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Reservation on RENFE AVE International train from Marseille to Barcelona

  • May 27, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 165 views
B

Hello,

I was hoping someone here can help me with an issue that seems like it’s been going on for years.

It looks like there are still no reservations available at all between Marseille and Barcelona on the direct RENFE AVE International train from Marseille to Barcelona.

We can’t do the no reservation trip as 1) we have 3 kids, one of them only 4 y/o so 10 hours with multiple transfers isn’t feasible and 2) we would miss our flight.

We already got the eurail pass and reservations for the other legs of the trip so will be a problem if we can’t get back to Barcelona on July 23rd.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Brian

Best answer by ralderton

It’s a lot easier now.

You can book AVE reservations on raileurope.com. Add your pass in the search box.

It looks like for 23 July, the AVE only has availability in first class. If you have a second class and want to travel on the 23rd, you can take the TER to Narbonne, then a TGV.

4 replies

ralderton
Railmaster
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  • ralderton
  • Railmaster
  • Answer
  • May 27, 2025

It’s a lot easier now.

You can book AVE reservations on raileurope.com. Add your pass in the search box.

It looks like for 23 July, the AVE only has availability in first class. If you have a second class and want to travel on the 23rd, you can take the TER to Narbonne, then a TGV.

B
  • BrianC
  • Author
  • Right on track
  • May 27, 2025

Thank you Ralderton! I have the 1st class eurail pass.

I tried raileurope as well but I get this message “Rail Pass doesn't apply for this trip (more info)”.

After reading your message, it sounded like it worked for you so I reduced the number of reservations to 3 and now I am able to see the reservation price!

HOWEVER, I’m still not able to actually get the reservation as when I try to add to cart, I now get this error message “Sorry, we weren't able to confirm your booking.
Unfortunately it appears that this fare may no longer be available from the rail operator. It may be that the price or availability has changed. Please try performing a new search or selecting a different departure time or ticket type.”

I can try again, see the reservation again, but still not able to add to cart. Also tried on multiple browsers, cleared cache, etc.

Any ideas?

Thank you again!

B
  • BrianC
  • Author
  • Right on track
  • May 27, 2025

Hello, I did some testing and I think the issue is there are very limited passes available with Eurail. I tried several other days and most had 1-3 reservations available but getting 5 on the same day was challenging.

At least we figured it out, thank you for your help!

R
Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • May 28, 2025

Renfe don't have limited pass holder seats. Any seat can be booked for a pass holder, and there are still many seats left, as we can see on renfe.com. So it's strange that they only allow you to book 3 seats.

You could ask Rail Europe what the problem is: https://www.raileurope.com/en-gb/contact/new

Or try to book on eurail.com (booking fee €2 per seat) or on happyrail.com (booking fee €1.50 per seat).

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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