update on the tarjeta dorada (senior card)

[piogaw]

please note i have been doing some research on the advantage of the senior discount on renfe trains.

the tarjeta dorada on ticket discount is not always cheaper. it is also not necessarily cheaper if you buy the ticket at the last minute. i have checked a sample booking for february from madrid to santiago de compostela.

for this particular date, the cheapest one way second class fare is only 16.25 euros, this is a ticket bought on promo (use it or lost it);

the next cheapest is promo+ changeable with penalty which cost 18.95 euros;

with booking for 4 pax on seats facing each other, the fare is 21.70 euros each.

the most expensive ticket is flexible and costs 54.20 euros.

in comparison, the ticket with the senior discount still costs 32.50 euros.

even first class fares with this particular booking are as follows: 21.15 euros, 24.70 euros, 28.20 euros, 70.50 euros respectively.

with senior discount, the fare is 42.30 euros.

so be very careful when booking a renfe ticket. try to compare a ticket with or without a senior discount. also please note if there are no promotions going on, it will be cheaper to use your tarjeta dorada. it is best to go directly to renfe website. because i don't think a travel agent will list all the possible discounts. i do not know whether these promotions are on now because of the holiday season or because it is low season. i do know train travel is the main stream of transportation, apart from buses, for the spaniards.

actually if there are promotional fares going on, the senior price is not posted anywhere as it is much too expensive as compared to all the others. only if there are no promotion going on is where you cn click on the box for tarjeta dorada. and this discounted fare will definitely be cheaper. i have no experience in comparing advance purchase with current online purchasing.

i hope i am not confusing anyone. give me a jingle if you have any question.

a happy christmas to all my fellow peregrinos. god bless.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I just checked on the Tarjeta Dorada for 2014.
Here is what I discovered:

People are entitled to the Tarjeta Dorada Card if they are over 60 years old, or are in receipt of a pension being over 18 years old, with a permanent total or absolute physical or mental impairment or severe disability that has been officially declared, or have a level of disability equal to or more than 65%. For this last group of people, the words "AND TRAVELLING COMPANION" will be printed on the card, which will allow another person to travel with the same terms of discount.

The Dorada Card is valid for one year and can be requested at Renfe stations, ticket offices and travel agencies for 6 Euros. There is also the option of obtaining a Tarjeta Dorada linked to credit and debit cards issued by some banks.

The card is €6 this year.
It is a plain white card with your information typed on it.

On AVANT trains the discount is
25% Monday - Friday
40% Sat - Sun

On AVE
40% Monday - Thursday
25% Sat-Sun

CONVENTIONAL, CERCANIUS, OR ANCHO METERICO
40% All days


I'm not sure the difference between these various trains. Maybe someone else can explain?

I have used the card on the VDLP and I got a good discount as well at Merida.
Some museums take it and some don't. You just have to ask and see.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Annie, I can add a little more to all the info you've given. There is a frustratingly huge vocabulary associated with Spanish trains, but an equally impressive overall service, so I guess it's worth the frustration.

AVE are the long distance high speed trains. Routes here: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/larga_distancia/productos/index.html (And based on that link, it looks like AVE is a generic term that also includes the whole list of trains over on the left of that web page, Alvia, Altaris, etc).

Avant are also high speed trains, like the AVE, but they are for shorter distances.
Routes here: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/mediadistancia/descuentos_y_abonos/avant/index.html

Ancho Metrico seems to be the new name given to FEVE since RENFE took it over.

Convencional -- means all the "regular" (non-high speed) trains.

Cercanias-- are the commuter trains. Spain's big cities all have them: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/

It's curious that the high speed train discounts are kind of flipped -- on AVE you get 40% off on weekdays, but on AVANT you get 40% off on Sat and Sun. Must have to do with their ridership statistics.

And btw, thanks for the tip on the museums. I have had a tarjeta dorada card every year for the last three years and this is the first time anyone suggested it had a use other than on trains!

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hi, Annie, I can add a little more to all the info you've given. There is a frustratingly huge vocabulary associated with Spanish trains, but an equally impressive overall service, so I guess it's worth the frustration.

AVE are the long distance high speed trains. Routes here: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/larga_distancia/productos/index.html (And based on that link, it looks like AVE is a generic term that also includes the whole list of trains over on the left of that web page, Alvia, Altaris, etc).

Avant are also high speed trains, like the AVE, but they are for shorter distances.
Routes here: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/mediadistancia/descuentos_y_abonos/avant/index.html

Ancho Metrico seems to be the new name given to FEVE since RENFE took it over.

Convencional -- means all the "regular" (non-high speed) trains.

