Renfe vs. Rail Europe - What am I Missing?

The replies you will get will tell you this: the tickets are much cheaper if you book direct, Rail Europe is a ripoff with regards to fees, etc, etc. To this I say phooey! I too went of the Renfe site for your travel day and see no AVE train. I tried to book on Renfe last summer and it was infuriating. I gave up, went to Rail Europe and in comparison the cost difference was marginal. And, when strikes threatened to disrupt our travel I was able to easily reach a knowledgable English speaking customer service rep at Rail Europe. Try that with Renfe! You mention the ease of booking Rail Europe. That is true. Your time and aggravation have a cost. For this $42 pp ticket, go ahead and book Rail Europe.

Nicole,

On Renfe, I am only able to see/purchase seats for one train that takes close to 7 hours.

Make sure you choose, 'Madrid-Puerta de Atocha', NOT 'Madrid Atocha Cercanias' as your destination; and choose Sevilla Santa Justa as your departure station.

Train schedules are not yet available for June 12th, but they should become available in a few days.

Make sure you use PayPal instead of your credit card when booking your tickets on the Renfe website.

Have a wonderful trip!

Try this link, 'How to buy train tickets for Spain'. The loco2.com site works very well.

Nicole,
Here are a couple of other helpful websites:

• How to buy Renfe tickets online

• Tripadvisor's article regarding buying Renfe tickets

I've not had any problems booking train tickets on the Renfe website, however, if you encounter issues, you can always book your tickets on Trainline.eu, and you don't have to pay extra fees.

Ah, ok...thank you! I don't know why I was choosing 'Madrid Atocha Cercanias' - I have even been to the 'big' Atocha station too! Anyway, I can see far more options on Renfe now and it seems like the option I want is $37.50 on Renfe vs. $42 (+$7.95 fee). I am buying 5 tickets, so it'll be $30.50 more (total) to buy on Rail Europe.

I guess I will take my chances in a few days once June 12th becomes available and if I don't have success, there is always Rail Europe!

Using the correct stations, I see the full range of AVE trains on June 6 on Renfe, with prices starting at €29---but most are in the €43-54 range.

There are other options besides RailEurope. I learned from experience just because you book a specific train and get a confirmation from RE doesn't mean you'll actually get those tickets. I booked, received confirmation, sat back and was glad it was over. Several weeks later I receive a call from RE telling me they couldn't book the "specific" train I wanted and told me the alternatives from which I could choose. I was NOT happy that they took my money and waited SO long before contacting me.

Just understand that Rail Europe is a TRAVEL OR BOOKING AGENCY. Not a train company. Rail Europe can be more expensive since they have to add fees to the ticket. I always try to book directly with the national rail company.

Yikes, Tim. I would not have expected that from Rail Europe. And yes, Frank...definitely trying to avoid paying extra for no good reason.

Now that I have it sorted, I don't think I will have any problems just purchasing directly from Renfe. A few years ago we traveled via train and had issues buying tickets and then horrible in person customer service (and my husband is fluent in Spanish, so that was not the problem). I think I was subliminally trying to avoid Renfe. Ha.

I just got my alert from Loco2.com that the schedules past June 6th are up and was able to book easily on their site. I tried Renfe and gave up after it kept changing my passenger number to 1 (I need to buy 5).