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Making seat reservations in Spain before buying a pass?


Hello!

 

I’m thinking about buying a global pass but I do have some specific trains that I need to take in Spain. 

I’m planning on going to the DB Reisezentrum tomorrow and asking about making a reservation in those trains. If they are willing to make a reservation, can I make them without having bought the Global Pass yet? Or do I need a pass number or something similar to make the reservation?

 

Thanks in advance!

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Best answer by Angelo 28 July 2022, 14:38

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Userlevel 7
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Du kannst den Pas sofort gleich da kaufen-auf papier.

Ob mann es will ohne schon zu machen-Glueckssache. Kann sein-oder nicht. Meist sind private Agenturen etwas grosszuegiger damit

Hi,  Juleischka

did you get answer you need?   I have same problem and no clue of making reservation in advance.   It is so frustrated. 😴

Wen (WC6386)

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When buying in Spain at the ticket office, you will have to show the pass. I did this earlier this week. In theory you can also call Renfe to reserve seats, but I couldn’t find an English option so far, so unless you speak Spanish, this might be difficult. 

DB might be willing to do it without showing a pass, you will have to provide them all the details such as train number as not all Spanish timetables are in the DB system. 

What would be the reason to buy in advance? I purchased mine on arrival and had no issues with sold out trains. There are no quota’s in Spain, like there are in France. This will of course depend on the route and the class. 

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

You should not need to have the pass, already. At DB you don’t need it for sure. 

The Tutorial of @rvdborgt gives you some options how to get the reservation:

How to get Reservations 🙂 | Community (eurail.com)

Reservations for TGVs France-Spain

 

The TGVs and AVEs between France and Spain can be booked:

  • Via Interrail.eu (2€ booking fee per person and train + 9€ postage fee per order).
  • Via French railways ticket office or by phone (press #85 for English, no booking fee, delivery via e-mail).
  • Via Deutsche Bahn ticket office or by phone (+49 30 2970 or directly to the English line +49 30 311682904; no booking fee, delivery via DB ticket machine or by post for €5.90)
  • Via a Swiss ticket office or by phone (scroll down to Switzerland). Unknown if reservations can be sent via e-mail. Send me a message if you find out.
  • Via a RENFE ticket office or by phone, with limitations (scroll down to Spain). Reservation must be collected in Spain.

@jtim Just like to have a peace mind, if I have a ticket/pass in hand. 😉   But, my new headache is to make seat reservation after getting “One Country Pass”  So frustrated.

About calling Renfe (at +34 91 232 03 20), they have option 2 and you can hear English greeting message.  FYI

Cheers,

Wen (wc6386)

 

We have the same challenge (have bought the mobile pass already): it seems you can only buy the reservation locally in Spain in advance *in person* up to 3 months in advance or via phone just 24 hours in advance. We even asked a friend in Spain to go buy the reservation for us, but she was told it can only be done by the person travelling (showing their interrail pass and/or ID). Quite frustrating in this day and age!!! 

On the Eurail page it is explained like this (for the phone part): 

  • Pre-reserve seats by calling Renfe phone sales: +34 91 232 03 20
    • Pre-reserving a seat is possible up to 24 hours before a train's departure. You will receive a PNR code which you must use to pick up and pay for your reservation at a local station ticket office, making sure to show your Interrail Pass. You must collect your reservation within 72 hours. After this time the pre-reservation will expire. 
    • Please note that a pre-reservation is not the same as a reservation. It only holds a seat for you for 72 hours.
Userlevel 1

We just came back from Spain and found that you had to buy your tickets personally in the Station, with long waiting hours and showing both interrail ticket & our Identity cards. The reservation were also personalized. So I wonder if you can really buy them at a DB Center.

The advantage of this old-style appearing system is, that generally you get your reservation!

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

We just came back from Spain and found that you had to buy your tickets personally in the Station, with long waiting hours and showing both interrail ticket & our Identity cards. The reservation were also personalized. So I wonder if you can really buy them at a DB Center.

Yes you can.

Userlevel 1

ok, I didn’t try this because the waiting time in Germany seemed to long 😜 (even if possibly shorter than in Spain). Also, if I remember well, in the Callcenter of the DB they knew nothing. But also, because we hadn't fixed 100 % our plans at the departure, and in fact went one day later from Barcelona to Andalucía .

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Also, if I remember well, in the Callcenter of the DB they knew nothing.

Others were able to book Spanish trains via the DB call centre.

Unfortunately, too many DB staff don't know how to book trains via the direct train number search (instead of timetable-based booking). There are more trains they can only book this way (such as the ones to Istanbul) but AFAIK Spanish domestic trains are the most frequently requested trains that DB has to book this way.

Userlevel 1

Ah, next time I’ll know. I also asked myself if it would have been better to buy the tickets directly, instead of Interrail, since we have reductions as “BahnCard 50” which give discounts in other European Countries as well, and we went back by plane due to all these insecurities. Also, I suppose that we would have been able to have TGV reservations buying normal tickets (I heard that the Interrail quota is really small - in some TGV only 10 places!). With the TGV, we would have been able to travel from Berlin to Barcelona in one day!

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