RENFE bargain tickets just released

[Deleted member 36903]

I have been checking every week and today was the day! Renfe have just released tickets from Barcelona to Madrid on the AVE train and the price I paid was £26.01 or 32 Euros. I will be travelling on to Vigo from Madrid prior to dropping down to Porto to start my next Camino, but the tickets for that leg of the journey are not yet available. I realise that other pilgrims might not be using this route, but am highlighting it just in case tickets for their journeys have been released today as well. Just to add, I paid using Paypal and it was trouble-free. I don't know if it is that easy for people outside the EU.
Buen Camino!

 

[marilyn van graan]

I have been checking every week and today was the day! Renfe have just released tickets from Barcelona to Madrid on the AVE train and the price I paid was £26.01 or 32 Euros. I will be travelling on to Vigo from Madrid prior to dropping down to Porto to start my next Camino, but the tickets for that leg of the journey are not yet available. I realise that other pilgrims might not be using this route, but am highlighting it just in case tickets for their journeys have been released today as well. Just to add, I paid using Paypal and it was trouble-free. I don't know if it is that easy for people outside the EU.
Buen Camino!

I have previously tried booking tickets and found it impossible - wish someone could tell me how to do this from South Africa

 

[dougfitz]

@SEB, what dates were you booking? I found RENFE had ticketing available for late April a week ago. It appears they only have a few months open at a time, so going in too early is pointless. One has to both be patient and keep checking from about three months out from when one wants to travel.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

23rd April dougfitz. But there seems to be no discernible logic as to why some fares become available before the 90/60 day window. For example, my alternative for the direct, but stopping journey from Barcelona to Vigo (my stop off point before Porto) is still not available for that date. It looked to be the cheapest option at around 46 euros but took over 13 hours. The cheapest AVE ticket from Barcelona to Madrid for 23rd April searching yesterday was around 75 euros. I assume you just have to keep checking on Mondays when it seems some new tickets are released. It's a bit like a lottery but I feel like I won a small prize today and won't have to spend 13 hours on a stopping train.

 

[dougfitz]

When I was planning my next trip, I would check what was available in the next month on the same day of the week that I was intending to travel. That way I got an understanding of what might be the general pattern of the schedule, and could look for those options that met my travel requirements best. You are right, it's not so much a science as an art so far as I can tell.

 

[momof34man]

I checked all three of these sites for my tickets from Madrid to Pamplona. The best deal came from the second website.
I had to wait until it was about 60 days before the trip.

https://www.raileurope.com
http://www.raileurope-world.com
http://www.renfe.com

 

[JenPow]

If you use www.loco2.com they will send you an alert when tickets become available.
It's a really user friendly site.
Unfortunately you can't book tickets in Portugal using them but you can book trains from Spain to Portugal.

 

[movinmaggie]

There is a huge difference in price between Rail Europe and Renfe. Although the process can be a tad frustrating in the realm of Renfe, the cheaper price is worth it.

 

[JenPow]

Quite so. But you can still use their alert to let you know when RENFE booking opens

 

[marilyn van graan]

@SEB, what dates were you booking? I found RENFE had ticketing available for late April a week ago. It appears they only have a few months open at a time, so going in too early is pointless. One has to both be patient and keep checking from about three months out from when one wants to travel.

I am leaving SA on the 12 April so would be looking for ticket on the 13 from Madrid to Malaga

 

[Deleted member 36903]

I am leaving SA on the 12 April so would be looking for ticket on the 13 from Madrid to Malaga

Just checked RENFE and they have tickets available on that date for the AVE (high speed) train from 23.85 euros.

 

[Castilian]

I will be travelling on to Vigo from Madrid prior to dropping down to Porto to start my next Camino, but the tickets for that leg of the journey are not yet available.

Just in case it could be any useful, there are two routes to go from Madrid to Porto by train:

• To make it changing trains in Vigo (as you plan).
• To make it changing trains in Coimbra-B.

If you don't have preferences (i.e.: if you don't have any special interest in Vigo or Coimbra), you could just go for the cheapest one.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Thank you for this Castilian. There are no day trains to Coimbra from Madrid, but you reminded me that I originally planned to travel to Lisbon on the Trenhotel then up to Porto but the tickets were looking too expensive. just checked today and got a great deal Cama Turista for 33.60 euros. As the hotel in Vigo would have cost near the same amount. This is a cheap alternative even though I will have to buy a ticket to travel from Lisbon to Porto, but then Portuguese railways offer up to 50% discount for senior citizens on production of proof of eligibility. You nodded me in the right direction, the ticket is cheaper, I get a longer stay in Madrid, no hotel cost and don't have to mess about trying to find a Bus in Vigo on a Sunday to take me to Porto. Cheers!

 

[Jenyat53]

Booking from Oz on Renfe seems much less painful with PayPal!

 

[whariwharangi]

I have previously tried booking tickets and found it impossible - wish someone could tell me how to do this from South Africa

This link is Renfe international points of sale
http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/puntosventa_internacional.html

The Renfe Sales Point in South Africa is World Travel. Unfortunately I can't get the world travel site to open ... perhaps because it is in SA.

SUDÁFRICA
WORLD TRAVEL
Samro Place,9th Floor, 20 De Korte Street, Braamfontein
2000 JOHANNESBURG

• 
  Teléfono : +271 162 823 19
• 
  Fax : + 278 653 242 81
• 
  Web: www.worldtravel.co.za/

 

[mickiet2002]

I checked all three of these sites for my tickets from Madrid to Pamplona. The best deal came from the second website.
I had to wait until it was about 60 days before the trip.

https://www.raileurope.com
http://www.raileurope-world.com
http://www.renfe.com

 

[mickiet2002]

Momof34man - thank you for taking the time to put these web-sites here for us! I just got my train tickets and now have a big sigh of relief!!!