Renfe AVE, Alvia & Avant Trains
 

I understand that AVE is high-speed for long distance, Avant is high-speed for medium distances. What about Aliva? On the Renfe "Our Trains" it's listed below AVE. I'm looking at tickets between several cities where all 3 trains are offered. We are traveling with a couple big bags and carryon(s), so we'll probably try to get Preferente or CLub tix. Any real difference in comfort on AVE vs. Alvia vs. Avan?

If you are looking at several train trips then also consider the Spain Railpass, good on all those trains though there is a mandatory seat reservation fee on most - great sources of Spanish train info - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. Note that with independent tickets on www.rense.com you can now buy those tickets through RailEurope (and agents like at first two sites I list) for just $7 above what renfe.com offers and you also will not pay the often 3% foreign transaction fee that credit cards on renfe.com often charge. and www.renfe.com has proven to frustrate many Fodorites - the pass lets you decide which trains to hop once there - no advance planning.

Alvia is operating both the high speed and the normal rail network, and is able to switch between the two during the journey. AVE and AVANT are high speed only. Alvia uses the high speed network for parts of the journey to places that otherwise would be slower to reach through the normal network.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvia

The comfort is as AVE and Avant and very good.

The Spain Railpass isn't a good option unless you are only going to be using the Regional trains, hop on, hop off. All AVE, ALVIA and AVANT trains require reservations. If you are using the Spain Railpass, then you will not be able to book your trains ahead of time online at Renfe. You will have to go to the station to pay for the reservation.

The Club seats allow you a little more room (fewer seats in the car) and a little more comfort than preferente, but with the high-speed train covering the distances as quick as they do, the only time we travel in the Club car is when preferente is full. We often travel tourist class if the trip is two hours or less (when they don't serve a meal).

Both preferente and Club class tickets allow you access to the 1st class lounge in the stations that have one.

I have used railpasses in Spain often without any problem - can make all you mandated reservations at once at any Spanish station - the extra 10 euros or so for each however must be figured in - but at least with a pass if you miss the train or want to change you can - not so I believe with online discounted tickets. For full flexibility to decide which trains to take once there and not weeks or months in advance set in concrete, if taking enough rides compare the pass to full price tickets, if flexibility is desired.

Thank you all for your tips and explanations. I was confused on one leg (Seville-Cordoba) why there were AVE, Alvia & Avant trains. The (estimated) travel time varied only from 42-50 mins. I guess on a short trip, with so many trains, I should look at price. Thanks to your excellent explanation, I think have them sorted out.

FYI, my "several" is about 4 tickets, so I didn't really consider Railpass. For other US travelers - I tried booking tickets directly thru Renfe site, which was a major headache. Followed all instructions to the letter (including calling credit card co's first) & failed with every card I own. I was very worried as the trains are an essential part of our trip. Renfe directed me to their exclusive US agent (Petrabax). They offer the same web & estrella fares, but do charge a premium for booking thru them. It seemed like my only option. While it bothers me to pay above the Renfe fares, it is easy, quick & so far reliable.

Eurail Spain Pass - "Residents of Europe, the Russian Federation or Turkey are not eligible to purchase or use this rail pass." Does this mean you are one of those "Crazy Americans" you mentioned in another post?

A three-day first class Spain Rail Pass will set you back $300, a tourist class pass is $241, hardly a bargain when you add the additional cost of making the reservation on the AVE. If all you plan on doing is hopping on and off the train for the next three days and charge around the country, then I guess the pass might make some sense, but if it's only for making a roundtrip on the AVE, it can get expensive when compared to the 60% discounted Web fares, or even the 40% discounted Estrella fares.

Cost of reservations using the Spain Rail Pass
2nd Class 'Turista': 10 euro
1st class 'Preferente': 23.50 euro, including welcome drink and meal
1st class 'Club': 38 euro, including welcome drink and à la carte meal

OP mentions several train rides not just three - per day cost of pass drops does it not? You do need to be taking more than a few trips.

It is a flexipass - 3 days of unlimited travel over a 2-month period - not 3-consecutive days -how much does a regular fully flexible ticket say Seville to Madrid or to Barcelona cost? If more than 80 euros or more the pass will save money for people not wanting to set trains in concrete weeks in advance. Well maybe train travel in first class fully flexible is cheaper than I think - I'll have to investigate it and could well be wrong - like that Crazy American!

Cheers!

Renfe appears to have lowered the Web fares to a 50% discount on some AVEs and the Estrella fare discount is down to 30% of others. Something to do with the crisis? If this keeps up, a pass may end up being the better option under some circumstances.

hi, my family of 7 ( 2 adults, 2 seniors and 3 youths) are traveling to Spain in December. This is our itinerary:
Day 1 - Arrive MAD 8am, check in, take HOHO, city tour
Day 2 - continue with HOHO, city tour
Day 3 - Segovia
Day 4 - Toledo, Seville
Day 5 Seville
Day 6 Cordova, sleep in Seville
Day 7 Seville- BCN ( New Year)
Day 8 BCN
Day 9 Monserratt
Day 10 BCN
Day 11 BCN- MAD
Day 12 leaves MAD

Can anyone help me if I need to get rail pass or just buy point to point ticket? Also anyone know if the buses and trains operates on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? i checked Renfe website but no post yet. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot

If doing all those by train railpass may be a great deal but only you can do the maths -www.renfe.com for discounted fares and full fares- www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com for Spain Eurailpasses and www.renfe.com for RENFE passes. www.seat61.com great at tips on discounted fares.

Beauty of pass chose you trains when there - and consider first class as passes are not that much more in that per day.

Check www.bahn.de/en also for schedules for XMAS day.

You'd want to look at a 6-day flexipass - other day trains are short and cheap.

And again don't forget with a pass you need to add $15 or so per high-speed train for mandated seat reservation-per person even kids who may get a free pass depending on age..