I'm trying to book my AVE tickets online through renfe, but I'm having some problems:
A) What is a N.I.F.? It asks for it, but I don't know what it is...
B) It won't let me input my six-digit postal code. What do I do?

Can someone please help me?

NIF is the acronym for our Spanish Identity Card Number.

Of course, as I am Spanish, I didn't have problem filling those fields. Maybe someone who actually had them (many foreign forumers have purchased their tickets through renfe.es) can help you out telling you what they did. However, in case none else responds, I would suggest you to put your passport number in the NIF field, and to shorten your 6-digit postcode to 5 digits (the standard in Spain) eliminating the first or the last digit, at your will.

The NIF field is for identification purposes, and your passport can do, and the postcode is only statistical, I guess.

try this website

http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html

I think I put in my passport number. You should have no problem doing this. Years ago, I purchased RENFE tickets online and then picked them up when I arrived at the airport with a confirmation code. Good luck!

Tried my passport number. Didn't work. It told me that the 'N.I.F. is incorrect'.

I think I might try to book through Eurail and simply tell them not to send the tickets to me.

The Renfe website is a shame. Absolutely chaotic and stupid.
I can tell you from experience, trust me. I am an IT consultant and I worked for them. Renfe is really a chaotic company, so the site reflects this perfectly. Sure, the AVE is magnificent and efficient...but is nearly the only efficient thing they have.
How can they request a NIF? a NIF is an ONLY SPANISH number used for fiscal purposes, not for identification only. Nobody outside Spain has a NIF. Nonsense.

I am testing the RENFE Website and, at least in the English version, it don't do any reference to NIF, but to an ID Card (field that I filled with 12345678 and worked fine). The only 'weird' thing for a foreigner is that a second surname is compulsory (rule valid for Spaniards, but not necessarily for the rest of the potential customers). In that field, put your mom's maiden name or whatever you want.

I cannot do further tests, because at this point I would have to enter a valid credit card and am not willing to do it, but it seems that they have different versions of the registration form by language. How did you try to buy your tickets, Carlotta? Through the English page (available on top right of the page Tim Hortons Man provides in this thread) or the Spanish one?

I tried to do it through the English website. Do the pages ask for different things? Seems odd...

Edit: Just went back again, and tried it with an eight digit number in the NIF field. It worked. Turns out my passport number wasn't long enough.

Is a 'plaza' a seat? Sorry if I'm being a bother.

It is not the literal meaning but, yes, in this case "plaza" stands for "seat".

Feel free to ask.

I had the same problem a few days ago and finally figured it out. You should enter your passport number, but the site will not accept the entire number. I can't remember exactly how many digits it will accept, but I think it's all but the last 2. Try it and see. I just kept trying until it worked, so I can't remember for sure. I agree that the site sucks.

I need help with some RENFE related info also if anyone knows how to direct me...The site is frustrating me!!

1. Madrid to Toledo: High speed Train...from what station? SOmeone was kind enough to post a time table a while back and cost but I don't recall what station it was from.

2. Madrid to Granada and back: Time table? I think I read there were two times. Again, what station?

Thanksfor any feedback! Tanja

Right now, 100% of the high-speed trains depart from Puerta de Atocha station. Toledo trains are high-speed, so...

There are two trains (Talgo) to Granada, one in the morning (dep 8:10a - arr 2:10p), and the other in the afternoon/evening (4:47p-10:50p). Both depart from Chamartin station, but stop at Atocha Cercanias, too.

Puerta de Atocha and Atocha Cercanias are two different stations, but located side by side, something similar to two terminals of the same airport. Both are accessible from Atocha Renfe metro station.

I agree that the Renfe Website is not the most user friendly and intuitive in the world, but I don't see so difficult to find schedules or the station from a train departs. When you are in the main English page, pick a departure and arrival city from the dropbox menus that are labelled with "Origin" and "Destination". You can choose a specific day or leave it as N/A to do a generic query. Press "Search". That's easy.

Once you get to the results page, there is a text just over the train data headers that says: To see the train's route schedule click on "Type of Train". Well, if you click on the type of train, a table with complete schedule of the selected train appears (one row per station where it departs, stops, or arrives; four columns, left to right: station code, station name, arrival time, departure time). Easy again.

I forgot to mention the return trains from Granada. Once you get the results for your query Madrid-Granada, there is alink at the bottom of the page that says: "Choose the train on the return route". Well, clicking on it we see that there are two Talgos from Granada to Madrid, too. 8a-2:06p the first one, and 5:10p-11:16p the second one.

(originally posted by tclearyn3 on 04-22-2006 06:23 AM)

A friend in Spain navigated the RENFE site and forwarded this info to me, I thought I'd share it with all of you who might need the same info to these destinations.

