At end of Sept will spend next 3 weeks in Spain. Trips from Mad. to Toleo and back. Mad to Córdoba. Córdoba to Granada. Granada to Sevilla ( LL train/bus ). Sevilla to Bcn. Bcn to Mad.
Where will I get the best pricing. Buying in advance online or waiting to get the TD at Barajas on arrival or some combination.
Thank you.
I was in Spain this past spring. I bought one train ticket online in advance because there was a great promo rate and I knew just when I needed to travel. Then, the first time I was in a train station (was in Barcelona in my case) I showed my passport and paid for the TD, and used it for all following tickets. A highly discounted fare will lock you in with no changes allowed, and in many cases they likely won't be available at this point for late Sept anyway. The TD discount is big and leaves you with major flexibility if anything changes. My understanding is that you can only buy your TD at a train station, but then you can use it (its number) to buy tickets anywhere, such as at a train station, online, or at a travel agency (maybe with a tiny service fee, which I did happily for several tickets at one time, sitting comfortavly in her air conditioned office). Although you cannot actually buy tickets at the TD price until you have the card and its number, but as I remember you can do research as if you had a card, and compare the TD price with any regular or discounted prices. Good luck with this!
The TD discount is 40% weekday, and 25% weekend. Check full price on line and find where the better deal is. The TD is easy and convenient to use.
And Friday is "weekend".
If you want to save money on train tickets, the best prices are found 60-90 days in advance, however, you may still find a few discounted tickets, especially for the latter part of your trip.
As previously stated, the Tarjeta Dorada will give you 40% discount Monday- Thursday & 25% Friday- Sunday.
Keep in mind that the discount is taken on full fare tickets, so you may want to do a search & see if you'll save more money
by waiting or by booking in advance.
BTW, some trains get booked way in advance, so that's another reason to book in advance.
Check the Renfe website for best deals:http://www.renfe.com/
You may want to read this helpful article before booking tickets on the Renfe site.
Have a wonderful trip!
Thanks. Just purchased tickets for a leg of trip. Promo price was better than TD for this leg. Everything was going great until I tried to pay. Decided, against other warnings here at RS, to try to pay with my Cap1 card (two days ago I told them I was traveling to Spain). It was rejected. I got an almost immediate email from Cap1 saying that they thought it was a "suspicious" transaction. I then chose PayPal in Renfe with no problem. So at this point I don't know if it was Renfe or Cap1. Next time I'll wait and call Cap1 if it gets rejected.
Thanks for help.
It's best to pay with PayPal when booking your tickets on the Renfe site.
I booked all my tickets via Renfe & paid with PayPal without any issues.
You can always buy the Tarjeta Dorada when you arrive to Spain, & use it to buy your ticket to Toledo, or any other tickets you'll need.
When I tried to use my Capital One card on Renfe's website, it didn't go through. I called Capital One, and they said the transaction didn't even get through to them to be rejected (so you got a step further than I did!). I then used PayPal without a hitch.
What I knew beforehand is that Renfe has an added layer of online security. You need to register your card with Verified by Visa or Mastercard Secure Card and choose a password. Renfe is not the only one who requires this. On my previous trips, I registered my card and successfully purchased lots of train tickets online.
What I learned this year after a lot of frustation and subsequent conversations with Cap1 and Mastercard (my Cap1 is MC) is that MC Secure Card is an option decided by each company offering MC. Cap1 decided to terminate. Thus you can no longer register for this added security layer and so you can't use the card with vendors that require it. As Harold said, it gets "stuck" on that Renfe step. Renfe gets a message that the card is rejected and Cap1 never sees a transaction. Paypal takes a small fee and uses a decent exchange rate.
BTW the discounts for the TD vary - yes, it's 40/25% on AVE trains, but can be more on MD trains. Just plunk in TD passengers on the Renfe site and it will give you the best price. Then drill down on that specific train and click the dialog box for the price and you'll see all the options - so you can compare. On my last trip, the differences were pretty small and the only trains I purchased in advance were one that had a good chance of being sold out (to Valencia) and the one that I needed to catch my flight home.
You should buy your tickets to/from Toledo a few days in advance - they do sell out. If you need a specific train that runs infrequently (say, to/from Granada), you may as well buy that in advance and have it in hand - unless the promo fares are gone and you'll save a lot with the TD. BTW Atocha is an awful place to buy tickets in my experience. Try to get the rest of your tickets online while you're in Madrid or at the Toledo train station. Buy the TD at the airport and take the Cercanias into town - the Renfe office is next to the station. They'll also sell you the Cercanias ticket. You can probably pick up your Toledo tickets then too - if you know which trains you want. Where are you staying in Madrid?
Thanks all. Good advice. I will pick up the TD at the airport. Yes. I see no reason not to stay with PayPal.
Still wonder about the connection from Granada to Sevilla. Does anyone see that as a nice car rental ride? Get a rental leaving Granada and turn it in on arrival at Sevilla?
Found a very nice Airbnb close to Sevilla station in Madrid, on the Sol station side.
If you're just going from Granada to Seville, you can take the train or the bus - no need to rent a car just for this. If you want to see places in between, a car can be handy.
Note that buses in Spain are much nicer than Greyhound in the US. Since they fill in gaps in the train service, they are very extensive.
I agree with Harold, you don't need a car if you intend to drive from Granada to Sevilla.
We took the ALSA bus on this route last October. It was a comfortable 3 hour ride. The bus had comfortable seats, A/C & there's a small WC too.
The scenery was pleasant, many olive groves & few white towns in the distance. My mom decided to take a nice long nap during this bus ride!
Edit to add... I forgot to give you the ALSA website: https://www.alsa.es/en
If you can fit it in, I would recommend renting a car in Granada and taking 2 days (more is better) to drive through the pueblos blancos to Sevilla, staying overnight in Ronda. You can stop to see the prehistoric tombs (dolmens) outside Antequera too.
