Hi
I’ve just come off the ‘phone with Renfe Sales, expecting to be able to reserve a seat on an AVE (Seville - Barcelona) in a little over 50 hours (4pm on the 12th July).
The lady on the call said that I could reserve a seat but that:
1. It had to be collected and paid for at a Spanish main station by 4pm tomorrow, ie a full 24 hrs before departure.
2. It would only be held until then and that I couldn’t reserve, pay and collect on the day of departure (which would be well within a 48-hour window).
I’m in Vilamoura, Portugal and won’t arrive in Seville until 10pm tomorrow. I’d expected to be able to walk into the station at 9am on the 12th and pay & collect.
On here (and other sites), I’m seeing advice that says you have up to 48 hours to pay and collect, but that you can’t reserve within 24 hours of departure (and I’ve seen advice that says you can).
I’m utterly lost 
♂️
Can one (or more) of you kind individuals who have unlocked this process help me understand the situation here, and how the rules actually apply?
Appreciate your help,
Dino
PS This train isn’t showing up as available to book on the new seat reservations update on the Interrail Pass system.
You have to collect a pre-ordered Renfe reservation within 48 hours after ordering, but also no later than 24 hours before departure. That's Renfe.
There are still seats available, so I don't know why it's not available on interrail.eu.
It looks like there's no other option than to go to the Renfe ticket office as soon as you can after you arrive in Sevilla and book there.
You have to collect a pre-ordered Renfe reservation within 48 hours after ordering, but also no later than 24 hours before departure. That's Renfe.
There are still seats available, so I don't know why it's not available on interrail.eu.
It looks like there's no other option than to go to the Renfe ticket office as soon as you can after you arrive in Sevilla and book there.
Many thanks for the reply - that’s pretty much what I was told. This really helps to ‘cement’ it as fact.
I saw that, so I removed the app in case that was the issue, not realising that it would wipe my travel history from my May trips 
and reinstalled it, but to no avail. No opportunity to book on the website either.
I saw that, so I removed the app in case that was the issue, not realising that it would wipe my travel history from my May trips and reinstalled it, but to no avail. No opportunity to book on the website either.
The rail planner app is totally separate from reservations, so removing and installing it has no effect.
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