SharonNRayMc

My husband and I are planning to take the overnight train from Barcelona to Sevilla on Saturday night, February 21. And, the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid on Thursday, February 26. These dates fall during Carnival and immediately after. Should we buy our train tickets before we leave the states? If so, what is the best way to do so? We arrive in Barcelona on February 15 and could also buy the tickets once we are there. If it's better to buy them in Barcelona, what would be the best way?

SharonNRayMc

I'll add that we will be staying near the Cathedral at the Regencia Colon while in Barcelona.

Andre

SharonNRayMC,
You might as well purchase your tickets in advance at the RENFE website:

http://www.renfe.es/ingles/index.html

You can then pick up your tickets at any RENFE station in Spain. There's no extra charge vs. waiting until you get to Spain to make the purchase.

Hope this helps,
Andre

car

The night train from Barcelona to Seville is just one train with limited space so this ticket should be purchased well in advance. The Sevilla Madrid day train offers service every two hours or so, and it is easily double by the train company, so your risk there could be ending with Club, tickets, more expensive.
If your dates are clear and confirmed buy the tickets.

SharonNRayMc

Thank you to Andre and car. When looking at the Renfe site several months ago, I thought credit card purchases on their web site were not possible unless you had established an account with them in person. I just took another look at their site regarding ticket purchases and find that Andre is quite correct. Here's the info on their site and the important details from the "Collecting your ticket page":
--------
From their site: For the compliance of ours security protocols, the tickets in the first purchase with each credit card in TIKNET from 24/jun/02, must be collected in a RENFE station to authenticate the owner of the credit card. No further purchases can be done until this procedure is completed. For more information consult the page Ticket Collection. RENFE thanks your collaboration for travelling with us. * Virtual Credit Cards are not accepted.

From their Ticket Collection page: https://w1.renfe.es/vbi/htvbiu04.html

Once you have got your Purchase LOCALIZER, tickets may be collected as follows:

First Purchase (each Credit Card)


Is mandatory that the owner of the Credit Card goes to the station and presents the Localizer, the Credit Card and ID Card, Passport or Driving Licence. Any further purchases can not be done until the tickets are collected.

----------
Now, looking at the instructions again, it appears that I can book these on-line and then pick them up the station.

Does anyone know if I can pick up the tickets for each of these trips at the station in Barcelona? For those of you who have done this, did you encounter any problems?

Thank you!

Andre

SharonNRayMc,

I should have read your original post a little more carefully...

Night trains cannot be reserved on the RENFE site (don't ask me why), so you can only book the Sevilla to Madrid AVE tix online there. Should you however decide to make an additional purchase, just use a different credit card for it and it will go through. I have never done this (I live in Europe so can purchase the tix locally), but several people on this forum have and it's never been a problem (do a search).

To book the night train from Barcelona to Seville, you would have to either wait till you were in Spain, or use one of the US booking agencies like RailEurope, which carry huge surcharges. But why take the train when you can FLY for far less?

Air Europa has an evening flight with a fare of EUR 42.56 INCLUDING all taxes and fees from Barcelona to Sevilla on Feb. 21! The english version of their site is a bit quirky - on the booking screen, you may want to remove the checkmark on the "opción cambios" box. Leaving it checked will include a EUR 6 supplement which allows you to make 1 time/date change up to 2 hours before the original departure time without paying the usual change fee of EUR 30 (but you would still have to pay any fare difference).

In the "tipo documento" dropdown list next to each passenger's name, select "passport" and type the relevant passport number in the next field (obviously you will need to show your passports at check in and the numbers must match).

Otherwise, the process is straightforward: just choose an E-ticket and you're on your way! Anyway, here's the Air Europa site:

www.air-europa.com

If you're a Continental OnePass member, you will even earn 500 miles for the flight!

