Remember that the Renfe website is being changed continuously, so one should not panic if one cannot find everything that is in this procedure. Use common sense and try to continue until you succeed in buying your ticket. Persevere!

The website is a bit surreal. It is like Alice in Wonderland, where nothing seems to be what it really is. Even if you are on the English page, you will find some items in Spanish. Sometimes the website will send you to a completely Spanish page! However if you persevere you may be able to save some money by getting the web discounts.

1. The Renfe website recommends using Microsoft Internet Explorer, Version 6.01 or higher, with Javascript and you should allow cookies and pop-ups. You should also have Acrobat Reader, Version 6 or higher.

2. Go to http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html

This is a trial run to get a one way ticket from Madrid to Malaga on the AVE. AVE means Alta Velocidad Española and its logo resembles a bird. Ave also means bird.

3. On the upper right hand side, click on “Buy Tickets”.

4. A Security Information box pops up. "This page contains both secure and nonsecure items. Do you want to display the nonsecure items?" Check the Yes box.

5. At the bottom left hand side of the screen, be sure to put in “Select your language“: English.

6. As a trial, I selected Single (for one way trip).

7. For Select origin: Madrid*. There are cities with an asterisk after the city name, and this means that city has more than one station. In computer technology, an asterisk means that there is a wild card in the deck. If you choose Madrid*, it means you want any station in Madrid. Later your ticket will tell you which station to go to.

8. For Select destination: Malaga.

9. Choose the date on the calendar. I chose April 29, 2008.

10. Number of Passengers: 1

11. Press Search.

12. On the next screen (Availability), I find the AVE 02072, departure at 07:35H, arrival at 10:14H, and I check Tourist class at 75.50€. This is the peak fare. For cheaper fares, you have to choose a more inconvenient time. This is the nominal price and not the final price because you can find the final price only on the next page. There is a column called “Tarifas Promo”, which means the promotional fares available. These seats are limited. The star symbols means the Estrella fare with a 40% discount. The W symbols means the Web fare with a 60% discount. Check the tourist class circle. If the Tarifas Promo column has no symbols, that means that all the promotional fare seats have been sold out for that date. You may then want to look for a different date.

13. At the bottom of the page, one finds “Write the characters you see in the next image.” - Write them in the box.

14. Check the lower right hand side box Continue.

15. You reach the Form of Payment page.

16. Go to the Fare box and choose Web. The price is now 30.20 euros. This is the meaning of the different fares:

a. Carnet Joven - Youth Card - 25% discount.

b. Web - 60% discount (bought 15 or more days before trip).

c. Niño - Child - 40% discount.

d. Tarjeta Dorada - Gold Card for over 60 years old and Spanish citizen or permanent resident - 25% - 40% discount, depending on the day. This can be bought at the ticket office for 5 euros.

e. Estrella - 40% discount (bought between 7 - 15 days before trip).

f. General - No discount.

17. Fill in all of the fields that have an asterisk, as they are mandatory.

Purchaser’s details:

Name - Your first name.

First Surname - Your last name.

Second Surname - Leave blank (In Spain this is your mother’s maiden name).

18. For Type of Document: Check the Foreigner ID No. and you can put your passport number there.

19. Check the “I have read and accept the General Conditions for Passengers box.

20. Fill in the Credit/Debit Card information. The field that says Card Holder means the type of credit card, such as Visa.

21. Press the Purchase button.

22. You will then go to the Ticket page to complete your purchase.

23. You will get an email in PDF format with the tickets, which you need to print. With this you can go to the gate directly when you go to the railroad station and use the ticket to board. The ticket should have the barcode on it. Go to the station half an hour before your train leaves because you have to go through a security checkpoint, similar to the one in airports.

24. Sometimes when you go to the payment page (Forma de Pago), you may be switched unexpectedly to Spanish. This is the meaning of each term:

You only need to fill ion any fields marked with *.

Correo Electronico (*) = E-mail address

Nombre (*) = First Name

Appellido 1 (*) = Last Name

Tipo de Documento (*) = Type of Document (Choose Pasaporte)

Numero Documento (*) = Number of Document (Put in your passport number)

Direccion = Address

Codigo Postal = Postcode/Zip

Poblacion (*) = Town

Provincia (*) = District/County/State

Pais (*) = Country

Telefono 1 (*) = Telephone number

Check this box: He leído y acepto las Condiciones Generales Viajeros (I have read and accept the General Terms of Passengers)

Tarjeta de Credito/Debito = Credit card/Debit card

Numero de Tarjeta (*) = Card number

Titular de la Tarjeta (*)= Name of Card Holder

Fecha de Caducidad (*)= Card expiry Date

Comprar = Buy

25. Some people have been able to print the ticket at the end of their transaction on the web. If the ticket has the barcode on it, the person will probably not get an email. If your computer goes down or the Renfe webpage goes down while you are doing your transaction and you are not sure if the transaction was completed, check with your bank to see if your credit card was charged for the ticket. Then you can make a decision whether to attempt the transaction again.

26. The Tarifas page is only in Spanish. Here is the explanation in English:

A. Tarifa Web - You get a 60% discount if you buy your ticket on the web 15 days or more before the date you travel.

B. Tarifa Estrella - You get a 40% discount if you buy your ticket on the web at least 7 days before you travel.

C. Tarifa Ida y Vuelta - You get a 20% discount if you buy round trip tickets. The date of return should be 60 days or less after the date of your first trip.

