We are going to travel on the AVE from Madrid to Seville. Should I purchase the tickets ahead of time on Rail Europe or wait until we get to the airport in Madrid to purchase? Is there any difference in price and or availability? Thanks, Ron

>Should I purchase the tickets ahead of time on Rail Europe

Yes you should, but definitely not on RailEurope unless you want to get rid of some unwanted money.
The Spanish rail org. is www.renfe.es

RailEurope is often but not always out of the ballpark. personally with hourly trains i think you can wait till you get there - the worst being you'd have to go first class, which ain't all bad.

but if renfe.es site won't work for you and it's not the easiest one to work check raileurope.com - sometimes the price is not that much different - but again it may be so don't buy blindy from RailEurope. But check both. Actually skip RE and call their agent BETS (800-441-2387) to do a manual check as the www.raileurope.com site is notorious for false info and not listing trains that can actually be booked by them manually. (To do this you have to call RailEurope and then they add 10% onto the bill for any phone orders according to their web site. And they also charge an $18 mailing fee for such orders - BETS, whom i've bought passes from for years, charges a lower or no mailing fee. Some folks need to have a ticket in hand before going in which case the extra money may be well worth the angst of say having to retrieve tickets in Spain.

Personally i'd just wait to i got to madrid.

I myself would still wait till Madrid, thinking with hourly trains i would be able to get on on short notice - does anyone have personal experience with AVE trains being full.

I've ridden them several times with railpasses and just reserved a day ahead of time with no problem.

But i haven't ridden them recently.

Experiences with booking AVE trains once in Madrid?

I would think first class would always be available?

Booking a AVE train can be done one-day ahead of time if you happen to be in Spain and are not on a tight schedule. There are several AVE runs daily between Madrid and Sevilla, so you can take a chance if you want, but booking ahead on Renfe.es is very easy.

I have used the AVE twice around Christmas when they are busy, and the turista (second class) was full so I had to pay for preferente (first class).
Unless you're travelling at a busy time, you should be OK especially if you can be flexible - they run every hour.

remember if you are using this train as a continuation after a flight.. if you MISS it (with a pre-paid ticket), you will lose the ticket.

judge accordingly.

also, if travelling 1st class, the reservation is crucial. My wife and I spent 3/4 of the trip from Barcelona to Madrid standing in the bar car because we missed a connection train - with 1st class tix-in-hand but no reservations for the trip we wound up on. The company and conversation were fine in the bar, but the seating service & meal are quite nice - assuming you are expected. ;-)