Why don’t you get your Madrid bus tickets online? It’s the easiest and fastest way to find cheap bus tickets and book them in advance.
Unfortunately, the process itself is extremely inefficient. There are plenty of search engines for flights, sure, but booking bus tickets and linking everything together can be an exercise in frustration.
Depending on the trip you intend to do, you may buy your bus tickets through a big operator. But what if you plan to travel between two small destinations?
Not to mention that many local bus timetables aren’t available online.
In general, the Spanish bus companies’ websites are far from being user friendly: they doesn’t have a simple interface and some sections are not even translated into English…
Sometimes payment processors in Spain reject non-Spanish credit cards. That happens to many of my readers when they’re trying to book bus tickets, so it might happen to you too.
I know. It’s a pain in the back.
Fortunately, I’ve found the perfect solution for you (and for the rest of us!).
If you’re considering bus travel in Spain, look no further and book all your tickets online through Omio’s website. Buy your tickets whenever you like, and avoid the hassle of long lines at the bus stations’ ticket offices!
This is a detailed tutorial that will guide through all the steps you need to complete to safely purchase your ticket from your computer.
Why should you use Omio to get your Madrid bus tickets?
You can’t imagine how many readers have written me throughout the years looking for help because they couldn’t get their bus tickets at either the company website or most resellers. And I always give them same answer: Omio is the best option to purchase your Madrid bus tickets.
These are the main arguments behind my Omio recommendation:
- Omio is the official reseller of Alsa, Avanza and all the big companies operating buses in Spain.
- Omio sells bus tickets for the same price as the Spanish carriers.
- You get the exact same fares on routes as the official bus companies’ websites. However, there is a small booking fee tacked on at the end of the process, and it varies depending on where you are buying from. Usually it’s a few percent of the total price, but it’s well worth it.
- The purchase process on Omio is much simpler than on any bus company’s website.
- Omio accepts most international credit cards, PayPal and Google Pay.
- You will always receive your tickets on time, by email and in electronic format.
How to purchase your Madrid bus tickets on Omio
The interface is very and and the booking process is smooth and stress-free.
But below is a detailed tutorial to help you buy your Madrid bus tickets using Omio‘s website in case you need additional help.
Step 1. Go to Omio’s website
1. Go to www.omio.com.
Open your favorite browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox…), type “omio.com” and press Enter.
In less than a second, you’ll be at Omio‘s homepage. It looks like the image above.
2. Choose your language.
By default, the website is displayed in English.
But if it’s not, or you prefer to purchase your tickets in another language, click on the flag in the top menu and select the US or British flag.
3. Set the fares in euros (EUR).
The website displays the prices in euros by default.
However, you can easily change the currency. Just click on the ‘€’ sign to access a drop-down menu. There you can select to display prices in American dollars (USD), British pounds (GBP), Canadian dollars (CAD), Australian dollars (AUD), and several other currencies.
But since all prices in Spain are in euros (EUR), I suggest you to display the prices in this currency from the beginning.
4. Create a user account.
Even if you’re only going to buy one ticket, you should create an Omio user account.
Here are some advantages of being a registered user:
- Log in and retrieve your booking if your internet connection fails.
- Change or cancel bookings.
- Add your fellow travellers.
- Get your tickets and keep them stored neatly in one place.
- Make a booking from your computer and retrieve your tickets from your smartphone with the Omio app.
- Save your payment details (credit card, debit card, PayPal) to can pay with one click.
Follow these steps to register:
- Click “Create an account” link located on the right corner of the top sidebar.
- On the pop up window, you can sign up with Facebook, Google, Apple or an email address and a password (my favorite option).
- Fill in all the information required.
- Click the red “Create account” button.
Return to the homepage.
Make sure that you are now logged in. If not, do so.
Step 2. Search your Seville bus tickets
Now it’s time to fill in the form on the left sidebar with your trip details and run a search.
1. Select the type of trip.
Select “One-way” or “Return trip” from the drop-down menu.
2. Set the number of people traveling.
Click on “1 adult, No discount card” to determine your age and those of the people that will be traveling with you on the drop-down menu.
Add as much passengers as necessary clicking on the ‘+’ sign. Don’t forget to include all children, including those younger than 4 years old.
In the unlikely event that you have a loyalty card, click on the slider “Add discount card”. Then click on the icon next to each passenger to add as many loyalty cards as necessary. Once you have added all loyalty cards, click on “Confirm”.
Then, click anywhere on the screen to close de pop up window.
3. Fill in the “From” (origin) field.
Type the city from which you’re leaving.
For cities like Madrid or Barcelona, you’ll notice that there’s more than one station. Select the city’s name without specifying the station and you’ll avoid any confusion.
Once you have your tickets, you can check out the departure and arrival station.
4. Fill in the “To” (destination) field.
Type the city where you’ll be arriving to.
Just like you did before, choose only the name of the city (don’t specify the station).
