Help understanding RENFE: want to book overnight train from Barcelona to Granada
Mar 7th, 2003, 06:43 AM
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Help understanding RENFE: want to book overnight train from Barcelona to Granada
Hello,
As I read it, it looks like the overnight train is called (or the class is) TRENHOTEL. The site then goes on to list some prices as follows:
Tourist - 68 euros
First individual - 126
First double - 87
Deluxe individual - 169
Deluxe double - 121
My questions are these:
1. I'm not sure what the differences between the levels are. I am traveling with a friend, and will will certainly need two beds. What would be best? We're not backpackers, but are certainly in favor of fiscal austerity...
2. Also, is there any benefit to booking in advance over the web? It takes away a bit of our freedom and flexibility, but we'd certainly like to do it if the overnight train is hard to get a spot on!
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
As I read it, it looks like the overnight train is called (or the class is) TRENHOTEL. The site then goes on to list some prices as follows:
Tourist - 68 euros
First individual - 126
First double - 87
Deluxe individual - 169
Deluxe double - 121
My questions are these:
1. I'm not sure what the differences between the levels are. I am traveling with a friend, and will will certainly need two beds. What would be best? We're not backpackers, but are certainly in favor of fiscal austerity...
2. Also, is there any benefit to booking in advance over the web? It takes away a bit of our freedom and flexibility, but we'd certainly like to do it if the overnight train is hard to get a spot on!
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
Mar 7th, 2003, 08:27 AM
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1. Overnight trains do book quickly. You may need to commit to a time.
2. If you're in the States, I'd use raileurope.com--their website is easier to use and they have English speaking customer service reps.
2. If you're in the States, I'd use raileurope.com--their website is easier to use and they have English speaking customer service reps.
Mar 23rd, 2003, 01:56 PM
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Hey Kit. I will be taking the exact same train in May. Here's my input and questions:
We're going with the First Double, as I am pretty sure the Tourist will be a shared room with 4 or 6 beds. Having a double(private) room will be more quiet and more secure. From what I've read, a private room is recommended if you can afford it. I'm not sure what the difference is with a Deluxe, but it's out of our budget anyway.
BUT when I went to book it today, (TRENHOTEL #00997) from the Renfe web site it did not show this train. I do not think you can book a Trenhotel from their web site. It only appears if you click on their Schedual/Fares link not the Buy Tickets link.
The phone number (902 24 02 02) that they list on the english web site did not have an english speaking operator so I was unable to ask them questions...
The price of 2 First Class seats from Renfe is 174 Euro while from raileurope.com it is 277 Euro so I would recommend not buying through Raileurope.com if at all possible.
But... if I cannot buy online from Renfe, how can I book ticket in advance? I will be in Italy before going to Barcelona, can I book while in Italy ~11 days in advance? I'll be there in early May. Can anyone shed some light for us? Thx.
We're going with the First Double, as I am pretty sure the Tourist will be a shared room with 4 or 6 beds. Having a double(private) room will be more quiet and more secure. From what I've read, a private room is recommended if you can afford it. I'm not sure what the difference is with a Deluxe, but it's out of our budget anyway.
BUT when I went to book it today, (TRENHOTEL #00997) from the Renfe web site it did not show this train. I do not think you can book a Trenhotel from their web site. It only appears if you click on their Schedual/Fares link not the Buy Tickets link.
The phone number (902 24 02 02) that they list on the english web site did not have an english speaking operator so I was unable to ask them questions...
The price of 2 First Class seats from Renfe is 174 Euro while from raileurope.com it is 277 Euro so I would recommend not buying through Raileurope.com if at all possible.
But... if I cannot buy online from Renfe, how can I book ticket in advance? I will be in Italy before going to Barcelona, can I book while in Italy ~11 days in advance? I'll be there in early May. Can anyone shed some light for us? Thx.
Mar 24th, 2003, 07:12 AM
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Don't know how important it is to you to take the train, but an alternative might be to fly. If you keep checking the Spanish air lines (Iberia, Spanair, Air Europa and europebyair.com) you might be able to get cheaper fares than on the train. I just got two tickets from Malaga to Barcelona in May for 35 euro each including tax.
Mar 24th, 2003, 08:23 AM
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Thanks, Angela. That's a good idea. How easy is it to get from Malaga to Granada? And which airline did you use for $35 tix? They're a bit more (79 usd) on europebyair, but I'll keep checking...
Does anyone fly BCN to Granada?
Does anyone fly BCN to Granada?
Mar 24th, 2003, 11:05 AM
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I think Iberia travels directly from Granada to Barcelona (and reverse) and I had read that they had a 28 euro fare but I'm not sure for which dates. We decided to take the bus from Granada to Malaga and then fly from there to Barcelona on Spanair. I just happened to luck out when I was checking their website for fares a few weeks ago and found the 30 euro fare. We're flying near the end of May, so I guess the fares are dependent on what dates you're traveling on.
Mar 24th, 2003, 11:10 AM
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Hi all,
I don't know how helpful this will be, but
http://www.eurorailways.com/ sells, tickets as well as passes.
They have a US 800 no. at their sited.
I don't know how helpful this will be, but
http://www.eurorailways.com/ sells, tickets as well as passes.
They have a US 800 no. at their sited.
Mar 25th, 2003, 09:23 PM
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Don't know if it's good for all dates, but Iberia has DRASTICALLY reduced at least some of its rates for travel within Spain.
I'd been putting off purchasing a flight directly from Granada to Barcelona, because it was nearly 200E one-way a couple of months ago. (Ironically, it was slightly cheaper roundtrip, but still about 175E when last I checked in early Feb.) So I'd considered the bus to Malaga and flying from there on Spanair as suggested by Angela.
No need! I just booked a one-way ticket on iberia.com for my date in May for 33.45E, including taxes! And I apparently get 4E knocked off that for doing it on-line and getting an e-ticket.
Deatils re the new pricing here: http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/gateway_es.jsp
I'd been putting off purchasing a flight directly from Granada to Barcelona, because it was nearly 200E one-way a couple of months ago. (Ironically, it was slightly cheaper roundtrip, but still about 175E when last I checked in early Feb.) So I'd considered the bus to Malaga and flying from there on Spanair as suggested by Angela.
No need! I just booked a one-way ticket on iberia.com for my date in May for 33.45E, including taxes! And I apparently get 4E knocked off that for doing it on-line and getting an e-ticket.
Deatils re the new pricing here: http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/gateway_es.jsp
