Train, Spain, buying tickets on-line from US from renfe

first, check with your bank and let them know you are purchasing on line from overseas. Second, when you get to the RENFE site, read through the English side, then go to the Spanish side, register in the upper right hand corner (sorry can not be more specific), get a user name, password, etc., then purchase the tickets. There are several postings on the site about the process. Let me know if you do not get through and I will look back for the site and the specifics.

I did contact the credit card. I tried to register, but I couldn't get past the "province" for my address. Ohio isn't listed as a province... I will try your advice through the Spanish text. Thank you.

I can not find the "register" page on the renfe homepage. I find it on the right when I select the buy tickets area. My registration won't go through because I don't have a "renfe user" number. It is the very first box to fill in to apply to register. I can't seem to make sense of this. How can I have a renfe user number when I'm first applying to renfe? What am I missing here?

You do not need to register on Renfe to purchase. I was successful in purchasing tickets in 4 separate transactions last month, and saved a lot with the discounts. I was never able to log in (got an error message if I tried) but the purchase went throughbjust fine. What you DO need to do is register your card with Verified by VISA first, and also call your bank to make sure they won't reject the charge. If it still does not work, try Rumbo.es. This is a Spanish travel agency. They charge a small handling fee, about 5 or 6 euros per ticket but they pass on the Web and Estrella fares so you get the full discount. Their website is quite user- friendly but only in Spanish. Rumbo runs the charge through Renfe and you get the same printable ticket. You will also see on your credit card bill that the charge goes through Renfe, with a separate charge from Rumbo for the agency fee. After one purchase on Rumbo you may have better luck with Renfe. That was my experience. Also try at various times of the day. The Renfe site seems to work better at some times than others.

Here is a comparison of RailEurope and Renfe and Rumbo prices: For travel from Barcelona to Madrid on May 31, 2011: Renfe shows web fares on the trains departing at 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, and 15:00 of 47,10 euros in turista class. Regular fare is 117 euros. Rumbo offers tickets on those same trains for 40,80 euros, but then addsa a handling fee. Seat assignements are included and people traveling together get seats together. RailEurope charges $174 for second-class tickets on those same trains. As for fast service, with Renfe and Rumbo.es you get a printable ticket when you purchase.

If I can't get Renfe to work and I have to use an agency, is Rumbo.es better than RailEurope?

I'd use Rail Europe. They seem to charge very low fees, which are actually mitigated to some extent by the fact that they charge you in USD, which means no currency exchange fees from your bank/credit card company. In addition, I ordered tickets for our upcoming trip on a Thursday and they arrived the next Tuesday with regular delivery requested. They dealt with all our seat assignments and even put all four of us in our family in probably the best seats they could (in both cases we have 2 seats facing each other on both sides of a table).

Not RailEurope. They do not offer all the available trains, and they do not offer the Web fare discounts, which is (to me) the whole point of buying tickets for Spain trains in advance. Rumbo.es offers all of the trains that Renfe offers, and offers the same discounts, including the 60% off Web fares when they are available. I saved a lot of euros (like more than a hundrred) buying from Rumbo when I couldn't get the purchase to go through on Renfe.

Laura...here is reply I received from Norm when I was purchasing my last tickets...maybe it will be of assistance. From: Norm Date: 8/23/10 6:16 PM
Not sure...I just entered your info and it seems to be working for me. Let's run thru the steps, since RENFE's chaged its site in the past few months, giving it virtually complete English functionality. Go to http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html . Don't enter anything there...instead, click on "Purchase" towards the upper right. Enter your information there, and you should be able to proceed. BTW, the 8:30 am train on Oct. 22 can be had for about 49 Euro instead of 82. -Original Message- Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 4:00 PM Norm = You are certainly the expert on Spain for sure! I enjoy your many posts. Problem: I am this very moment attempting to purchase Renfe tickets, Madrid - Sevilla, for travel on Oct 22 - 62 days from now. Based on your prior posts I have gone to the spanish language website, ed the wweb fare ticket at 9 am, hit the start purchase on the right hand side and all I can do is get redirected to the beginning point once more! Any suggestions? Thanks hjthomas, jr lagrange, Georgia 678 699 3620 cell phone [email protected] email