Air vs train

[louann123]

The cruise I booked arrives in Barcelona, but I could not use AA frequent flyer miles out of Barcelona.

 

We can fly out of Madrid a few days later.

 

I priced the trains and they seem to be around $150 to $350+ per person

 

Spanair is $42 per person and includes 1 bag per person. BCN-MAD JK431 19:00 - 20:15 43.72 USD

 

What am I missing here? I have never been to Europe, so I have no idea why the air is so much cheaper than the train.

 

Thanks for your help.

[hkto]

The cruise I booked arrives in Barcelona, but I could not use AA frequent flyer miles out of Barcelona.

 

We can fly out of Madrid a few days later.

 

I priced the trains and they seem to be around $150 to $350+ per person

 

Spanair is $42 per person and includes 1 bag per person. BCN-MAD JK431 19:00 - 20:15 43.72 USD

 

What am I missing here? I have never been to Europe, so I have no idea why the air is so much cheaper than the train.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

You are not missing anything except sometimes train goes on sale but not to $44

[louann123]

Spainair is $62 USD for 2 passengers including tax and one 50lb checked bag.

 

I thought I was misisng something. I guess it's a bad deal if you have 2 or 3 bags to check since the extra bag fees are more than the ticket itself.

[trojangirl90066]

We traveled with a carry on to France and then took to train to Madrid. We went to Barcelona on Spanair and had to check our bag as their carry on size is very small and the weight is very light. If you buy your train tickets 62 days out from the Renfe site (get instructions on trip advisior first) they are much less expensive.

[HeinBloed]

Have you checked raileurope.com or the Spanish Railways RENFE:

 

Only here you find high discounted tickets like with Spanair:

 

http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/ave/index.html

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[hkto]

check Air Europa http://aireuropa.com. their luggage allowance http://aireuropa.com/us/en/guia_pasajero/equipaj.html is higher than Spanair. we flew with them this year; no problems there. i checked random advance flight (Thursday, November 11, 2010); price is $47

[Ainhoa]

If you are over 60 or under 26 you can buy either tarjeta dorada or tarjeta joven which gives you a large discount on the trains.