sunny101

As I've been planning a trip to Spain this spring for a friend and myself, I have appreciated everything I have learned from the posts on this forum.

This is a specific question about using Renfe tickets that have been purchased by someone else.

I had been planning to use the Renfe Web site to buy our AVE tickets from Madrid to Barcelona for April 30, hoping to take advantage of the discounted Web fares. Since the Renfe site currently won’t allow the use of credit cards from non-Spanish banks, I am considering asking the landlords of our Madrid apartment to purchase the tickets and bill us for them, along with a commission for their effort.

The Renfe tutorials that I have read state that tickets are not individual, they are without name, and there is no problem if you buy tickets for your friends and input only your personal data online. Also, I seem to remember a couple of posts from people who reported that they had bought tickets for friends.

Before I ask our Madrid landlords to do this for us when the tickets become available around the end of February, I wanted to check the feasibility.

Does anyone have an opinion as to whether it is still true that the tickets can be purchased by one person and then used by others?

Thank you. Sunny

jeff001

Train tickets are like theater or sports event tickets. They sell you a seat and don't care at all who sits in it - only that it's paid for.

sunny101

Thank you, Jeff.

Based on your reply, and some reinforcement from Maribel, I did ask our Madrid landlords to buy our tickets. The are willing and seem knowledgeable about the process.

Now we just have to wait until 62 days before the actual travel date.

Robert2533

If you are going to have your landlord purchase the tickets, make sure they are in your name. They do check. It's a matter of security.

socialworker

Jeff.....not *always* true, at least not for PREM tkts in France that you buy online. They are imprinted with the name of the traveler and one must show ID matching the name if requested by the conductor.

Maribel

The Renfe tickets are issued without name.

socialworker

Thanks, I gathered that from the previous posts, Maribel. I just wanted to clarify that not all train tickets everywhere can be used interchangeably.

sunny101

Thanks, everyone. I remembered that the PREMS tickets I bought online at voyages-sncf had our names -- and dates of birth -- printed on them. That's why I was double-checking.

Looks like Renfe is not as picky.

It still would have been more fun to purchase the tickets online myself.

Regards, Sunny

Maribel

Hi sunny,
If your landlords haven't already made your purchase, you can now purchase online at renfe.es with a non Spain bank credit card.

I just purchased two tickets with my US Visa for the end of March and was able to obtain the WEB discount fare.

Just so that you'd know..if you haven't seen the recent Renfe threads regarding its now accepting US cards.

car

Sunny,
no names in renfe tickets, just make sure if someone buys them for you, as there are different discounts and fares, age, return, buying in advance via internet. Just make sure they meet the particulars of your journey.
I just bought some discounted tickets via internet and it seems that the site is working a bit better.
There are basically two types of fares, the real speedy one 2 hours and 38 minutes and the one that stops in major towns, 3 and 30 minutes aprox.
If you are not in a real hurry the second plus the internet discount is an interesting price.