RENFE (Spain) train tickets

I ended up buying our tickets through Raileurope because Renfe is notorious for being difficult to use. Raileurope charges an extra fee (I think 4 euro per ticket), which I would normally skip by going straight to the system I want to use. In Spain's case, it seemed the fee was worth the convenience of being able to get the discounted rate and print my ticket at home before my trip. I also saved the ticket and reservation to my Ipod touch, with Documents To Go, so I'd have it if I needed it.

Anita, You don't say what date you are traveling, but I just checked Renfe for November 16 and saw a complete array of AVe trains from Cordoba to Madrid and Madrid to Barcelona, all with Web fares offered. No blocked trains at all. Try again and start with the purchase function( the shopping cart). And make sure you have advised your bank before purchase, and you have registered your card with Verified by Visa. I was easily able to purchase on Renfe after I did that. Or tryPetrabax, an agency. Mthey charge more, so it is best to try Renfe first.

Anita - If you are unable to purchase your ticket on the RENFE site, I strongly suggesrtyou use www.petrabax.com rather than Rail Europe. The prices are more than RENFE, but usually much better than RE.

Anita, Agree with Brad, jsut call Rail Europe and book your tickets. You will pay up to $5 more per ticket, well worth it. They will send you the ticket by email that you can print at home and take it to Spain with you. If you are planning to buy tickets for multiple journies, buy them from RE at the same time so they will charge you only once for emailing the tickets.

It is more than $5 extra to buy from Rail Europe. Right now, the Web fare on Renfe for the Madrid to Barcelona train at 8:30 am on Nov. 16 is 59,50 euro, which at today's rate of $1.30 is $77.87. There is no handling charge (but you will pay a foreign transaction fee on the purchase if you use a credit card that charges one). Rail Europe is selling that same ticket for $86, plus the handling fee or "print at home" charge, which I believe is $4.95. I'd at least try on Renfe first.

First, thank you for your help. I followed your suggestions and checked on tickets from the other two sources you recommended. Like RENFE, both RailEurope and Petrabax list AVE trains and regular ticket prices for Nov. 16 from Cordoba to Barcelona. (These are not Cordoba to Barcelona via Madrid.) Anyway, both sites indicate tickets are not available. The RENFE site does not list any track repairs or disruptions on that line in its Avisos sections. There is mention of station remodeling in Barcelona, but it is not the main station that this line uses. I don't get it.

Track work does not explain the problem, as the individual AVE trains (Cordoba to Madrid and Madrid to Barcelona) are available, not blocked. The "direct" AVE trains use the same tracks, passing through Madrid. See the map of the AVE lines on the Petrabax website: http://petrabax.com/renfe/spain_map.html I have seen the "train blocked" notation in the past when tickets were unavailable for purchase. But I have never seen an explanation, or figured out how to find the reason or when the train will be "unblocked." Like much of Renfe, it is mysterious. But the trains are wonderful, once you manage to score the tickets!

I think I have the solution. Renfe website is a bit goofy. I was just on and had the same problem as you. Then I started to play around with it and found the cheap fares.On the home page, I clicked on the purchase icon, got nowhere. I then started over. On home page, I chose the Time tables and prices option,I entered your travel dates and city, Pressed search. Then came up the schedule.I clicked on query/to buy, and up came those higher prices, called "Internet prices". You will see the small shopping cart and will have to click on it. It will then bring you to a site you have seen, but with your travel info loaded.....click search (again). And then you will see all the discounts you are told about!
Let me know if it works for you.

Unfortunately, that route just takes you to the same "trains blocked" page if you use a date after November 11 (I am using the 16th, not sure what date Anita is looking for).

I was able to do til dec 4th. I did this off my iPad, too. Weird. She's looking for nov 16th. Was able to take it to the please pay prompt.

Kelly, this didn't work for me, either. Anything after Nov. 11 on the Cordoba to Barcelona AVE seems to be blocked. Could you try your approach for Nov. 16 one more time to see if it works for you? Thanks!

I wonder if Kelly was looking at the wrong train. I just went through the process she described om my iPad for Cordoba to Barcelona and came up with blocked trains too.

When I get home, I will try it again. I swear it worked for me, up til Dec 4th. It took me to the payment page, which was 1 step away from actual purchase. After Dec 4th til the 8th, they only listed AVILA trains but offered no discounts. Anything after Dec 8th, the website stated, no trains exists. Trust me, I am looking to book an AVE from Madrid to Sevilla on Dec 26th, so I am paying attention when, where, why, and how to do this. I also found a website that helped explain what some of the discount icons meant; there's a star, a W, and a table looking like thing. The website also states how to book an AVE train, with the steps simular to what I stumbled upon. It was not an easy stumble....it took me awhile to get to the page that listed the discounts. Or maybe I just have magic fingers....:)

I have always just gone directly to the page showing the discount fares by using the Purchase area. It's really fast. No problem seeing them from Madrid to Barcelona for November, its the trains from Cordoba that don't show up, not even at regular price. Discount fares generally do appear 60 days in advance and on some routes are quickly booked up. The "table thing" is the symbol for a Mesa fare. That is the fare per person for four people sitting together at a table. It is similar to the Web fare (60% off) but sometimes even less. Anita---have you tried Ask Irene (virtual assistant)?

Yes, I attempted to get help/information from "Irene." No useful information from that source.

Anita,
I am in Lisbon, and entered the Renfe website on my laptop. I am registered with Renfe. So I had no problem finding 4 AVE trains on 11/16 with the web price of E70.30. The first AVE departs at 9.21...

Thanks, Lou, for taking the time to respond. The problem wasn't finding the schedules or prices. Until a few days ago, when I attempted to go further along the process of actually buying the tickets, Renfe indicated the trains were "blocked." Tickets for the trains and dates I need are now available for sale.