Renfe tickets--please help
 

For two days already I have been trying to buy tickets on their website or contact them with no success. I have tried AmEx, Visa, Master cards. Nothing works. It's too bad because the web fares are available for the tickets that I want. The phone number I have (+34 902 157507) and others, too, that I got on this forum are ALWAYS busy.
The fares on RailEurope are too high. What else can I do?

Very strange that several persons have been having this problem again lately. Are you are using US bank issued cards in ALL cases? Also, just by chance although it should not normally make any difference, did you try from the spanish version of the RENFE site?

I had absolutely no problems purchasing RENFE tickets from the web (and printing them) as lately as a few weeks ago using my Canadian-issued VISA. For what its worth, I was using the spanish version at the time(no language barrier to me).

kanadajin

I am going to try the Spanish version now, who knows? I don't speak Spanish but I know the whole site by heart already. I have been using US issued cards, that's where I live and that's all I have. I get the standard message about not being able to complete the transaction at the time.

What drives me nuts is that I have also been calling them at +34 90 224 0202 and +34 902 15 7507. BUSY signal the whole time. Is something wrong with these numbers?

It seems that even if I give up on the discounted "web" prices, which are avaliable, how can I buy the tickets if nobody answers the phone? We need overnight tickets to Lisbon for a specific day, so we can't wait until we get to Spain. It may be too late. Eurorail is the last option but it's so inflated.

Gina,
Have you called your c.c. issuers to alert them that you'll be using your c.c. for a Renfe online purchase?

In the past few weeks I've purchased multiple Renfe tix online using my US bank issued Visa with no problems, but I did alert my bank that I would be making frequent purchases on www.renfe.es in the upcoming days/months.

Maribel,

I am going to try that next. I have your step-by-step guide for this. One of the phone numbers is from there. Is there a city code, perhaps, that I should add? From the US, I dial 011 34 90 224 0202.

What is funny is that the English and Spanish sites of Renfe are all mixed up. You have both languages on both.

Yes, this is sound advice (about alerting your c.c. issuers). If you do not have an established pattern of out-of-country purchases, your attempts may look like a "red flag" popping up in the eyes of the automatic authorization software. Would you happen to be an infrequent out-of-country incurring-expense-traveller by any chance? If yes, this might be the problem.

I have never tried the phone numbers you mention. You should still be able to get the Estrella fares by phone (but not the Web fares).

kanadajin

I'm also having the same problem - and I've alerted my credit card company and have not had any problems using my credit card to make other reservations.

Another weird thing - Renfe refused to accept my US phone number so I entered the phone number for one of the places I'll be staying in Spain. But then it refused to process my credit card info with a statement "The process cannot continue right now. We apologise for any inconvenience."

Hmmm... the plot thickens, it seems. This thing about having both English and Spanish at the same time is very strange. I just tried the RENFE site and initiated a "fictional" purchase for late May. I was unable to get a mixture of both languages at the same time. It makes me wonder if this problem could be related to your failed attempts ...

Re. entering North American phone numbers, Shanti, as I recall I simply entered all digits without any spaces, including the "1" in the string...i.e. 12023124013 (fictional number for illustrative purposes only). Is this what you did?

kanadajin

Thanks for the suggestion, kanadajin.

No, I didn't enter the numbers that way and that may be the solution to that problem.

However, I still can't pay for my tickets even after I get connected to Bank of America and enter my password info.

Another Fodorite gave this link to a site explaining how to navigate Renfe - http://tinyurl.com/ctgmr5

and it states a possible reason for why Americans have problems with paying for tickets:

"It may mean that the Renfe website software is incompatible with the software of your credit card's bank. The Renfe software is designed to work with the software of banks in Spain....
Many American credit cards simply will not work because the bank that issues them may not have software that is compatible with the Renfe software. Many Americans have pulled their hair out in frustration trying to buy Renfe tickets on the web, without much luck. This writer has not had any luck using his American Visa credit card because when he puts in his credit card information on the Renfe website, the Renfe website brings him to his credit card's bank and when he enters the information his bank asks for, nothing happens and the transaction is not completed.

If you have problems which you cannot resolve, call Renfe"

Which is a bigger problem when calling any of their numbers just results in getting a busy signal.

