Seat reservations on Spanish trains just got easier for Interrail and Eurail passholders
ADVERTISEMENT
Interrail and Eurail passholders rejoice, as you can now skip the queues and reserve your seats on long- and medium-distance RENFE trains online.
Rail Europe
, a European train booking platform, has expanded its offering to include trains operated by Spain's state-owned railway, eliminating a major hurdle that has dogged rail passholders for years.
'The addition of RENFE's passholder fares to our platform is a game-changer for travellers eager to explore Spain with ease,' says Jürgen Witte, Chief Product and Technology Officer of Rail Europe. 'This enhancement ensures Interrail and Eurail Global Pass holders can navigate its world-class rail system seamlessly.'
With the new service, passholders can easily see if a seat reservation is required for their journey and what the associated costs will be.
From there, they can make their
reservation
online, eliminating the need for time-consuming in-person bookings where a lack of Spanish language skills is sometimes an issue.
What's the problem with booking RENFE seats with a rail pass?
While many
Interrail
and Eurail trains don't require seat reservations, Spanish high-speed trains - the Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) - do.
Although Interrail purports to allow bookings on some AVE trains via its self-service system, users report extensive issues in getting the platform to work. Some trains available on Interrail/Eurail are not bookable via the self-service system at all.
Previously, the only option to secure a seat reservation without buying a ticket on a RENFE
high-speed train
was to call the company. The traveller would then have to go to a RENFE station to pick up and pay for the reservation within 72 hours of booking, which is often not convenient.
'In Spain, almost all trains, apart from purely suburban ones, require a reservation, and RENFE's own website doesn't offer passholder reservations,' explains train travel expert Mark Smith, who runs the website
The Man in Seat 61
.
'Furthermore, Spanish trains can leave fully booked, so you ideally need to book ahead. This was a major issue for using an Interrail or Eurail pass in
Spain
.'
Smith warns that, particularly on peak travel days, such as Fridays and Saturdays in the summer months, queues can be atrocious. At major stations in Madrid and Barcelona, passengers can wait as long as one or two hours to be served.
The complexity has caused confusion and frustration among travellers. On the Eurail forum, one user said, 'Not gonna jump through hoops to go to Spain. I'll cancel the Spain leg and stay in France.'
Seat reservations are required on the Spanish AVE trains.
Ricard Codina via Flickr
Related
What would a single-ticket booking system mean for your next European train adventure?
The European tube: Inside the project to launch a continent-wide rail system
How to book seat reservations with RENFE
To reserve a seat on a RENFE high-speed AVE train, simply head to the
Rail Europe website
.
Click 'add rail pass' below the journey planner and select the type and class of pass you hold. Then, you can search for a journey as normal, but you should only see the passholder reservation costs rather than the normal ticket costs.
Smith notes that the
Rail Europe
system defaults to a second-class reservation in the search results. Holders of first-class passes need to manually change the price drop-down if they want to reserve a first-class seat.
ADVERTISEMENT
There are other options for booking seats on RENFE with a pass. These include using Dutch agency HappyRail, which has proven to be successful at booking seats on AVE trains, but charges a 3.5 per cent fee.
Interrail
and Eurail reservation services have been available since 2023, but success is patchy. Smith notes that, when the systems do work, they allow booking in first or second class, but not in the 'premium' class that gets passholders Sala Club lounge access and a meal with wine included on AVE and Euromed trains.
Smith has long recommended Rail Europe as a booking service for Interrail and Eurail passholders, as it has more seat choices, more benefits for first-class passholders, and no booking fees.
'This is a big step forward,' says Smith, 'and if one system won't get you the reservation you want, try the other.'
ADVERTISEMENT
Related
What my Interrail trip across Europe taught me about the past, present and future of train travel
Be flexible, pack light and bring a spork: Top tips for Interrailing in Europe
Where can you travel with RENFE?
RENFE operates a comprehensive route network across Spain, with both its AVE (high-speed) and Larga Distancia (long-distance) trains. On the map below, the purple lines are AVE trains, and the grey lines are the slower
long-distance routes
.
The operator offers connections throughout Spain and into France and Portugal.
RENFE
As well as travelling within Spain, RENFE connects to several international destinations. These include Oporto in Portugal and several destinations in
France
.
From 23 April, RENFE will launch a new direct Seville-Barcelona train service, cutting out the transfer in Madrid and making it easier to get between the two popular cities.
