Senior citizen train discount?

[Lennyh1]

Hi all,
Arriving in Madrid on Sunday, Sept 1st and was wondering where I should go to get a senior discount card. If they are only used for the train I would assume the train station would be the obvious choice. But I was told they could be used for all sorts of things like museums, buses, etc.
another query: should I get a reservation for the Monday train ride to Pamlona
or just try to buy the ticket on Sunday. Don't know how crowded that train might be. The RENFE website is are real pain to use.
Thanks

 

[AnnieH61]

I got my over 60 card from the Renfe office/shop in Burgos. Easy and very cheap compared to UK.
Annie

 

[piogaw]

Hello lennyh1,

First of all welcome to the camino forum.

You are confusing the madrid card with the senior discount card.

The senior discount card (tarjeta dorada) is valid only for any spanish train and class. It is also valid on the commuter trains (cercanias). You can purchase a tarjeta dorada at any renfe station (there are renfe office in madrid barajas airport) for €5.15 which is valid for 1 year for the over 60's and also for the over 18's in receipt of a pension with 65% sever or mental disability. The card for disability will allowed a travelling companion to travel with the same discount terms. For the over 60's anyone of any nationality can apply for the card. I am not sure about the tarjeta dorada for the over 18's with disability. To buy the card you must show your passport or any national identity card. You must present your card when buying a ticket at the ticket office. For online purchase you must keyed in the reference number on your card. Discounts are 40% on monday to thursday; 25% on friday, saturday, sunday and bank holiday for tickets that have not been bought in advance and with a reserved seat.

The madrid card is on the other hand for museums and other tourist attractions in madrid. For extra supplement you can include buses and metro rides. You can buy a card for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, etc. it is cheaper and more cost effective to buy one with several days because you will not be able to visit all the tourist attractions.

It will be better for you to buy the ticket at the renfe office in madrid barajas airport upon your arrival. By the way where are you coming from and at what airport terminal in barajas?

Let me know if i can be of further assistance. Buen camino and god bless.

 

[Al the optimist]

They gave me a discount for the Valencia Opera House tour when I showed them my Tarjeta Dorada last year

 

[kmrice]

Hello lennyh1,

First of all welcome to the camino forum.

You are confusing the madrid card with the senior discount card.

The senior discount card (tarjeta dorada) is valid only for any spanish train and class. It is also valid on the commuter trains (cercanias). You can purchase a tarjeta dora at any renfe station (there are renfe office in madrid barajas airport) for €5.15 which is valid for 1 year for the over 60's and also for the over 18's in receipt of a pension with 65% sever or mental disability. The card for disability will allowed a travelling companion to travel with the same discount terms. For the over 60's anyone of any nationality can apply for the card. I am not sure about the tarjeta dorada for the over 18's with disability. To buy the card you must show your passport or any national identity card. You must present your card when buying a ticket at the ticket office. For online purchase you must keyed in the reference number on your card. Discounts are 40% on monday to thursday; 25% on friday, saturday, sunday and bank holiday for tickets that have not been bought in advance and with a reserved seat.

The madrid card is on the other hand for museums and other tourist attractions in madrid. For extra supplement you can include buses and metro rides. You can buy a card for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, etc. it is cheaper and more cost effective to buy one with several days because you will not be able to visit all the tourist attractions.

It will be better for you to buy the ticket at the renfe office in madrid barajas airport upon your arrival. By the way where are you coming from and at what airport terminal in barajas?

Let me know if i can be of further assistance. Buen camino and god bless.

1. is the tarjeta dora good for discounts on the Trenhotel from Santiago to Madrid?

2. Is there a RENFE office in Santiago where you buy a targeta dora?

Thanks,

Karl

 

[TerryB]

Certainly the equivalent tarjeta azule for the FEVE on the north coast needs a photocopy of your passport / ID which is retained by the office on purchase. If you need to buy it in a hurry, it would be best to get a photocopy of your passport first. - better still get two before leaving home and take them with you. You will then have one in case of emergencies
Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[JohnnieWalker]

2. Is there a RENFE office in Santiago where you buy a targeta dora?

Yes - at the train station of course, but now also right at the Pilgrims' Office at 3 Rua do Vilar. We also have an office of Alsa Buses.

