Train travel - Spain's Easiest
Way to Travel

How to buy a ticket online with Renfe's website

Looking forward to train travel? Spain is one of the best places to do so. If you plan to move around the country, catching a train is a cool experience. With one of the larger rail networks in Europe, Renfe operates all the trains that run in Spain.

Don't be worried by the lack of competition. Being a state-owned company, Renfe keeps its fares pretty reasonable and even extremely cheap in some routes and services. And if you want to save lots of money, have a look at some tricks to buy cheaper tickets

Renfe sells tickets online for almost any long-distance trip (including sleeping trains) regarding train travel. Spain has railroad links with Portugal and France. International tickets to these countries can also be purchased online.

Once you have decided your destination, the only thing you have to do is buy your ticket and print it. You'll be asked to present it at the train station's security control.

Unfortunately, searching and buying a train ticket is not always very logic: pages that are not translated into English, error messages coming from nowhere... Even I've had some trouble after years dealing with Renfe's website. As a result, I've come up with a FULL step-by-step guide that will help you go through the whole process. Once you're done, you'll see that it wasn't such a big deal!

Pros: No more queues, you can buy your ticket whenever you like. Renfe offers superb cheap online tariffs not available at ticket offices or travel agencies.

Cons: You can only buy tickets 62 days in advance. The website is sometimes not translated to English, and not user friendly.

Renfe's booking website instructions

Follow these simple instructions to book your train travel. Spain is worth it and you'll overcome the technical problems easily.

1. Go to www.renfe.com. If possible use Internet Explorer. I've successfully bought tickets using with Firefox, Chrome or Safari but Renfe's website is not as reliable with these browsers. Furthermore, you should allow cookies and pop-ups on your computer and make sure that it has the latest version of Acrobat Reader installed.

2. To switch to English click 'Welcome'. Then, click 'Purchase' (cart icon).

3. A new window opens. Chose your origin and destination in the drop-down list, enter your travel dates, the number of passengers and select either 'Return' or 'Outward'. Click 'Search'.

4. A new screen shows timetables and fares for your trip. Take a look at the last column. It shows

• The 'Tarifa General' (regular fare)
• If available, 'Web' tariffs under a purple 'W' logo next to it
• If available, 'Estrella' fares under a golden 'Star' logo next to it

'Web' tariffs offer 50%, 60% and 70% reductions (depending on trains and date of purchase) over the one-way full fare BUT they are non-refundable AND non-changeable.

'Estrella' fares will offer you a discount between 30% and 40% (depending on trains and date of purchase) over the full one-way fare and they are semi-refundable.

Both 'Web' & 'Estrella' fares are available to anyone (no age restriction).

6. Select a train departure and class of train travel. Spain is divided into

• 'Turista' which corresponds to 2nd class,
• 'Preferente' is 1st class,
• 'Club' corresponds to premium 1st class (available only on AVE trains).

7. If you are booking a sleeping train, make sure it says 'Cama' (Bed). Chose among

• 'Butaca superior' for a regular seat.
• 'Cama Turista' for a bed in a 4-berth sleeper.
• 'Cama Preferente' for 1 or 2 bed sleeper.
• 'Cama G. Clase' for a 1 or 2 bed sleeper with private shower and toilet. You can have an 'Individual' (Single-bed) or 'Doble familiar' (2-berth).

If discount fares are available, you'll see a purple 'W' logo and/or a golden 'Star' logo next to the price.

8. A 3rd screen appears. You can change the drop down box marked 'Adulto' (adult) to 'Web' or 'Estrella', if they are available. The other fares are 'Carnet Joven' (Students - if you choose this. make sure you have your International Youth Travel Card with you as you'll be asked to show it before boarding; if you don't your fare will be cancelled and you'll have to pay full price), 'Niño' (Child, 40% for kids from 4 to 14 years old) and 'Tarjeta Dorada' (Seniors, this card is available to anyone at every Renfe office. Show proof of age).

Click the 'Select seat' option if available (not all trains offer you this option) and then 'Continue'.

9. Fill out your details and enter your credit card details. Tick the lower tick box to agree to Renfe's sales conditions.

10. Finally, the last screen appears. A diagram appears showing you the wagons and available seats. Pick yours and accept.

11. You will then get a message that Renfe is connecting with your bank. If you get error message G001-U014 when paying, make sure your bank accepts foreign credit card payments. Otherwise, try another credit card. Please note that American Express cards and Citibank cards issued in the US don't work

12. If everything turns out the way it should, a new window will pop-up. The tickets will always come up in a PDF format. Finally, print them.

Easy, huh? :-)

If something is still not clear enough, download a FULL step-by-step guide that will help you buy Renfe tickets online.

Train? Travel? Spain? Read more about train travel in Spain.

Looking for hidden train fares? Take a look at my cheap train travel tricks!

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