Along the way, it stops in Córdoba, Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Madrid, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, and
Girona
, which are all attractive destinations to visit, too. The high-speed service takes around six hours and is set to make travel between the south and northeast of Spain a much more convenient option.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Iran says to submit own nuclear proposal to US soon
Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear accord to replace the deal with major powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. The longtime foes have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a "non-negotiable" right and Washington describing it as a "red line". On May 31, after the fifth round talks, Iran said it had received "elements" of a US proposal, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying later the text contained "ambiguities". Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei criticised the US proposal as "lacking elements" reflective of the previous rounds of negotiations, without providing further details. "We will soon submit our own proposed plan to the other side through (mediator) Oman once it is finalised," Baqaei told a weekly press briefing. "It is a proposal that is reasonable, logical, and balanced, and we strongly recommend that the American side value this opportunity." Iran's parliament speaker has said the US proposal failed to include the lifting of sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. 'Strategic mistake' Trump, who has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions on Iran since taking office in January, has repeatedly said it will not be allowed any uranium enrichment under a potential deal. On Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US offer was "100 percent against" notions of independence and self-reliance. He insisted that uranium enrichment was "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the US "cannot have a say" on the issue. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes The United Nations nuclear watchdog will convene a Board of Governors meeting from June 9-13 in Vienna to discuss Iran's nuclear activities. The meeting comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report criticising "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on "forged documents" provided by its arch foe Israel. Britain, France and Germany, the three European countries who were party to the 2015 deal, are currently weighing whether to trigger the sanctions "snapback" mechanism in the accord. The mechanism would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October. On Friday, Araghchi warned European powers against backing a draft resolution at the IAEA accusing Tehran of non-compliance, calling it a "strategic mistake". On Monday, Baqaei said Iran has "prepared and formulated a series of steps and measures" if the resolution passed.
Fashion Network
7 hours ago
- Fashion Network
China says it is working with France on trade differnces, no sign yet of a cognac deal
China and France have agreed to resolve their trade disputes through dialogue, China's foreign ministry said on Friday, though there was no indication that agreement had been reached in talks on lifting Chinese levies on European brandy. Talks to resolve the cognac dispute accelerated this week with China's commerce minister Wang Wentao meeting his French counterpart in Paris on the sidelines of an OECD conference, and technical talks on the matter taking place in Beijing. The latest round of negotiations have raised hopes of a settlement, two industry sources with knowledge of the discussions said. "The two sides have reached consensus on resolving economic and trade issues through dialogue and consultation", the Chinese foreign ministry said after a call between the Chinese and French foreign ministers. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy - with French cognac bearing the brunt - have strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of "pure retaliation". The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH 's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard 's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China is seeking to strengthen trade ties with the 27-member bloc as relations with the United States have soured in the escalating trade war. "France will not compromise on ... the protection of its industries, such as cognac," French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said after talks with Wang on Wednesday. Chinese officials, meanwhile, signalled to industry officials during three rounds of technical meetings in Beijing this week they wanted to settle the matter, one of the sources said, but added some sticking points remained. With annual imports of around $1.7 billion last year, China is the French brandy industry's most important measured by value and the second-largest by volume after the United States. © Thomson Reuters 2025 All rights reserved.
Fashion Network
14 hours ago
- Fashion Network
China says it is working with France on trade differnces, no sign yet of a cognac deal
China and France have agreed to resolve their trade disputes through dialogue, China's foreign ministry said on Friday, though there was no indication that agreement had been reached in talks on lifting Chinese levies on European brandy. Talks to resolve the cognac dispute accelerated this week with China's commerce minister Wang Wentao meeting his French counterpart in Paris on the sidelines of an OECD conference, and technical talks on the matter taking place in Beijing. The latest round of negotiations have raised hopes of a settlement, two industry sources with knowledge of the discussions said. "The two sides have reached consensus on resolving economic and trade issues through dialogue and consultation", the Chinese foreign ministry said after a call between the Chinese and French foreign ministers. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy - with French cognac bearing the brunt - have strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of "pure retaliation". The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH 's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard 's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China is seeking to strengthen trade ties with the 27-member bloc as relations with the United States have soured in the escalating trade war. "France will not compromise on ... the protection of its industries, such as cognac," French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said after talks with Wang on Wednesday. Chinese officials, meanwhile, signalled to industry officials during three rounds of technical meetings in Beijing this week they wanted to settle the matter, one of the sources said, but added some sticking points remained. With annual imports of around $1.7 billion last year, China is the French brandy industry's most important measured by value and the second-largest by volume after the United States.