Cercanias-- are the commuter trains. Spain's big cities all have them: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/

It's curious that the high speed train discounts are kind of flipped -- on AVE you get 40% off on weekdays, but on AVANT you get 40% off on Sat and Sun. Must have to do with their ridership statistics.

And btw, thanks for the tip on the museums. I have had a tarjeta dorada card every year for the last three years and this is the first time anyone suggested it had a use other than on trains!

Buen camino, Laurie

Thanks Laurie!
This helps a lot.

 

[Al the optimist]

I used mine at Valencia's Opera House in 2012

 

[peregrina2000]

I used mine at Valencia's Opera House in 2012

Wow, another missed opportunity to save a few euros! I was there last year before starting the Camino de Levante and didn't think to ask. Thanks, Al.

 

[whariwharangi]

Piogaw brings up some good points about whether a targeta dorado is good value. Particularly as the card will likely only be used at the start and finish of a typical pilgrimage. I note Piogaw's calculations don't include the 6 euro cost of the card. It doesn't seem worth the bother.

I got discounts at a couple of museums with my credencial

 

[Anniesantiago]

I note Piogaw's calculations don't include the 6 euro cost of the card. It doesn't seem worth the bother.

Just depends on where you're going.
If I'm taking the train from Madrid to Caceres this year, it will save me €40, plus on the train from Santiago back to Madrid I'll save another €50. That makes it worthwhile for me.

 

[peregrina2000]

Just depends on where you're going.
If I'm taking the train from Madrid to Caceres this year, it will save me €40, plus on the train from Santiago back to Madrid I'll save another €50. That makes it worthwhile for me.

Like you, Annie, I've saved a LOT with the tarjeta dorada. I think piogaw's original post was comparing tarjeta dorada fares with advance purchase fares on RENFE's web site. Now that RENFE's website has supposedly been made to work for us North Americans (I'm hoping this is so), if you know your travel dates well in advance you may get a cheaper fare on their web fares than the fare you would get with the tarjeta dorada.

But for anyone who is comparing the "rack rate" regular RENFE fare with the tarjeta dorada fare, savings on almost any route are likely to be well over the 6 euro cost of the card.

 

[whariwharangi]

Just depends on where you're going.
If I'm taking the train from Madrid to Caceres this year, it will save me €40, plus on the train from Santiago back to Madrid I'll save another €50. That makes it worthwhile for me.

For tickets 13 March I get:

Full price ticket Madrid to Caceres is 32.45 x 40% = 12.98

Full price ticket Santiago to Madrid is 54.40 x 40% = 21.76

For savings of 34.74 - 6 = 28.74.

Note that a ticket can be purchased Santiago Madrid on sales promotion for 32.25 to which dorado doesnt apply. Which is what Piogaw was getting at.

Yes the 28.74 is better kept in your pocket. How much trouble is it to get the targeta dorado? When you consider the cost of getting to Europe ... its pocket change.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Well, all I had to do was walk into Renfe, show them my passport, pay my €6 and they issued the card.
I didn't consider it trouble compared to what I saved.

I'm not sure where you're getting your prices, but the ones I get are much higher.
Promotional tickets are nice, but I generally purchase my tickets in Spain, not online.
Maybe that's the difference?

Anyway, by my math, I'll save €90 and my experience with the card last year was also good, so I'll buy it again.
To each his/her own

 

[whariwharangi]

The prices I quoted are from the Renfe website for travel 13 March 2014.

Perhaps prices are higher at the time you are travelling.

I'm not aware if the promotional tickets must be purchased online ... only that there are limited quantities ... so its unlikely you can purchase just prior to travel because they'd be gone.

I don't qualify for the card. I can wait; its a poor consolation prize for getting older. My opinion will likely change by the time I do qualify.

 

[peregrina2000]

I can add a little more information on the advance purchase discounts. They are only available on the web. AVE tickets can only be bought two months in advance. Other trains and other discounts may be available up to four months out. They sell out quickly.

When you look at the RENFE website, you may see some discount fares. As whariwarangi said, you can't use the tarjeta dorada discount in addition to the web discounts. So it's one or the other.

Letters next to the prices mean the following:
F-- full fare
M-- mesa. This is a group of 4 seats facing each other with a table in the middle. 2, 3, or 4 people can buy them (sold as a block) for the same price as two tickets.
P -- promo fare -- cheapest, may be up to 70% discount, but you can't choose your seat.
P+ -- promo plus -- smaller discount but you can choose your seat.

(This system replaces the older symbols of W (web fare), Estrella (never was sure what that was), etc.)

Then there is the matter of different classes of service.

