New Compensation Policy for Renfe Delays
Renfe has updated its punctuality commitment and, as of July 1, will refund the full amount of the Ave, Avlo, Alvia, Euromed and Intercity tickets when the delay exceeds 90 minutes, instead of the current 30 minutes. In addition, it has introduced a points system that allows you to get up to 200% of the amount.
Approval of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of Renfe has approved this update of the punctuality commitment to align it with the rest of the high-speed operators. The new policy includes three return systems in case of delays exceeding 60 and 90 minutes.
Sources close to the Renfe Board have explained that this update places the company in the same conditions as other high-speed operators, such as Ouigo and Iryo, in terms of compensation for delays. Even so, they assure that Renfe offers the best punctuality commitment in the market.
Previous Conditions
Until now, Renfe had more advantageous conditions than the general regulations. He paid 50% of the ticket if the delay exceeded 15 minutes and 100% if it was longer than 30 minutes. With the new system, the compensations will be 50% for delays of more than 60 minutes and 100% for those longer than 90 minutes.
New Compensation Options
In addition to cash or bank card refunds, Renfe is introducing two new options: a refund of 200% of the amount in credit points via the loyalty card Plus Renfe, and compensation in a purchase voucher for another ticket, with a refund equivalent to 150% of the compensable amount for both 60-minute and 90-minute delays.
Tickets purchased before July 1 will remain under the current commitment, which offers 50% refund with 15 minutes delay and 100% with 30 minutes.
If all the passengers who were entitled to compensation for delays had applied for it in 2023, the cost to Renfe would have been 60-70 million euros. The compensation for delays, in force since 1992, cost the company 42 million euros in 2023.
Refunds for Delays Not Attributable to Renfe
Renfe will refund the amount of the tickets whenever there is a delay, even if the causes are not attributable to the company. Recently, he estimated that he would have to return 800,000 euros due to delays caused by a breakdown in the catenary and a drop of passengers on the track, which forced all traffic to stop in a tunnel near the Madrid-Chamartín station.
About 50 trains and 20,000 passengers were affected by the traffic interruption in the tunnel near Chamartín, which produced chain effects at the entrances and exits of the station.