I will be in Spain in June and plan an overnight trip to Sevilla (from Madrid), taking the AVE train. Do I need to book this in advance and where? Are times flexible once you book or is it firm? Should I book now while I'm in the U.S. (online?) or can I wait until I'm there? Is this something you can do at your hotel? Thanks in advance!

I've previously seen others have said "reservations are needed". You can make reservations on-line, at the airport, or probably through your hotel. Don't expect that you're going to find a place when you arrive. This train gives assigned places. You can decide to have a meal or not on the ride. The food certainly was better than airplane food.

Blackduff

unless you are travelling holidays or weekends, etc. you should be fine booking once you arrive and know for sure which date, as there may be a fee to change tickets.

you can do it on the phone , give credit card number, and pick up at station.

or at travel agency, train station (anywhere in spain) or online.

these are the same as airline tickets.
different rates for different times.. etc.. and no shows lose the ticket.

however, if the train is 5 minutes late ( or is it 10?) you get ALL yor money back!

I'm not sure of the refund time margin but I understand Renfe has rarely, if ever, had to make a refund.

i got one once.. but you have to go claim, and i am sure some people didn't feel like standing in line. this wasn't even the AVE. Actually.. we only got a refund on the normal vlc-madrid train because we were VERY late.(over an hour).

but you are right, they rarely are late.. better so, since this is not a private company and losses come out of our taxes, i assume!

i personally think the time frame is ridiculously low.. but.. it was their marketing scheme to get the business men to stop flying to madrid.

Basil writes: " will be in Spain in June and plan an overnight trip to Sevilla (from Madrid), taking the AVE train. Do I need to book this in advance and where? Are times flexible once you book or is it firm?"

AVE runs hourly (on the 1/2-hour) from Madrid's Puerta de Atocha to Sevilla Santa Justa station. Once you book your Ticket & Reservation, it's firm. You are assigned a specific seat in a specific carriage. I don't know about changes after the ticket & reservation are issued.

As for booking in advance, sometimes it is necessary and sometimes not. If Renfe has an Oferta on 'Club-Duo' that would call for advance booking. I've taken AVE many times and only once was the Turista section sold out.

"Should I book now while I'm in the U.S. (online?) or can I wait until I'm there? Is this something you can do at your hotel?"

An Hotel Concierge may book your reservation but it's unlikely that he will pick up your tix & reservation. In that case, you will probably have to go to the station and wait in a queue to purchase them. The preferred alternative is probably to buy your tix at a Renfe airport Office when you arrive in Madrid.

We were in Spain during the first half of June.

With trains running every hour, I assumed bookibg wouldn't be an issue.

I gave myself a list of times based on priorities. I didn't decide until the day before which train we'd want to take based on whether or not we had seen what we wanted to see in Madrid.

We bought our tickets at el Corte Ingles (department store) in their travel service.

We got the first choice time that we wanted. However, since there are only four cars on the train and we were near the back of the fourth car, I assume we just made it.

Thanks everyone, information not encountered previously, great! It's my first time in Spain!

someone can help you buy them on phone ( no fee) and then you pick them up at a very convenient customer service desk that usually has LITTLE line.

you must show same credit card used to reserve them.

I understand there is a luxury bus which leaves out of Faro Airport which can take my friends and I to Seville, Spain, one-way. Does anyone know what times this bus leaves Faro for one-way toand the cost? Where do we pick up the bus at Faro Airport? How early do we need to be at the departure destination? Can we make a reservation now? The date we want to depart is July 2nd. The website is as follows but I do not speak Portugese so can not figure out these answers to my questions.
http://www.eva-bus.com/uk/



Thank you so much for your help.