 

[kmrice]

2. Is there a RENFE office in Santiago where you buy a targeta dora?

Yes - at the train station of course, but now also right at the Pilgrims' Office at 3 Rua do Vilar. We also have an office of Alsa Buses.

Please excuse my confusion. Is the TrenHotel from Santiago to Madrid RENFE or FEVE?

And, would a 60 year old discount on it require a tarjeta dorada or a tarjeta azule? If azule, can that be obtained at the Pilgrim's Office?

 

[Tia Valeria]

The FEVE only runs on the north coast (Ferrol to Bilbao) and over 60s can buy the tarjeta azul - photocopy of ID needed.
Madrid will be RENFE itself and a tarjeta dorada, which probably will also require copy of ID.
The FEVE has only retained the copy since being taken over by RENFE.
Hope that helps.

 

[piogaw]

hello karl,

yes karl, the trenhotel is renfe, as of all feve trains from july 2012.

please note the tarjeta dorada is valid for the trenhotel from santiago to madrid, as with all trains of renfe (the government-owned spanish national railways). my experience with them has been just to show the tarjeta dorada if buying tickets at the manned ticket counter in renfe stations or offices. if buying online or at the ticket machine in the station, you will have to keyed in your reference number which is the number below your tarjeta dorada discount card. the same rule applies to buy the cercanias tickets. i have never been asked to provide a photocopy of my passport.

as john has mentioned, you can buy alsa bus and renfe train tickets at an office that has recently been opened next door to the pilgrim office in santiago. i am not sure whether you can buy a tarjeta dorada there. however you can buy one at any renfe stations (including sdc). it is better to get one at the madrid barajas airport on your way into spain.

i do not have very much information about feve which services the northern spanish routes. however i do know feve was integrated into renfe in july of 2012. and also the targeta azul offers discount of 50% to senior citizen over 60s (more generous than the tarjeta dorada). i do not know the situation now, whether you can use the tarjeta dorada or not as the two companies are not completely integrated. nor do i know the cost to buy a tarjeta azul. i assume the you can no longer buy the tarjeta azule.

again buen camino and god speed.

 

[Tia Valeria]

The Tarjeta Azul was still being sold for this year, cost was about 5 euros, valid until the end of January 2014. As far as we know they are still available for the FEVE. Just note the need for a copy of ID which will be retained.
The Tarjeta Azul is not valid on the RENFE lines, nor the Tarjeta Dorada on the FEVE lines, as far as we know.

 

[peregrina2000]

Yes, I think Tia's right about the two cards being non-transferable to the other line. RENFE's website very carefully describes the tarjeta azul in its FEVE section, and its Tarjeta Dorada in its general RENFE section. I know Tia and others have said you need to give the officials a copy of your id for the FEVE card. For the RENFE card, I didn't have to give anyone a copy of anything, though they did note all my details and passport number, etc.

This may have changed, but when I had my RENFE tarjeta dorada last year, I was told it could only be used in person. Piogaw, have you been able to use it online? Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hola Laurie, the requirement to leave a copy of the ID is new this year. It is attached to the issuing station's paperwork. The ID number is printed onto the tarjeta. If the number is 'too long' they will add it by hand - like for our UK passports. You can be asked to produce your ID again, as well as the tarjeta, when buying a ticket or showing it on the train, although we didn't have to do so.