Fortunately, I'm trying to get tickets for June so I have time to wait. I just may have to pay more than the web fare.

Shanti,

I was entering my phone numbers exactly as shown by kanadajin but it didn't work. Are you getting a busy signal for calls, too? We should keep trying.

Seek out Maribel's postings. She is amazing when it comes to navigating the RENFE site and dealing with their sporadic technical difficulties. Othwerwise, there is a RENFE office at the airport.

Hi Gina,

I've tried several numbers but only get a busy signal no matter which one I call. I've just tried to send an e-mail to Renfe. I'm hoping that the message actually makes sense in Spanish and that someone reponds. I'll let you know if I hear back.

Interesting ... (the possible explanation re. software compatibility) ... It may be perhaps the case, however I would find it somewhat surprising (but probably not impossible) that the software used by US banks would be different than here in Canada - perhaps some of the "operational settings" might be different... I highly doubt our financial institutions would use European software! I wonder how often this problem occurs on our side of the border. From the people I know who have done this, they did not experience any such problems, although this does not mean that nobody here has had problems.

In my case, the RENFE website brought me to my c.c. bank, I entered the requested info, and voila! - tickets successfully purchased.

Unfortunately this does not help your immediate problem, though ...

kanadajin

Shanti,
Many folks who have US bank issued credit cards have reported successful purchases on www.renfe.es The quotation posted above doesn't reflect my experience or friends/family who have made purchases with their US bank issued credit cards. From our experiences it's not a problem of Renfe's software not being compatible.

Re entering your phone number in the client information section- I enter my US phone number with NO spaces, and it works fine.

My last online Renfe purchase was made 4/30.
I haven't made any since, so perhaps the usual "cybor gremlins" have taken over Renfe online this week. Renfe does have its "problem days" (or even "problem week") from time to time.

My history with Renfe online is that booking certain trains in the transition period from spring to summer is very frustrating - until they have finished loading in their summer schedule.

Two days ago, for example, I could not find a single AVANT train running between Madrid-Segovia in June-they had disappeared. Today they're back.

A few weeks ago the 10:30 AVANT train from Madrid to Segovia had just disappeared. Now it's back.

Thanks, Maribel. It's nice to hear that many Americans have somehow succeeded in buying tickets. I'll just keep trying :-)

I had the same problems, and the solution Maribel offered cleared it right up for me. My bank actually called ME to tell me that they had turned down the purchase because it looked like fraudulent activity.

Also, entering the phone number without the "-" cleared up the phone number issue for me.

Finally, though, I do have a question:

I purchased a ticket from Barcelona to Madrid, and when I printed it out, it had all of the travel information listed on the ticket.

A few days later I purchased a ticket from Madrid to Granada. When I printed out that ticket, it gave me the ticket number and the Localizador number, but it didn't print out the train number, times, or other travel information.

Anybody have a thought on this?

I bought tickets successfully a couple of weeks ago. But I did get "not able to complete trnsaction" when I used my AMEX card. I tried a MC and it went fine after that.
Good luck! (the website did change from english to spanish, but I speak both, so I could finalize and print tickets).

Well, it only took about 8 hours - but I have my ticket. I have no idea why it finally worked. I used the same credit card. And I was even able to get the web fare.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

And I did get a response from Renfe. Here's their e-mail:

"We are contacting you regarding the email you sent us.

If you are not using Internet Explorer, Renfe web site is not 100% funtional.

Besides, we have some troubles with some foreign credit or debit cards, because there is an error produced when Renfe´s server try to connect whith the Bank´s servers.

If you need further information do not hesitate to contact us in customer service line (00.34) 902.10.94.20 from 7:00 to 23:00."

I usually use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer so that may have been part of the problem - and it certainly made it harder to print the ticket (once I finally got one) because Firefox kept saying that the Renfe pop-up for the ticket was a security risk. I had to override the warning several times before it would open it.

Shanti,

what do you mean by "overriding the warning several times?" You just kept pressing the "continue" button?

Congratulations! I have had no luck yet after calling cc companies, Internet Explorer, Firefox, English/Spanish versions etc. But your case gives me hope. I'll keep trying.