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Renfe and trenitalia websites

I have found earlier posts on using these websites very helpful. I have one further question and some advice of my own.
First, the question: my problem is with Renfe, the website for the Spanish train system. After much trouble, I succeeded in purchasing tickets; I got an email with a locator number but I have no tickets. I cannot figure out how to retrieve them (the website is in Spanish and is not user friendly in general). Are there any tips? For those struggling with the website, in general, I would recommend tripadvisor, which walks you through the process:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c80518/Madrid:Spain:Buying.Renfe.Tickets.Online..html

The information on retrieving tickets has not worked for me, though.

Now some advice about Trenitalia:
I initially had no problem purchasing (and printing) tickets online from trenitalia. Then I was not able to and had basically given up. Today, I succeeded in buying tickets. I would recommend two things: use internet explorer instead of firefox; try different credit cards. If all else fails, it really is simple to buy tickets at the train station, including from the machines, which are very user friendly.

Posted by
1075 posts

I agree about Internet Explorer, sadly. Safari on my Mac really didn't work; Firefox allowed me to fix the account registration problem I had but not buy tickets; IE finally did the trick.

Posted by
4555 posts

When you paid for your ticket, you should have clicked over to a pdf file that was your ticket. But, no matter....just take your e-mail confirmation to the station and enter the "localizador" number into one of the automatic ticket machines, and your ticket will be printed out. If you have any problems, go to a ticket window for assistance. For some reason, the "my account" feature doesn't seem to be working right now.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks. The problem is that the site was working so strangely that I did not see a final window for my ticket.I wasn't even sure that the purchase had gone through until the confirmation turned up in my email. As far as I know, I had no opportunity to print it. Persistence enabled me to purchase the ticket, but not actually to retrieve it.