Madrid/Granada:

00276

TALGO Depart:08:10 Arrive: 14:10 DIARIO
del 16-04-2006
al 24-04-2006 Turista 35,40
TuristaNiño 21,25
Preferente 46,90
PreferenteNiño 28,15

08:10 14:10 DIARIO del 25-04-2006 al 16-05-2006
08:10 14:10 DIARIO del 17-05-2006 al 03-06-2006


00278

TALGO 16:47 22:50 DIARIO
del 15-04-2006
al 24-04-2006 Turista 31,30
TuristaNiño 18,80
Preferente 41,20
PreferenteNiño 24,70

16:47 22:50 DIARIO del 25-04-2006 al 16-05-2006
16:47 22:50 DIARIO del 17-05-2006 al 03-06-2006


And this is the Granada to Madrid:

00277

TALGO 08:00 14:06 DIARIO
del 16-04-2006
al 24-04-2006 Turista 31,30
TuristaNiño 18,80
Preferente 41,20
PreferenteNiño 24,70

08:00 14:06 DIARIO del 25-04-2006 al 16-05-2006
08:00 14:06 DIARIO del 17-05-2006 al 03-06-2006


00279

TALGO 17:10 23:16 DIARIO
del 15-04-2006
al 24-04-2006 Turista 35,40
TuristaNiño 21,25
Preferente 46,90
PreferenteNiño 28,15

17:10 23:16 DIARIO del 25-04-2006 al 16-05-2006
17:10 23:16 DIARIO del 17-05-2006 al 03-06-2006


And this is the High Speed to Toledo:

09512

ALTA VELOCIDAD 06:50 07:25 LMXJV
del 17-04-2006
al 30-04-2006 Turista 8,30

06:50 07:25 MXJV del 01-05-2006 al 07-05-2006
06:50 07:25 LMXJV del 08-05-2006 al 10-06-2006


09514

ALTA VELOCIDAD 07:50 08:25 LMXJV
del 17-04-2006
al 30-04-2006 Turista 8,30

07:50 08:25 MXJV del 01-05-2006 al 07-05-2006
07:50 08:25 LMXJV del 08-05-2006 al 10-06-2006


09518

ALTA VELOCIDAD 09:20 09:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09520

ALTA VELOCIDAD 10:20 10:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09524

ALTA VELOCIDAD 12:20 12:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09526

ALTA VELOCIDAD 13:50 14:25 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09530

ALTA VELOCIDAD 15:50 16:25 DIARIO
del 02-01-2006
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09534

ALTA VELOCIDAD 17:50 18:25 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09538

ALTA VELOCIDAD 19:50 20:25 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09542

ALTA VELOCIDAD 21:50 22:25 DIARIO
del 02-01-2006
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


And the high speed from Toledo:

09513

ALTA VELOCIDAD 06:50 07:25 LMXJV
del 17-04-2006
al 30-04-2006 Turista 8,30

06:50 07:25 MXJV del 01-05-2006 al 07-05-2006
06:50 07:25 LMXJV del 08-05-2006 al 10-06-2006


09517

ALTA VELOCIDAD 08:00 08:35 LMXJV
del 17-04-2006
al 30-04-2006 Turista 8,30

08:00 08:35 MXJV del 01-05-2006 al 07-05-2006
08:00 08:35 LMXJV del 08-05-2006 al 10-06-2006


09519

ALTA VELOCIDAD 09:20 09:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09521

ALTA VELOCIDAD 10:20 10:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09525

ALTA VELOCIDAD 12:20 12:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09527

ALTA VELOCIDAD 13:20 13:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09531

ALTA VELOCIDAD 15:20 15:55 DIARIO
del 02-01-2006
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09535

ALTA VELOCIDAD 17:20 17:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09539

ALTA VELOCIDAD 19:20 19:55 DIARIO
del 16-11-2005
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


09543

ALTA VELOCIDAD 21:20 21:55 DIARIO
del 02-01-2006
al 10-06-2006 Turista 8,30


Hope it helps! Tanja

Thanks MadridMan for getting my post out there!
Torrales, thanks for the detailed instructions on the site...I will try them tonight and see if I have luck. Even though I now have the info, it bugs me that I couldn't work the site!!

The trouble I was having was..after listing Madrid to either Granada or Toledo...it would come up with "No direct route"

Then I would try the station option underneath and I would get the same result. Now, I was listing specific dates and maybe it was too far out for the site to list them for me...who knows!! SO, I will try it with the suggestions you gave and hope to get the better of that bleepin site!!

Tanja

I recently had a problem buying tickets for the Madrid-Granada route on the Renfe site. For whatever reason, it didn't list the direct route Talgo until about a month before my trip. It only listed the routes with train changes in Sevilla and Boadilla.

In the end, I just went to the travel agency in my neighborhood and bought the tickets, because I wanted to be sure to get a reserved spot (we were going during Semana Santa). It really is a beautful train ride, especially in the Spring.

You're welcome tclearyn3. After responding your post, I had a 'dejà-vu' feeling, like if I had responded the same thing a few days ago. And, actually, I did:

http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001524#000007

Please, check if your question has been asked before repeating it.

Like quite a few others in this thread, I wasn't able to register on the RENFE website, because I live outside Spain.

But when I e-mailed RENFE to ask about this, they told me that I didn't need to register to be able to buy a ticket online.

So I then tried to buy a ticket for my return journey from Barcelona to Spain in September it said that no tickets were available. How soon in advance of the journey will the site let you buy tickets?

You can't buy tickets until 60 days in advance. I traveled to Spain in April and my companion had to buy our train tickets. I think that some credit card companies block your ability to buy. I called mine in advance to make sure that it wouldn't be a problem and it seemed like my issue was with Renfe instead of my credit card. My companion ended up purchasing our tickets on her credit card because she was able to get it to work. When you are ready to buy, check the special web fares. You can save quite a lot of money if they are available. Good luck and have fun!