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY. Unfortunately, there are many cancellations in Europe right now, so it is not worth the risk of booking through third-party companies!
I went to Spain in March 2022. I bought train tickets, in advance, from the RENFE website. Sometimes I was able to get the site displayed in English translation. Sometimes I took the time to just figure the site out with the Spanish displayed. I printed my tickets at home and carried them in a plastic folder. You will pay a little more if you buy your tickets from any other website. I had no problems in Spain riding the trains: Seats are assigned; your seat is given somewhere on the ticket you print. All of my printed tickets worked. Your best option is probably to buy your tickets from directly from RENFE.
We are traveling in Andalusia area right now all by train and booked all tickets online directly on Renfe app (English version), it is very easy to use and very reliable. Just the E-tickets, no need to print.
We have mostly used trainline before this trip to Spain, but found there are more tickets and seats selections (we like to select our seats ahead to be comfortable, especially for travelling during the pandemic) on Renfe site.
It is best to create an account on Renfe before booking, this way, not only you can retrieve your e-tickets at anytime, the conductor on the train would not check your tickets, as they already have them in the system.
Since I can't buy in advance because, as a non-rev, I might not get on my planned flights (and refuse to pay more for just a partial refund), I'm looking at the Eurail Spain Mobile Pass (2 seniors, 4 days, $362.00) ... I did the math and it seems to work out as the least expensive option given the point to point tickets would be purchased last minute ... but can't make the mandatory seat reservations online so will have to go to an agent as soon as we get to Atocha and make them for the 4 trains we plan to take ... I plan to have all the relevant information (cities, train numbers, depart and arrival times, etc...) on paper and give it to the agent to (hopefully) avoid any issues ... we'll see what happens.
I hope you are able to use a special customer-service office to make those reservations at Atocha Station. (I have no knowledge about that procedure.) The regular long-distance ticket line at Atocha is unbelievably long. I stood in that line for about three hours in early April 2019; it was a bad experience at least as far back as 2016, so it seems that Renfe dosen't care.
For most ticket purchases you can use the vending machines and avoid the staffed counters. I haven't read about problems with acceptance of US credit cards in those machines recently, but we did hear about that occasionally back around 2015 or so. I don't believe you can make reservations via the machines.
I hope someone who has dealt with the Spanish pass recently has some experience-based information for you.
If you're flying into Madrid, I urge you to try to get the reservations you need at the airport train station. Have everything written (block-printed in all capitals) to make it easy for the staff.
Wasn't aware I could make the reservations at the airport, I will do that instead of Atocha ... and I've got my trains all typed up, maybe I'll increase the font just to be sure the agent can read it ... thanks for the info.
I hope you'll be able to get the reservations at the airport, but I haven't read comments here to that effect. You certainly can buy tickets there for trains elsewhere in Spain, not just those running from the airport to Madrid.
Based on earlier complaints about difficulties using that pass, I would never buy it myself. I think the risk of regrets greatly outweighs the potential financial benefits, if any.
