Need help with flying , taking train or driving from Madrid to Seville (with medical supplies)

If I am reading correctly RENFE allows 3 bags per person on the train. You have 4 people so you can bring 12 bags. Doesn't that cover your 5 bags of medical supplies plus the personal luggage of each family member?

Trains are not like planes. There is no check in. There are no luggage sizers. In principle on trains the rule is that all luggage is "carry on", so you can take what you can carry. You have to move and store the luggage yourself. The luggage rules exists more so that the railways has something to point at in case someone tries to take something very unusual along on a trip.

But you have to manage all that luggage yourself, so getting a rental car may in your case be the best option.

I’m traveling with some medical supplies (IV bags) so we do have extra luggage. ( I know I need to call Iberia airlines to check on Medical supplies). From another of OP's posts.

Any possibility what you need can be procured there and alleviate the need for so many extra bags?

I can take them on as carry-ons so they don’t freeze in a checked bag

Quite unlikely they would freeze in a checked bag.
https://travelpander.com/how-cold-does-luggage-get-on-a-plane/

With the number of folks who pack various sorts of liquids that cannot go in carry-on bags, and the lack of any reports of freezing should alleviate that concern.

You could send the supplies ahead in larger suitcases with a luggage service such as "Send my Bag". They pick up in the US, handle customs, and deliver to your destination.

Check that none of your meds are banned substances for import to Spain.

One issue that may be a problem (not sure) on a train, is that with lots of luggage, you might have to store some of it at the end of the rail car. I never do this because theft is always a problem. There may not be enough space above your seats.

What kind of medicine freezes in a checked bag?
If they put pets in the hold, I don't think the temperatures would be that cold.

More than freezing (never heard that), if it's so essential, I'd be afraid of it getting lost.
I'd be inclined to send the other stuff you need (clothes etc) on ahead by courier, then just travel with essentials, a change of clothing and your medical supplies. return journey you'll have used those up and can travel with your luggage?
Or just rent a car....

Now that's a great idea! Send it on ahead!!
How large are the carry-on bags of meds? Your other posts says IV bags. Have you asked your prescribing doctor, or your pharmacy in the US, about the temperatures in which they must be stored?

I'm assuming you are flying economy..is that correct?

You are flying Delta from JFK to MAD, and then possibly connecting with Iberia, to Sevilla? Which flight are you concerned about, or both of them (because you say you called Iberia, but you seem to be flying to Madrid on Delta.(.it's likely that I'm confused here' it's happened before!)

But before you go too much further, we may be able to determine if you can find them in a pharmacy in Spain.

Are you staying in a hotel in Madrid?

On a somewhat related note for anyone taking the now-popular semaglutides, such as Ozempic and Wegovy:

These can be stored at room temperature for up to eight weeks. So no need to fly with ice packs if you are taking either of these and, perhaps, the other diabetes/weight loss injectable medications.

Is it at all possible that your medications keep safely longer than you imagine?

I am not sure if this applies to you, but when my family travelled while my father was on Peritoneal Dialysis, his nephrology nurse arranged for his dialysis supplies/bags to be delivered to our destination hotel (had to notify hotel ahead of time). She also arranged for us to borrow a travel dialysis machine in a special case, which was the size of a carry-on suitcase but heavy. We notified the airline and were able to carry it on the plane and have it stored in a special closet. So please ask your medical team if they can make arrangements for you.

The medical supplies are 10 bags of TPN. Each one is 4liters of fluids.They are full of vitamins and fat for calories. I lost the majority of my intestine 13 years ago so that’s how I get fed. They are made up from a home health care. MY doctors at Mayo do the orders so it cant be made up in Spain. I get 10 days. They can not be sent to Europe.
We use to travel to Europe a lot before I got sick. Just started traveling back to Europe a couple years ago.

I have not traveled by train for many years so wasn’t sure how strict the security was. I’ll have letters from my doctors. Do your bags go through scanners? And are the bags checked.
We would take the Renfe AVE train from Madrid to Seville.
With 4 of us we can split the bags up but if security is tight it may not work, and we would drive.
We are making our decision on Sunday.
So any insight into security, if they weigh all the bags. All that info would be helpful since we haven’t taken a train in a long time.
Thank you everyone.

Thank you everyone. I finally found the information I needed. The AVE trains allow all medical bags plus your 3 personnel bags. So I’m good. With 4 of us we have help to get it on the train, all medical bags will be labeled and have a Dr. Letter. (Which I do anyway)
I was finally able to find the email to Renfe to let them know we will be traveling with medical supplies.

good luck with your journey - I have really good feelings about it. With all of you to spread the load I'm sure you'll be fine.

Sorry to hear of your illness but glad to see you taking the bull by the horns!

The security at the stations is for terrorism, not to count bags. It isn't TSA.

I want all of you to have a really good time.

Do your bags go through scanners? And are the bags checked.

On the AVE trains, your bags do go through scanners. They have a list of dangerous items that you aren’t allowed to bring on trains (e.g., weapons) and I believe this is what they are screening for. They don’t specifically have liquid restrictions as they do on planes.

The list of banned items is here:
https://www.renfe.com/es/en/travel/informacion-util/luggage/equipajes-especiales

I hope you enjoy your trip!

Rhonda, I hope you will do a trip report when you get back to let us know how things worked for you and if you have suggestions for others.

I don't recall that we've had someone asking about traveling on TPN but we did have a query about Peritoneal Dialysis a few years ago so there may be lurkers on here who could benefit from your travel experience.

Best of luck on your trip!

Thanks. I will post when we get back to let you know how the trip went.