Replies posted by Scottyh56

11 Replies

S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

Exchanging mobile pass and impact on existing reservations

Thank you!And on an aside but with reference to an issue you have been helpful with previously, I have just contacted DB in Germany to try to get reservations for Spain sent to the UK. They were very helpful and it is all perfectly possible but their systems did not show the particular trains that I was looking for, for example the 9.02 St Sebastian - Madrid Chamartin. Others on the route - yes.I have done the maths and I can downgrade my interrail pass from 10 journeys to 4 and if I move now get actual tickets booked for my Spain and Portugal journeys - for a price equal to the pass + reservation money saved. 

2
S
Keeps calm and carries on
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

There is definitely something odd with that, every day for the next week (even today) shows almost full availability except on Nov 1. I have commented elsewhere that it seems true that almost every seat is sold.  A bit more research and I find that Tuesday - All Hallows Day - is a public holiday in Spain - not sure why so many should be catching a train though!

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

I contacted RailEurope customer services and they were kind enough to carry out a test transaction to confirm that they had availability when Renfe state ‘train full’. Of course I cannot confirm that a person present in San Sebastian right now could buy a reservation for the 9.02am to Madrid next Tuesday 1 November but the low current RailEurope pricing for that ticket (£57.50) is indicative of there being lots of availability. Meanwhile Renfe show every train that day as full! tranline.com also show availability. They also say "only one left” but I'm not sure if that's only 1 for that price or only 1 seat in that train. In any case, it's quite strange. On the other hand, it's Renfe... It is at that price - and I have investigated further through trainline, as far as choosing seats for two people. Impossible to sit together!  So to be fair to renfe it does seem that almost all tickets are sold. I am guessing here, but trainline and RailEurope seem to have far more dynamic cus

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

I must say I’m as confused as you. Normally if the Renfe app shows it as full it is. I’m a bit dubious that RailEurope could really produce a ticket and reservations. I guess it will fail at the actual payment stage and decline the card as no seats available. On the other hand Renfe May hold back a small allocation for agencies. Let the community know how you get on! I contacted RailEurope customer services and they were kind enough to carry out a test transaction to confirm that they had availability when Renfe state ‘train full’.Of course I cannot confirm that a person present in San Sebastian right now could buy a reservation for the 9.02am to Madrid next Tuesday 1 November but the low current RailEurope pricing for that ticket (£57.50) is indicative of there being lots of availability. Meanwhile Renfe show every train that day as full!

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

You can take it as certain that trains on the day you want will be full possibly many days before. There are few services on that route which is the key problem. DB don’t usually send tickets out you have to pick them up from a ticket machine in Germany. I didn’t know DB could book Renfe.    Are you planning to use Interrail/ Eurail and just need a reservation or are you buying travel tickets? If you need just a reservation only Renfe can do this. Please see How to get Reservations :) | Community (eurail.com) for DB and other options that I will exhaust before getting to Spain!

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

Coming just back from ESpana-and having used RENFE with/out the usual problems here reported (for me mostly closed off gates for cercanias) I can assure you that it is as for now not yet possible to RES for those dates-or buy tickets. I bet somewhere in the system of that R-Eur you will also get 404 or whatever prob messages. It simply does not go that fast there. ONLY -and with a lot of fanfare-even on the national TV-news/novedades was disclosed that AVE=superfast trenes can now be RES for the holy dates untill in the Ano nuevo + feliz navidad (thats is 1/1 and Xmas). I have also noted that esp on weekends, sabados+festivos, most long-dist trenes are indeed often very full/completo days ahead-ALL. Plus that it seems also in ES, catholic as it is, a long weekend for some holy day is coming-which also leads to full trenes. In case of misunderstandin, I am looking at availability NOW for a day or two in advance to assess whether they are likely to sell out more than a day or two in adv

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

Maybe, but I was not going to risk €100 to explore that possibility! 🙂I think I will finish up trying the DB booking option when Xmas period tickets become available, if they will send tickets to UK. If that fails then I will try the Renfe phone line from the UK and then, within 3 days, pick up the reservations in Spain. In the last resort I will hopefully be able to secure reservations in the San Sebastián ticket office 36 hours ahead of the departure that I need to be on.When there I will definitely be looking at what the relevant apps say and report back!

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spain - is RENFE app a true guide to ticket office reservation availability?

Thanks - I understand the status of the various parties. The thing is that I can actually buy a ticket NOW on Rail Europe (checked all the way to the payment screen) so I assume that the empty seat exists right now. Will the local ticket office see the same empty seat? I guess we will not have anyone in the ticket office in San Sebastian right now but I am hoping for somebody with experience in Spain of the scenario I am looking at here.

15
Angelo
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Using SNCB to book Eurostar / SNCF reservations

Thank you for the reassurance!Despite all being fine in my head because of what I understood that I had read in various places on this forum that it is so tricky when there are contradictory messages on the official sites. Scott

2
S
Keeps calm and carries on
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spanish reservations (again)

Pre-booking via RENFE's phone number should work longer than 72 hours in advance, but you need to collect the reservations within 72 hours after pre-booking. Thanks for the clarification which avoids confusion for anybody in Spain. I have noted how the pass needs to be present here to pick up the reservation - I assume simple security to make sure the reservation gets into the hands of the person paying for it. For my friend paying for reservations ‘live’ as it were I think the situation is less clear but if I find out it is OK then I will report back. You could also look for a Travel Agency in UK that sells Tickets of RENFE or DB (German Rail). They should be able to sell it, but via DB you need a good selling person that knows how it works.  That’s helpful. DB selling Spanish reservations seems strange and I had assumed it was for those in Germany but may be worth a look.I know another option is to get in there early and buy cheap advance tickets and save InterRail for other days. I

6
R
Railmaster
1 year ago
S
Keeps calm and carries on
Scottyh56Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Spanish reservations (again)

Thank you! I have seen your previous helpful post and I guess I was seeking clarification on two of the options. It is helpful to know that the reservations would be paper and therefore have to be bought in good time to send from Spain to the UK where they would have to arrive before 16 December. I am sure that I could send screengrabs & other details for the passes to Spain to try and cover all the bases. If that doesn’t work then it is on to 2… If left with this option my understanding is that it can be no more than 72 hours in advance? Unfortunately that could be too late because I see that, according to Renfe, some trains on that route even 16 days from now are already marked “Full Train”. Fortunately in the last resort there are slower (much slower) non-direct trains to Madrid, but then multiple reservations, more cost and 4 hours less time in Madrid.  

6
R
Railmaster
1 year ago
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