27. The website allows you to buy tickets 62 days in advance of your trip for the AVE. For AVANT trips, or shorter trips, you may not be able to buy the tickets online until 15 days within your desired date of departure. This is very important! You cannot buy tickets more than 62 days in advance!

28. If you want to go round trip, you should do two trips instead of asking for the round trip because the round trip procedure will not give you the web discount. It will give you the round trip discount, which is smaller than the web discount.

29. Advice to travelers: The web page is not user friendly and one has to do trial and error to find the discounts one is entitled to. Also if the train is more than half an hour late in arrival at the destination, one is entitled to a full refund of the fare paid. Be sure to ask for the refund because it may not be given freely.

30. Some Americans have had problems completing their transactions because their credit card companies blocked the purchase, thinking that there could be some fraud involved. The solution was to call their credit card companies to unblock the purchase. Others have still had problems because Renfe could not connect with the bank of the credit card company. The solutions would be to use another credit card.

31. The AVE is the high velocity train for long distances. The AVANT is the high velocity train for medium distances. They both use the same rails and some of their destinations may be the same. Be sure to compare the prices for each of these to choose the best alternative.

32. Cities that are now reached by the AVE or AVANT:

Antequera - Station: Santa Ana

Barcelona - Station: Sants

Calatayud

Ciudad Real - Station: Central

Cordoba - Station: Central

Guadalajara - Station: Yebes

Huesca

Lleida

Madrid - Station: Atocha for trips to Malaga, Seville, Zaragoza, Barcelona

Station: Chamartin for trips to Segovia, Valladolid

Malaga

Puente Genil - Station: Herrera

Puertollano

Segovia

Seville - Station: Santa Justa

Tarragona - Station: Camp de Tarragona

Toledo

Valladolid - Station : Campo Grande

Zaragoza - Station: Delicias

33. Here is a Renfe website that starts in English for those who cannot find the English toggle when they go to the Renfe web:

http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html

34. If you are using Windows on your computer, maximize all the screens to be able to see all the information on the Renfe website.

35. There is a Changes/Refunds button on one of the panels, if one needs to use it. You will need to have a ticket number to use it.

36. For those people who want to travel on Renfe to Portugal or France, look for the button on the top of a panel which says International Trains. They have train hotels with dining rooms and sleeping cabins available.

37. Wikipedia has a good AVE map that can help travelers visualize where the high speed trains go:

…wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:HighSpeedSpain-Feb…

38. Classes of Service:

Club Class- Meal (choice of entree) at your seat, drinks, newspapers, audio/video, parking discounts, access to AVE lounges, access to conference room on train.

First Class - Meal at your seat, newspapers, audio/video, parking discounts, access to AVE lounges.

Tourist Class - Cheapest class with no meal.

39. Details of the Trenhotel:

www.spanish-rail.co.uk/trains/trenhotel.html

elipsos.com/servlet/…

40. Not all the seats are offered at a discount. You can buy tickets 62 days in advance of your trip. That is when you should buy your ticket. You are competing with thousands of other people who want the web discounts. The fewer days between your trip date and the day you buy the tickets, the fewer discounts you will find on the web because the discounted tickets have already been sold.

The people who plan early are the people who will get the discounts.

41. The AVANT is the high speed line for short distances, such as between Madrid and Toledo. There are no web discounts for AVANT. The web discounts only apply to large distances that are run on the AVE.

42. The Renfe website seems to be optimized only for the Windows operating system. Those who use other operating systems on their computers may have problems buying Renfe tickets. If this happens to you, then try using a PC with Windows and see if that works out.

43. When you use the Renfe website, be sure to use a PC with a printer because you will have to print out your ticket after the transaction completes.

44. Luggage has to be carried by the passenger and placed on the overhead rack above the seat. A passenger with heavy luggage may have a problem lifting the luggage to the overhead rack. Most passengers using Renfe have small pieces of luggage, for that very reason. Bringing two pieces of luggage can create a problem because the overhead storage is limited for each person.

45. The Renfe website says that bicycles can be brought on board only on Cercanias trains.

46. When you arrive at the Renfe station, verify what platform (Via) your train leaves from. There may be many platforms. If you do not see any signs, ask a Renfe clerk.

47. You are allowed to bring your own snacks and drinks on the train. The Spanish do that all the time.

48. A few people reported that after buying their first ticket at Renfe website, they were not able to buy any further tickets, receiving a message that their credit card is pending verification. This is thought to be due to a policy that states: https://w1.renfe.es/vbi/htvbiu04.html, that says:

First Purchase (each Credit Card)

Is mandatory that the owner of the Credit Card goes to the station and presents the Localizer, the Credit Card and ID Card, Passport or Driving Licence. Any further purchases can not be done until the tickets are collected

Here is the procedure to buy two separate tickets in a row: Register on the Renfe website and log in before starting your purchase.

When you enter the Renfe website, there is on the top panel a button called "Cards". Push the buttton. Then on the next page, push AVE Club Card. On the left panel of the next page, check Club AVE Online.

Si aún no eres miembro del Club AVE Online, regístrate aquí. (If you are not a member of Club AVE Online, register here).

Regístrate en el Club AVE Online (Register in the Club AVE Online).

Tipo documento: Choose Pasaporte.

Numero documento: Enter your passport number.

Numero de tarjeta (Number of card)

Contraseña (Choose a password)

Vuelve a introducir Contraseña (Repeat the password)

Pregunta recuerdo: (Question to remember)

Respuesta: (Answer to the question)

Enviar (Send)

You should then get your number.

49. Have a happy trip!