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renfe is now taking American credit cards!

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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 02:59 AM
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renfe is now taking American credit cards!

I just used my Visa this morning!
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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 03:10 AM
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Big revolution in RENFE they are giving great dicounts to seniors of all nationalities, only thing seniors must buy a 5 euro Años Dorados card...amazing....
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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 04:28 AM
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now that is good news!
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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 09:40 AM
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Yeah, Renfe!
I also successfully used my US Visa yesterday to get the 60% discount WEB fare!
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 06:49 AM
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ttt- Great News!
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 06:59 AM
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Madrid-Pamplona on the Alvia (2 hrs. 59 min.) for €21.55
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 08:40 AM
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I need (one way) AVE tickets for Madrid to Barcelona in March. On renfe.es I see a tourist fare of 109.50 Internet with a slightly higher price for "estacion." Just wanted to check that I was doing this correctly.

Thank you.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 08:48 AM
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If you just look at the schedules on Renfe, the WEB and Estrella fares don't pop up; you need to use the booking function, "Compra de billetes", to see the discount fares.

https://w1.renfe.es/vol/indexHome.do
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 08:52 AM
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Marcel - which day are you traveling?

The € 109,50 fare is regular price for the slower train. The high speed AVE train is € 129,30.

HOWEVER, see if web or estrella fares are still available for your date. WEB fares are € 51,70 and Estrella fares are € 77,60 for the AVE train.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:14 AM
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We are traveling on March 14. Obviously I am looking at the wrong page - I certainly thought I had selected AVE.

I truly appreciate your help. (BTW - Marcel is a literary reference - I am wrong quite a bit.)
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:22 AM
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For March 14 (Sat) - there's only one "directo" AVE in the AM, at 8am. Journey time is 2hrs43mins and the Web & Estrella fares are still available (prices of those are what I quoted in my earlier post). The 1900 directo train also has the Web/Estrella fares.

The slower trains takes 3 - 3.5 hours, depending on which one. Most only have Estrella fares for € 65,70.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:24 AM
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off-topic, assuming you were referring to Proust, he was definitely right about the Vermeer painting.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:38 AM
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Off T - I wouldn't argue about the Vermeer, although I've had my own "Proustian" reactions to other works.

On T: Thank you for the new info. I believe that I have found the correct page - https://w1.renfe.es/vol/ All in Spanish but I can manage - there is a nice explanatory posting about the steps to use either here or on trip advisor. I'll find it.

The somewhat slower train is probably preferable to an 8 am departure. I may want to stay up late on the 13th. But i'm thinking about it.

You're the best.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:43 AM
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Maribel's guides has a link to HOW TO buy renfe tickets online
http://maribelsguides.com/renfetickets.htm
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 10:14 AM
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It's not working again - at least for AMEX (got through everything including payment info but then got an "apology" screen.) I'll try later with VISA.

Ironically our alternative destination for a March trip was Japan. I finally have that system figured out.

But this is all part of the travel experience ....
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 02:19 PM
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No luck with Visa either (multiple attempts.)
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Old Feb 2nd, 2009, 02:24 PM
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Try if from the Spanish language page and then select your language once you've selected the train and web fare.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2009, 01:50 PM
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Tried again. This time I got a "Document Follows" message at the top of the purchase screen but the screen then remained frozen for 20 minutes when I bailed.

Will be chatting with my CC company soon. (I had confirmed with them previously that I would be attempting to purchase on the Renfe site.)
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Old Feb 3rd, 2009, 07:20 PM
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Good grief! It just can't be that it accepted US bank credit cards for a grand total of 2 days then went back to refusing them!

I'd just keep trying!
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Old Feb 4th, 2009, 01:05 AM
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The Spanish Amex card doesn't even work so try with another.
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