TRAIN TICKETS - Should I buy before I leave??
 

I looked on Renfe website and Eurorail Portugal train website and I found that Renfe trains (Spanish trains) are less expensive than Portugals even riding from Lisbon to San Sebastian.

My question is...
Should I buy and print my tickets before I leave?
Can I buy them in Lisbon before leaving at the same price I see in the States?

I'm afraid of buying and printing them here and then not being able to stay an extra day somewhere because we have dated tickets.

Do they charge for changing traveling dates?

Thanks,
Mia

I've always just bought train tickets on site. I don't think there is much of a cost difference to be worth the advance planning and losing the flexibility.

The website for the Portuguese railway is www.cp.pt - that will give the prices charged in Portugal.
There is only one direct train a day between Lisboa and San Sebastian, and that is the overnight train. If you want that, you should book in advance to get sleeping accommodation. If you go via Madrid, the only train between Lisboa and Madrid is also overnight. If you're travelling at a quiet time, you may be able to book overnight trains at the station (I've done it myself), but you may not get the accommodation you want.

You can save a lot of money buying in advance on renfe depending on where you are going. We got almost 60% off our AVE tickets from Madrid to Sevilla--saved 94 euros for the two of us. That's a nice chunk of change to save for a 2-1/2 hour train ride! They have two types of discounts--Web and Estrella. Web are the deep discounts and they run out quicker than the Estrella discounts.

Eurorail is not a specific country's train company, but a reseller that marks up prices. Renfe=Spain. Trenitalia=Italy. Buy your Italy tickets in Italy as their website usually won't process US credit cards.

If you book like 62 days in advance on www.renfe.es when they go on sale you save about 60% it's true. Those fares get booked quickly but it is a significant savings.

Buy your tickets in Italy at the station. You can use credit cards there. You should, however check schedules in advance, so that you can print them out. This will make it a lot easier when you go to purchase, especially if you do not speak the language. Wish I was going!

What happened if I buy the tickets now and then I decided to stay an extra day.

Do I lose the ticket or can I reschedule it?

Thanks a lot!
I just saw the estrella savings.
My only hesitation is how difficult is to change the dates in the event I stay longer in one place.