Spain Train Travel-----confusion

To book on Renfe, PayPal is the easier payment method, unless you've signed up for Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode, or maybe try AmEx. Is that price 70 euros per adult? In Turista or Preferente? Prices in Turista range from 41 to 110 euros per person. I don't think the lowest discount category is loaded yet for your travel date.

Actually I just went back in and choose my station and Barcelona-Sants and Madrid Atoche (hoping that is all correct from what I have read)

with these stations the rates are a bit highter.

There is a Preferente Promo for 68.95 E departing at 7:05 2 hr 45 min

Also there is a 6:40 AM Turista Promo 66.75E

So i guess now i am really confused b/c there is nothing that says Jovan Class

Thanks for helping

"Joven" means young in Spanish. There is no joven class, but there is a youth fare. Make sure you qualify before you purchase that.

thank you I do not think we qualify for that 4 of us over 30 and one 29 year old...

The fare you mention involves having the "Tarjeta +Renfe Joven 50" card, which can be purchased by young people between 14 and 26 y.o. It's a yearly card, it costs 50€ and entitles to discounts when purchasing train tickets operated by RENFE during this period: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/tarifas/TarjetaMasRenfeJoven50.html

PS: Note it's "joven", with an "e", and means "young" in Spanish.

With four people, you may be getting a special 'Mesa" (table seats) fare on the Renfe site. Loco2 might not be set up for that complexity.

In any case, wait until the fares come out in the horse's mouth website, that is the RENFE website, since they're the ones operating the high-speed AVE and AVANTIA services. I would assume a normal ticket BCN-MAD for a regular Thursday in November shouldn't cost more than 60-80€ each tops, if not cheaper.

I am traveling similar time and found the same as you - that Loco 2 pricing is much more expensive....I don't get it either.
Often 'special' tickets for children or seniors have stipulations such as EU members or specific documents to verify age....and are not always elgible for discounts, so hardly worth it. But the Mesa ticket would be.
some recommend trainline.eu for easier credit card purchases from the US, but there is a mark up.
I had thought to wait a few days before buying my tickets (got my notice today from Loco2 for Madrid to Barcelona Nov 13), to see if Loco2 prices fall more into similar pricing and to see if more trains are scheduled on the given date.
I think the Mesa discount is only available from Renfe.

That you all so much
Enric: the fares that I showed in my initial post and again in a later one were from the renfe site. So I am assuming that is the site we should purchase from. There are a total of 5 of us traveling so we will want to choose seats if possible but we are very flexible. I had originally been told to thinks 65-80 E from Barcelona to Madrid and will also be booking Madrid to Seville looking at 30-40 E. I just don't want to wait to long to book and loose a good fair, but seeing I have nothing to go buy I am a bit lost.

One other question observation. I began searching prices. I went to renfe.com those are the prices I quoted above. Loco2: way highter! Went to Raileurope.com they have all the same trips, their website seems easier to use. Their fares do seem to be a couple dollars different. Anyone have any input on which site would be the best to use. Thanks

Sadly that's the way it is... RENFE site sucks, it's a casebook example of how not to design a friendly site... but, as I said earlier, it's the horse's mouth, so IMHO it's the best place to purchase your tickets -among other things because the price you pay is generally lower than thru any other intermediary.... buuuuut, you have to wait until two months before your travel date to do so because that's the way RENFE commercial operations work.

The reason for that is purely commercial, like pretty much all airlines these days, both the planning on when and where the trains have to be to pick up passengers, as well as the pricing structure, are determined by what it's called "fluid demand", which means it changes from one day to the next. Thus, opening up for bookings too long in advance while it'd be convenient for many travellers, it makes little sense from a business perspective. In short, we passengers are screwed when it comes to the planning of "our" trips.

As I said, under normal circumstance and noting your travel date is no special date nor there seems to be any particular event or situation on the date, the cost for a high-speed ticket from BCN to MAD should be around 60-80€, probably a bit less if you book trains outside of "rush hour" and also if you book tickets around the tables in the carriage.

PS: The BCN-MAD high-speed train line is sort of a "commuter line" for many residents of both cities that go to/from these cities very often for meetings or other purposes, hence the reason is normally so full.

