Just wanted to report that I was successful in purchasing train tickets on Renfe just now. I'm still pinching myself because in past trips I had never been able to, no matter what card I used or how many times I called my bank. I also know from countless stories posted in the internet that many if not most people with credit cards issued in the US are also not successful. Well, I wonder if they have changed something in their system because this time I had no issues. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the promo fares for late July were already posted and available for sale. I think previously it was only 60 days prior.

Felicidades! But it was probably just a glitch in the system...

Check the train schedule one or two days before your trip. Our evening train from Barcelona to Paris left two hours EARLY. Renfe did not email anyone, we just happened to see a TINY blurb on the renfe site the day before. Our train of course was 3/4 empty. Not fun to miss a night train and then have to search for lodging.

Not likely to happen to you but just a head's up.

congrats, I've never had a trouble buying on their website used a US credit card within the past couple of years.

I believe they have indeed improved something, but their site still has a few quirks.

There's now a good fall-back: www.loco2.com which connects to Renfe, same cheap Promo and Promo+ prices, same lack of any booking fee, same print-at-home tickets, plain English, accepts all credit cards. Literally the only downside is you can't choose an exact seat from a seating plan as you can using renfe.com for any fare type Promo+ and above.

Man in seat 61,

Thanks for those comments, its good to know. Actually, I got a Promo+ fare and during the booking process I didnt notice Renfe giving me the option of selecting my own seats, it came back with tickets with seats assigned.