When buying our tarjeta in Santander, unaware of this new regulation, it was fortunate that we went to buy the tarjeta and check the train time the night before travelling. Waiting for the copy etc on the day of travelling would have meant missing our train. Next year we will travel with copies from home.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for that update, Tia. I usually don't have a lot of free time between arrival in Barajas and departure on a train, so it was a very helpful tip. Laurie

 

[piogaw]

hola laurie,

you can do booking online with the targeta dorada. i booked train once online and once on the ticket machine at the station. the first time i collected my ticket at the station's ticket machine.

when you book online, you will be asked to fill in all the info. the search will turned up different types of discount. when you click on the dorada logo, the next screen will asked you to fill in your reference number, you then click to recalculate the purchase price. on some sites there will just have a regular ticket price, this is at some point ask you to fill in your reference number. i also did a test run on the renfe site just now and it is working.

i believe renfe is depending on your honesty. of course the system can be cheated. but you maybe asked to show your targeta dorada and identication while on the train. i was never checked on the train or asked to show my tarjeta dorada.

this system also works on the sncf (france) except you do not need to buy a senior citizen card. i have recently bought numerous french rail tickets for families who are senior citizen online. in order to avail of the discount, i was asked to give their names, ages, nationalities and birthdays.

i hope i have given you enough info.

que tengas un buen camino y dios los bendiga.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for all of this information -- seems like RENFE has really modernized its purchasing. Now if I could only figure out how to buy a ticket from RENFE.com on their website from the US!!!!!

 

[piogaw]

Thanks for all of this information -- seems like RENFE has really modernized its purchasing. Now if I could only figure out how to buy a ticket from RENFE.com on their website from the US!!!!!

Laurie,

Here is a website that will help you buying online from the us. Www.tripadvisor.com. Click travel forum, click more on the headings, then travel forum, europe forums, spain. Then go to jump to a more specific forum, click madrid. On the right hand side under top questions about madrid : click train travel: buying renfe tickets online.

This will explain everything about purchasing train tickets online, especially from the states. From what i know about the difficulties with buying tickets from the us are : problems with payments. Most us credit cards do not have chip and pin number as it is in europe, so renfe will not be able to process your payments. A second problem has to do with your banks which normally block payments due to worries about fraudulent transactions on the internet. It is suggested that you inform your bank you are to purchase a ticket in spain and ask the bank not to block the transaction. Renfe give me a list of cards that they will accept. Visa, visa electron, mastercard, diners card, american express. But again i do not know whether they are talking about cards with chip and pin or not. I will be in santiago in a few days, i will try to find out for you.

Sorry for the long explanation. I hope this helps.

 

[jprogers]

Hi
I can't add anything to piogaws excellent explanation. It was Peregrina2000 that mentioned it on the forum so in June this year we gave it a go! Arrived Madrid, bus to Atocha train station and then we had to show our passports to purchase the Tarjeta Dora (they took details) then bought fast train ticket to Cordoba. Very pleased with ourselves went without a hitch! Do allow some time though as renfe often has down time in their system and has long queues on certain days/dates.
Thanks for the online booking explanation as we had to do that one time and wasn't sure of how to get discount. We probably didn't need to book early but you do like to be re assured.
Regards Jill

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks piogaw for all of that explanation. I have struggled with this for years and last year just decided to fly from Madrid to Valencia to start my camino since the add-on to the international fare was so cheap. But I'm sure I'll be back on RENFE again sometime.

There was one happy moment about 4 years ago when the stars aligned and I was able to buy a ticket online from RENFE. But since that makes it about 1 out of 10, it's not a very good batting average. And who knows what was different that one year. I just don't buy the explanation that it's a problem with US credit cards or our bank not taking payment -- I use my credit cards to buy things in Spain many times every year, online, in person or on the phone, and the ONLY place I ever have a problem is RENFE. (Having said that, I do know that our credit card system is way behind the times without the most modern technology, but other merchants seem to have figured out how to deal with it).

Others may have better luck, but just a heads-up that if you try it a few times without success, my recommendation would be to either take a chance and buy the ticket on arrival like Jill did or accept your fate and use an online broker (I think petrabax.com is cheaper than raileurope.com, but that was last year). On principle, I don't like to do that, because I'm a "do-it-myself" kind of person, but the frustration with RENFE was just too much for even me to bear!

Buen camino, Laurie