Again Enric Thank you. Can you shed some light on why when I put our dates into renfe system 23/11/2017 it gives me the fares and it appears I would be able to purchase. I have no problem purchasing from Renfe to get the best pricing, but confusing as all get go!!!! So I am not sure as to where the 62 days comes into play. Would the rates be better if we wait? Thanks again. Sorry for the confusion

To book on Renfe's site, you will need this tutorial from TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c80518/Madrid:Spain:Buying.Renfe.Tickets.Online.html.

And do use Paypal - saves a lot of time, as your US credit card is unlikely to work.

More information about Spanish trains here: https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm

62 days is the general number of days, but when there are schedule changes it could be fewer days. As you, I am able to access my tickets more than 90 days out. If you want to see whether there is any savings between standard costs and your dates, just do a test purchase for a ticket in August (same day of the week) and compare prices.

As to which is the best website, given the inconsistent problems people have with global credit cards, I would say the best site is the one that is successful for you ;-) though I would try on Renfe first.

Maria did you get a private message from me. I sent early yesterday, but it does not show up with my messages.. J

Thanks

Cheryl, yes. check your inbox now.
For the thread, I revisited the Seat61 website, and I find it clear and helpful for confirming Renfe load dates are all over the place. Also, it defines the Mesa fare if you are wanting it. With 5 in your party, it becomes awkward as Mesa works for blocks of 4 seats.
https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm
Be sure to click the + sign on the right to see all your options. This is where you can compare the fares for each comfort class and then how refundable the tickets are.

Hi Cheryl... don't know what to say... as mentioned, it's an awful site and the cust service of the company is also quite bad -yet it's "the one" serving these trains! So yes, the "rule" says 62 days in advance so theoretically you shouldn't be able to book just yet... but you can (I tried myself too), why? don't know! Go ahead and book. Prices can fluctuate but I doubt you'll find something much cheaper than that, or if it comes down at any time in the future, the savings won't warrant the uncertainty.

Enric, AVE trains are supposedly available approx 90 days out (as per Seat61). My routes west and south of Madrid for October and November started appearing for sale on Renfe site last week and they are at promo and regular costs. Also, both AVE and Avlia trains are listed.
Maybe they are just wanting to fill in the schedule before they start working on the December schedule change.
We know that Renfe has no rhyme or reason, but there you go.

... thanks for sharing Maria, once again, I can't say... Renfe is Renfe :)

So My last question on this subject I hope is this: If I book my train travel this weekend and am unable to print out my tickets (my home printer is fussy) would I be able to go to another computer and open up my account at renfe.com log in and print? Just want to make sure I have documents. Will they also send an e-mail confirmation.

Thanks

Do you know you can easily print them to a PDF file, download them to your computer and via a pen drive take them anywhere you want for printing? For that you need to have a PDF printer installed on your computer, in Windows, one is installed by default with Office I believe. If not, you can always download a free PDF printer, such as http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

As I have been shopping for train tickets recently, I thought I'd share what I see on Renfe vs Loco2 for your date of travel. For Turista Plus promo for 5 people: On Loco2 it shows the price for all 5 people. When you click the time you want, it shows on the right "price for 5 adults 533E". On Renfe even though I input 5 people of the first page, it shows just the price for one person, until you click "next", then it shows a total price of 533E, same as Loco2. In my research, the prices have always been exactly the same. Just for what it's worth....

One thing to keep in mind is that it doesn't appear that Loco2 can offer the Mesa fare if that appeals to you. That's a purchased table for 4 (whether there are 2, 3 or 4 of you). It appears to be 206 euro for your trip. Your last traveller may not be able to sit near you and would need to be purchased in a separate transaction.
You asked earlier, you can create an account on the website and your reservations are stored there allowing you to print them later.

I just checked to make sure; when I booked tickets direct from the Renfe website, I got an e-mail from them with the ticket attached as a PDF. So yes, you do not need to print them out immediately; you can print them from the e-mail at any time, or forward the PDF attachment to someone else so they can print it, or copy the PDF to a flash drive to take to another computer to print.

So yes, you can definitely book now and print later!