5. Select the date and time of the outbound trip.
When choosing the date, select it from the calendar. Choose your preferred departure date.
If you intend to make a one-way trip, the “Return” option will be blacked out.
Click on the “Search” button.
6. In case you plan to do a Return trip, pick your date.
7. Click on the “Search” button.
Step 3. Select your preferred fares
A new screen shows timetables and fares for your trip.
If tickets are not available for the date you chose, you’ll see a message indicating that there are no tickets.
1. Use the top search area to change your trip details (optional).
You can change your departure and/or destination station, the date(s) of your trip and the number and age of the travelers.
2. Select your outbound trip bus.
a) In the lower left area, you can see the search results for your outbound trip bus.
By default, Omio displays the results sorted by departure time.
You can also sort them by the:
- Cheapest and fastest trip.
- Cheapest trip.
- Fastest trip.
If you’re buying tickets for several people, the amount shown is the total value of all the tickets you’re looking to buy. For example, if you selected 2 passengers, the value shown is the total value for all 2 passengers.
b) By clicking the “Filter” button to access to additional options.
3. Click on your preferred tickets.
When you’ve determined your preferred option, click on your preferred tickets to go to the next screen.
4. Select your return trip train (if necessary).
As you did with your outbound trip tickets, select your return trip ones.
Step 4. Confirm your selection
Check and confirm that everything is correct.
On the next screen, you can see the information corresponding to your booking. Take your time to check and confirm that all the information is correct before making the payment.
Once you’ve done it, click on the red “Go to passenger details” button.
Step 5. Fill up your personal details (if you registered in step 1, skip to step 6)
1. Sign up or fill out your personal and contact details.
In case you haven’t registered previously as I advised, the system gives you 2 options:
- Sign up through Facebook or Google.
- Provide your personal and contact details. At end of the form, you can activate a slider allowing the system to use your personal data in order to create a user account. Again, I advise you to select this option to make things easier for future bookings or to see your bookings.
2. Double check your email address.
Please DOUBLE CHECK your email address. The tickets will be sent to the address you provide and you’ll retrieve them there.
3. Click on the red “Review journey details” button.
Confirm that everything is correct and click on the red “Review journey details” button.
Step 6. Confirm your tickets
1. Check your email address and your booking details.
In the next screen, you’ll see
- Your name and email address where your Madrid bus tickets will be sent to.
- All the information concerning your booking.
Double check and confirm that all the information is correct before making the payment.
2. Select the type of insurance you want (or not).
You can choose to either:
- Get a cancellation insurance.
- Get a travel insurance.
- Don’t get any insurance at all.
Once you’ve selected one of these options, scroll down the screen.
Step 7. Pay your tickets
Omio currently accepts credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and Google Pay.
1. You want to pay by card.
Fill in the information on your credit card or debit card (name on card, card number, expiration date and CVV).
Click the “Pay” button.
2. You want to pay with PayPal or Google Pay.
- Select the PayPal option and click the “Pay” button. A pop-up window will show up asking you to login in into PayPal and confirm the payment.
- Select the Google Pay option and click the “Pay” button. Then select the payment method you want to pay with.
Step 8. Retrieve your tickets
If the purchase is completed successfully, a new screen confirming the transaction will show up.
Soon after, you’ll get an email with an attached file in PDF format (your tickets!).
You have 2 ways of retrieving your bus tickets:
- You can print the PDFs yourself on A4/Letter sized paper. Make sure that each ticket is printed on a different sheet of paper, and don’t cut any parts of the ticket.
- You can download Omio‘s app that allows you to keep track of all your tickets and easily find them when boarding your bus.
Now you’re ready to travel!
Should you get your Madrid bus tickets at the station ticket office?
Sure, you can buy your Madrid bus tickets directly at the ticket office of any station.
However, I don’t recommend you doing this for the following reasons:
- The main issue is that you must allow time at the bus station to buy the ticket, either from a human being or a vending machine.
- And there can be lines at bus-station counters, so don’t show up 10 or 15 minutes for the bus and count on catching it.
- In addition to this, some companies have a policy to stop selling tickets x minutes before the bus is due to leave.
- If you try it directly at the ticket office, don’t expect the ticket seller to speak English.
- Most big companies have vending machines in a lot of bus stations, and they’re easy to use. Except the day the computer network was down… That’s when the fun begins.
- And, as you can imagine occasionally buses sell out (particularly certain popular lines) especially during a popular holiday (e.g. Easter or Christmas).
In short, buying your Spain bus tickets at the station is not a good idea. Book them in advance and save yourself lots of trouble.
This article is part of a complete tutorial about bus travel to Madrid where you can read all the information you need to organize your bus trip.
Here is a complete summary of all the guide:
1. Getting to Madrid by bus
2. How to purchase Spain bus tickets online
3. Madrid Estación Sur bus station
4. Madrid Avenida de América bus station