sndraco

Hi Want to travel on May 9th from Madrid to Barcelona and thinking of taking the high speed line, my q was since I might want some flexibility to buy it in Spain but want to check if the prices stay the same or like flight tickets do they change as the date gets nearer?

Thanks

Shriram

Palenque

RE prices may or may not be similar to what you would buy in Spain and often they are significantly inflated - just buy your ticket once in Spain - there are hourly trains or more - you can try the Spanish Rail site - www.renfe.es and at least see what the fare would be in Euros and compare to RE (but keep in mind RE's mailing fee for orders under i think $399 - the amount changes but for such an order there would most likely also be about a $20 mailing fee - paper tickets. Buy the ticket as soon as you reach Spain and again you will have IME absolutely no problem buying tickets there for this trajecture.

sndraco

Thanks when I check on the rail europe site, it shows $237 for the fast speed and $80 for the slow train, which is way more expensive than flying around $80. Renfe I think was 115 Euros.

Assume no discounts on these tickets ie what one sees on renfe is what one pays.

S

Doh

There are online discounts available ahead of time, but they often sell out and they are only partially refundable. You might want to check the Renfe site to see if cheap seats are available for days you are interested in and decide if it's worth it. Maribel has a guide just for buying Renfe tix. http://maribelsguides.com/mg_renfetickets.pdf

Doh

P.S. just an edit to say that some people have reported that the webfares do not show up on the english version of the Renfe site.

Palenque

there have been scores of complaints about the Renfe site not taking American credit cards so that may not be a viable option - anyway search for RENFE in threads and you will see many potential problems. But do try, things could be better and there are significant discounts if you book far enough in advance.

sndraco

Thanks this helps a lot, looks like only Estrella fare on the night train is available. One q for frequent travellers, is it worth waiting to see if the 24 hours prior fare pops up or better to book the Estrella fare now

Shriram

Robert2533

The fares never go down. The best fares go first. If you wait you often loose.

Paul1950

The webfares do show up on the English version renfe website--at least they did when we bought them for our train trips earlier this month.

And our American MasterCard worked just fine--all I had to do was call my credit card issuer each time AFTER my card was rejected on the renfe.com site, then go back and re-enter my data, and then everything worked beautifully, including printing out the electronic tickeets. I saved 60% with the WEB fare from Madrid to Sevilla--a nice chunk of money for the 2 of us.

lincasanova

There are some last minute fares for certain routes 24 hrs in advance as advertised, but that would be risking it as the estrella fare will certainly have disappeared by then.

lincasanova

sometines you can come to valencia on a webfare, take a spin around the city, have a paella and head up to barcelona later that afternoon for the same or less money.