Turista, turista plus, preferente, and club. Seats get progressively bigger and with more room. Club class has free meal.

No, I don't know all of this, I pieced it together from RENFE websites.

I haven't ridden a long distance train in several years because of the hint I got on the forum about checking multi-jaw tickets for my flights. I've been flying to my starting point (or close to it) and out of Santiago. But one of these years I am going to take the train if only to see that it is really possible to buy tickets on the RENFE website without going crazy.

 

[whariwharangi]

Those open jaw tickets are something we should be promoting. I don't understand how it is cheaper to buy a ticket to San Sebastian (the closest airport in Spain to SJPdP) and from Santiago than it is to buy a round trip ticket to Madrid, particularly as the open jaw flights transit Madrid, but it is often cheaper ... and sometimes substantially cheaper.

 

[OTH86]

A possible update for buying RENFE tickets on-line from the US -- I bought one yesterday (1 Mar 2014) - Madrid to Pamplona on 15 April for €32.40. Buying the ticket was not a problem - the Fraud part of my Credit Card was. By the time they sorted themselves out, I'd lost the €26.00 ticket. I wonder if RENFE, like airlines, have a limited number of tickets in each category that Laurie mentions above. I'm eligible for the tarjeta dorada, so you all can maybe let me know if the price I paid was really discounted. It's done, so it's all ok.

Also, Laurie, when was the last time you stayed at Bruña Hostel in Madrid -- looks like a nice, simple place to stay in a good location, but the website indicates the last "revision" was in 2008.

Thanks all, for your great information!
Terry

 

[peregrina2000]

A possible update for buying RENFE tickets on-line from the US -- I bought one yesterday (1 Mar 2014) - Madrid to Pamplona on 15 April for €32.40. Buying the ticket was not a problem - the Fraud part of my Credit Card was. By the time they sorted themselves out, I'd lost the €26.00 ticket. I wonder if RENFE, like airlines, have a limited number of tickets in each category that Laurie mentions above. I'm eligible for the tarjeta dorada, so you all can maybe let me know if the price I paid was really discounted. It's done, so it's all ok.

Also, Laurie, when was the last time you stayed at Bruña Hostel in Madrid -- looks like a nice, simple place to stay in a good location, but the website indicates the last "revision" was in 2008.

Thanks all, for your great information!
Terry

Hi, Terry, yes you are right about the quick price changes. I assume they use algorithms like the airlines do to keep their prices competitive for the demand they are experiencing. If full price is 58.90, I'd say your web fare is just about the same as the tarjeta dorada. So you should feel victorious.

I last stayed at the Bruña in 2009 or 2010. People were very helpful, and the place is quiet, clean, very basic. If you're going to be spending much time at the museum triangle (Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia), its location is very good for that. And it's probably not more than a 15 minute walk to Atocha, which is where the Pamplona train leaves from, I think. Good restaurants nearby, but then that's true of about every block in Madrid. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[OTH86]

Thanks so much, Laurie, for both affirmations!! It's been 15 years since I've been in Madrid, and I think two places I used to stay in are still there, but who knows who the owners may be. Thanks again.
Terry

 

[WayWalker63]

Is there any way to get a Tarjeta Dorada while still at home in the U.S.? I would like to book my tickets ahead and use the discount if possible. I know this is an older thread but it is what came up when I did a search.

 

[C clearly]

I can't answer your actual question, but I'll offer my related experience. Last year I was able to buy a Tarjeta Dorada in the train station at Sahugun, with no problem at all. I had to show my passport and it cost something like 7 euros and I saved much more on the ticket I then bought. Apparently the discount varies, depending at least in part on the day of the week. I travelled on a Thursday in mid-day and got a very good discount

 

[Anniesantiago]

Is there any way to get a Tarjeta Dorada while still at home in the U.S.? I would like to book my tickets ahead and use the discount if possible. I know this is an older thread but it is what came up when I did a search.

No, not that I'm aware of.
You must get it upon your arrival.
Depending on when you're walking, it's really not an issue to just wait and buy tickets there.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We had to show our passports for the Tarjeta Dorada (no photocopies asked for this year) so presume that you must apply in person. The number is included on the tarjeta's information. The same tarjeta is now used for both RENFE and FEVE - replacing the Tarjeta Azul for the latter. It is also valid for a full 12 months, not just to the end of the year as our Tarjetas Azul had been. Still half price travel on the FEVE , but we have not used the RENFE to know the discounts there.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Which train ticket(s) are you planning on purchasing? To where from where and what month?

 

[WayWalker63]

Which train ticket(s) are you planning on purchasing? To where from where and what month?

From Barcelona to Pamplona around September 18th.