I have tried to buy one of the 7 euro Renfe tickets. And Renfe has done Renfe’s

January 8 in Madrid. A cold that cuts the face. Traffic jams everywhere with the children returning to school. Back to normal, to the office. To the computer.

Depression.

We Madrid residents need few excuses to flee the city. Perhaps that is why the Renfe discounts sounded like a swan song. Beach and paella. It almost doesn’t matter if it’s in May, April or the next weekend in January.

Aware that It would be almost impossible get a ticket at that price, I missed the opportunity to avoid unwanted frustrations. Let’s try tomorrow, see if…

And here I am, hooked on the Renfe website, with thousands of people ahead of me in a virtual queue that leads nowhere. I was looking for a relaxing weekend. An appetizer to put in my mouth during this return to routine. And right now I feel like I’m in line at Doña Manolita on December 21, two kilometers from the door and 20 minutes until the lottery administration closes.

Seven euros (or many more)

And well, here we are.

I go to the Renfe website. I select the offer that promises tickets for seven euros. And we have to wait.

Seven minutes and just over 3,000 people.

It could be worse, I think. Much worse, in fact, because since yesterday the website has been crashing. Of course, They are not the more than 166,000 people which my colleague Javier Pastor encountered in April 2022. Then the tickets cost 15 euros and there were 100,000 seats available to buy in three days.

This time Renfe The number of seats has not been made public. but it has confirmed that the reduction with seven euro bills will be active until January 18. I think that with ten days of margin, the volume of people who aspire to buy their ticket will be somewhat lower.

Time, in fact, seems to be working in my favor. The minutes are falling. A little slower than what is stated on the sign above but just over 10 minutes after logging in, Renfe confirms that I have started the purchase process. According to them, it should have been on the platform for a couple of minutes. I therefore have 18 minutes left.

Or I should wear them. Because I confirm that I want to access the site as soon as possible.

“Yes please”.

The screen refreshes.

Another minute has passed.

We have 17 minutes left.

“Yes please”.

Wow, it seems that my turn has expired despite having waited patiently and confirmed all the steps without leaving the active tab (whatever might happen).

And here we are, starting the whole process again.

Again seven minutes ahead and more than 3,000 people in the virtual queue.

My paella is starting to choke.

Again, same screen: “Yes, please”

This time yes.

This time it seems that I have been able to access the platform.

Obviously, the tickets are not as I expected.

I sail between weekends. The only seven euro tickets on a Friday are those that leave at 6:30 am. I discard that option because I have the bad habit of working on Fridays. I choose to leave on Saturday at that same time. The relaxing weekend starts with an early morning, but hey, we’ll disconnect until Sunday night.

But to return on Sunday night there are no offers.

Accepting that I will have to spend more than 14 euros to go and return, I stretch the gum to the maximum. I tell myself “I’ll take Friday off on vacation but I’ll take full advantage of the weekend.” I’m going to June. I select departure at seven euros at 6:30 in the morning. But dynamic prices have done their thing. Returning on Sunday at the last minute will cost me over 60 euros.

There are no longer even weekends at bargain prices. And assuming that hotels will be much more expensive, I return to the month of January.

I think that going for seven euros and returning for 35 euros from Valencia is not bad at all. I have already taken the bait of compulsive buying and I’m not willing to let go.

I select the departure on Saturday at 6:30 in the morning.

I eat that paella.

I select the return after 9:00 p.m. I’ll see what I do until that time, Alberto’s problem from the future.

Mech.

Mistake.

Yes, I have selected the one-way ticket but Renfe tells me no.

I refresh and go back.

I select the idea again.

I select the return.

Now, I go one step further. It remains to fill in the traveler’s information and pay.

I would like to do it but At this point the website freezes. It starts to malfunction. The scrolling is jerky and it is impossible to press any button. I can’t fill out the form. It won’t let me change the email. Of course, it doesn’t let me go to the payment platform.

Soda.

I have 4245 people in front of me.

Photos | Renfe and Xataka

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