We'll be landing in the AM of September 4, and I then hope to buy AVE tickets at the airport Renfe office for a noonish train to Sevilla. Is their a strong likelihood that we can do so, or do these tickets sell out far in advance? I believe that we'll opt for an Aerocity shuttle to Atocha station once we have the train tickets and seat reservations in hand. Thanks to all the participants in this forum. It has proven very useful in the planning of our first trip to Spain.

September is still a summer month... but the 4th is not a holiday... its a gamble. For the AVE- it doesn't get sold out the same way the other trains do... its hard to tell if you'll be ok or not. Do you have anyone in Spain that could buy the tickets for you and mail them to you before you leave?

No, we don't know a soul in Spain.

vicnric writes: In a half dozen or so times I've travelled on AVE I've never had a problem with it being sold out. It runs hourly. Your "noonish" target might put you in another situation. I haven't checked Renfe's site recently but as I recall some midday trains were Punta (peak-period) priced. There are 3-classes: Turista, Preferente and Club and 3 time-of-day rates: Valle, Llano, y Punta. Most times you will probably be travelling Turista-LLano.