Iberia also serves the route and matches the Air Europa fare, but I like the timing of the Air Europa flight because it gives you a full day in Barcelona without arriving in Sevilla too late - your choice. To see the low domestic fares on the Iberia site, you need to select "Spain" from the "Iberia in" dropdown box at the upper left hand corner of the home page.

www.iberia.com

Again, you will receive AAdvantage miles on the Iberia flight, but only 125 of them.

BTW, the initial fare quote on both sites is EUR 33.56, but this does not include the EUR 9 "e-ticket issuing fee" - don't you just love the airlines?!

It would seem however that Iberia discounts e-tickets by EUR 4 however, so their fare would end up EUR 4 cheaper than Air Europa's... wow

Also, Iberia should offer free soft drinks and beer and some sort of snack (nuts/crackers), while you need to purchase food & drink on Air Europa.

Coincidentally, Spanair starts service on the route on the very next day, so in the future there will be even more low-priced options.

Buen viaje!
Andre

SharonNRayMc

Andre, thank you for the reply. On Renfe's site are the bed prices listed per person? I'm thinking that they are. And, I'm also thinking that a FirstDouble is a sleeping compartment for two,with the price given per person. Is this correct? Or, is the sleeping compartment price given in total, like a double would be the price for two people. I understand that we buy the train ticket and that we buy the bed.

Is anyone out there experienced in buying TrenHotel tickets in Spain from the States prior to leaving? Thanks to Andre, now the thought of flying has crossed our minds. However, we think we'd like to try the overnight train bit so we can have this experience. We also think it will be a good time-saver for us. As they say... time is money.

Andre

Yes, the cost for beds is available by checking the RENFE timetable. AFAIK, this is the total cost of the trip PER PERSON.

A 1st class double compartment costs EUR 182 total, so about EUR 100 more than flying for 2 people. If you want a private shower, the price is EUR 254. This assumes that you wait until you are in Spain to book the train, with the possibility that it will be fully booked by then. I'm sure the US prices through RailEurope and the like are significantly higher.

With all due respect, I think you will be better rested if you fly to Sevilla in the evening and sleep in a comfortable hotel room (which would be mostly if not entirely paid for by what you saved by flying). But it's your call.

Andre

Andre

Oops typo: that would be EUR 183 total for a compartment without a shower.

Andre

NEDSIRELAND

I bought Barcelona-Sevilla tix Thursday (at the Santander Renfe stn.) for Sunday night's all-preferente, all-sleeper Hotel Train. It doesn't pick up passengers in Madrid. With the discount airfares available I would be surprised if you couldn't buy your tix for the 21st on the 15th (when you arrive).

If you are stopping at a 4-or-5-star hotel in Barcelona, the Concierge may provide that service (i.e., buy your tix on your credit card). I've been able to do that in the past.

SharonNRayMc

Just an update. We stayed with our desire to try the train hotel so we could have the experience.

We had no trouble buying our ticket once there, although it took time from our role as tourist/traveler to get the tickets.

In the future, I think I will pay a lot closer attention to airfare possibilities earlier in our trip planning. Andre's advice was quite good.

If cost were the same for train or air, he'd take the train, hands down. We might even pay more to take the train because we enjoyed the experience so much more than the hassels associated with flying. I have learned that sometimes there are flight options for very good prices and times that won't eat too much into your itinerary. I'm sure our next trip will involve some more research and discussion on travel options and a bit before we set our itinerary. We are now smarter and maybe wiser for our next trip.

Neither of us had any trouble sleeping on the train. Although, during waking hours, the TrenHotel experience is cramped. This cramped is nothing like the sardine packing that happens on airplanes. We also did not have huge lines to endure... like the checking in procedure at airports. We found this to be a plus.

I added a section to our lenghty trip report about what the TrenHotel experience was like. http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...e=SharonNRayMc

I would certainly make any purchases pre-trip to save time at your destination. This is very easy to do on Renfe's site. I just wished they had offered the option of purchasing TrenHotel tickets online.

Bedar

Carnaval is no big deal in Spain. In fact, it's hardly celebrated at all. Only biggish celebration is in Cadiz on the mainland. Other one is in the Canary Is.