Renfe trains "blocked" on web
 

I have been trying to purchase some train tickets, and have tried using Raileurope, Petrabax, and even the RENFE site itself. Based on what I can see, all trains for June 17 and 18 come up with the indication "tren bloqueado."

Does anyone know what's going on? Is there a strike planned perhaps? Or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

As far as I know, Renfe will not sell tickets on any day that there is going to be a strike, or the possibility of a strike. You might send them an email to see what's going on, or call Petrabax, they should know why the dates are blocked.

Thanks, Robert, I called but they didn't really have an answer. BTW, it looks to me like Raileurope's fees have gone up -- I see on their website that they add $18 to the price. Petrabax's fee is much less, it seems.

I will keep trying!

The summer schedules and prices are updated every year on the first or second Sunday of June all over Europe. So, based on similar queries appearing in the last week, all over forums, it is June 10th this year. You may not find (complete) detail beyond this date for sale. RENFE are very likely to be one of the last national networks to completely update. Monitor to suit yourself.

AS WomBatt mentions, Renfe does like to wait until the last moment to update some of the summer schedules. I just checked Madrid-Barcelona and Madrid-Sevilla for 18 June and the schedules are shown. What destination are you looking for?

I have not heard about any strikes in Spain apart from the pilots of Iberia

Thanks, fodorites. The train is from Santiago to Madrid, which still appears unavailable, and now "bloqueado" for the 19th as well.

I had a similar problem last year. The trains eventually did become unblocked. Thanks for mentioning the other sites selling tickets, as I am NOT looking forward to dealing with RENFE before my trip this year.


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ns-blocked.cfm

This may explain the problem...fare rises are due. Until they are sorted out one is unable to purchase via the website.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia...6536521534.htm

Well, I wasn't paying careful enough attention, and many of the trains that were previously blocked have been opened up for purchase two months out. For instance, the Santiago to Madrid trenhotel can now be purchased, but not the day train. Since I missed the opportunity to buy the cheap web fares for the train I will be taking, I guess my Plan B is to wait till arrival in Madrid in about a week, where I'll try to use the old folks card to get a better deal than the $122 regular fare.

So, if you're hoping to buy cheap train tickets, many more schedules are now available for cheap web purchase for two months in advance. But they don't last much more than a nano-second, it seems.

I'm having the same issues.

Trying to go from Barcelona to San Sebastian on June 20th and the train is "blocked"!!!!

It's only one month away and it hasn't opened up, been checking for a month....any ideas?

Do you think if I wait till I get there two days before I will be able to get a ticket...at a reasonable price??

Hi, Susanna,
The web specials are only available for a small percentage of the seats. So, unless it's a special weekend or a holiday, I think that you can buy tickets two days in advance. But it will be at the regular price. If by any chance you are over 60, you can get a very good discount when you buy at the ticket counter, 40% I think.

News via my local newspaper:
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia...05G17P9992.htm
On line pre-sale period goes from 60 to 120 days.
Up to 80% discount on some tickets starting this month
Never heard or used them but there are machines called autochecking.where you can purchase advanced tickets too.

I'm close to 60...but maybe not close enough if they check my passport.

I know about the 60 days out to buy the discount ticket which is what I am trying to do but the
train is blocked and it won't let me buy it... I can't even see what the normal price will be, very frustrating as I've rented an apartment in San Sebastian and I would like to use it!!!

It is a week day and not a holiday so I'm hoping it works out, worse case scenario is that I have to rent a car to get there!!

thanks for the help...and any other help too