When can you buy Renfe tickets?
Renfe tickets for Alvia and Avant trains are available 62 days before travel. You can buy AVE train tickets up to 90 days in advance.
If there are no ticket purchasing facilities at the station (such as a Ticket Office or a self-service ticket machine, or they are closed/out of service), you may be able to buy your ticket on board the train.
1. Sign up at the following link, it is free of charge. 2. Use your Tarjeta Más Renfe (loyalty programme) card whenever you book your trip, whether you do so at renfe.com, a station ticket office, travel agency, etc.
Buy Your Tickets as Early as You Can.
When travelling on a Renfe train (which remains the largest and most popular network in Spain), for example, tickets purchased four months in advance are a whopping 75% cheaper than if you buy them on the day of travel.
To travel on Metro de Madrid you need a Public Transport Card (TTP) loaded with a valid ticket type for the journey you wish to make. More information about Card types and Cards/tickets to enter/exit Aeropuerto stations.
Online unconfirmed ticket passengers are not allowed to travel inside the train as the ticket money is refunded to the passenger if the seat is not confirmed till the time of preparation of departing train chart.
Credit & Debit Cards
All National Rail train companies accept the major credit and debit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and Amex.
When one books a ticket online and makes the payment using his credit card, he has to pay an additional fee known as Railway Surcharge. This fee is levied on account of providing convenience to the person for the ticket booking. Railway surcharge varies from 0.25% to 1.8% exclusive of GST.
You need to be carry a printed ticket to travel. You must carry a printed copy with you, which you can print using the auto check-in machines found at the stations that are ready for this or request it at the ticket offices. Other options include: Ticket on your mobile phone.
The +Renfe Joven Card allows you to benefit from huge discounts when purchasing your tickets to travel on AVE (high-speed), Larga Distancia (Long Distance), Avant (mid-distance high-speed), Media Distancia (Mid-distance) and Cercanías/Rodalies (Commuter) trains.
How to get free tickets on Renfe?
In order to obtain the free travel offer, passengers must pay a €10 deposit on Cercanías or Rodalies and a €20 deposit on Media Distancia trains. The deposit will be returned at the end of the year if at least 16 trips have been made during the initial four months.
Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to 310 km/h (195 mph).
Advance tickets are usually the cheapest way to travel by train, and generally go on sale 12 weeks before your date of travel. You have to travel on the train you're booked on, but you get a much cheaper price by foregoing flexible travel times. Full details on Advance tickets can be found here.
You can of course buy tickets direct from Spanish Railways at www.renfe.com, in € with print-your-own tickets.
Renfe Viajeros (Renfe Passengers) may request identification from passengers, in the form of a valid ID card with a photograph (national ID card, driver's licence, residence card, passport; a family record book is accepted for minors under the age of 14).
Renfe AVE First Class seating plan
You'll normally find one or two First Class carriages on Renfe AVE trains. The seats are more spaced out than in Standard Class, although they follow the same arrangement on either sitting at a table of four or two seats next to each other.
All passengers must provide documents to prove their identity. In the case of foreigners, the documentation required to travel on trains is the same as that needed to enter Spain from the country of origin. As for Spaniards, they can identify themselves with their national identity card or passport.
It's advisable to always have some cash with you when you travel. Expect to need cash for things like coffee and tapas, and anytime you need to make a purchase for anything between €10 and €20.
Whilst a daily cap will apply; it is important to be aware that it will not always be cheaper than buying a return paper ticket. There will also be a weekly price cap for those using a Contactless card or mobile device; but it will still be cheaper to buy a season ticket on the Key Smartcard or paper.
Spanish trains don't operate on a normal booking horizon, although most trains open around 60 days in advance. This is when you'll find the cheapest tickets. We always recommend booking as far in advance as possible to get the cheapest Spanish train tickets.
How far in advance do they release train tickets?
Typically, train companies release their Advance tickets 12 weeks before the departure date, although some go on sale as far as 24 weeks in advance!
Spanish train bookings usually open 60 days ahead, AVEs may open up to 90 days ahead.
Advance tickets are usually the cheapest way to travel by train, and generally go on sale 12 weeks before your date of travel. You have to travel on the train you're booked on, but you get a much cheaper price by foregoing flexible travel times. Full details on Advance tickets can be found here.
Advance tickets are generally not available earlier than 12 weeks before the date of travel. Once train times are confirmed, Advance tickets will begin to appear in our Journey Planner. You will be able to find full details of availability and choose to buy them from your preferred retailer.
Booking online is often easier and quicker to do in a hurry, and there's rarely any difference in the price at all.
- This form is for users who are well acquainted with the ETICKETING Ticket booking Procedure. ...
- Register as an individual. ...
- Login by entering your user name and password.
- For Quick Book click on the link “QuickBook” after login.
- Select Ticket Type as E-Ticket or I-Ticket for quick book.
Reservation is allowed until the first chart is prepared, which is usually 4 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the train. Current reservation is allowed for some trains where you can book vacant seats after the first chart preparation.
Advance purchase tickets are cheaper rail fares which are sold prior to the day of travel, and, in some cases on the day of departure.
They're normally cheaper than the on-the-day price, but as it gets closer to the date of travel the price tends to go up.
The requests for reservation at the reservation counters are accepted up to 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, after which, the reservation will be done at the current counters at the stations up to one hour before the scheduled departure of the train and thereafter by the Ticket Collector/Conductor ...
Can I get off at an earlier train station?
Can I break my journey while using an Anytime ticket? Yes, you can break your journey while travelling with an Anytime Single or Return ticket. This means you can get off the train at any connecting stop and leave the station, before boarding a later train to complete your journey.
