Ouigo (Spain)

The Ouigo trains in Spain don't have two classes of travel in the typical sense, what those paying extra to book Ouigo Plus tickets have access to are additional travel perks and benefits.
These include:

• Access to the on-board Wifi
• Access to on board entertainment
• No additional charge for the ability to select specific seats when booking
• No additional charge for choosing XL seats; when available
• Additional luggage allowances - see below
• The ability to also purchase dog tickets, but the dog cannot weigh more than 10kg and it must travel in a pet carrier.

Note that you will not automatically be placed in a XL seat when booking Ouigo Plus tickets.
If they are available you can proactively choose them from a seating plan, so it makes sense to select them - but they may already all have been allocated.
Also you don't need to book Ouigo Plus to travel the XL seats, you can book the cheaper Esenicial ticket and then pay to upgrade to a XL seat, and this price is cheaper than the additional cost of a Ouigo Plus ticket.
Though some XL seats are set aside for the exclusive use of Ouigo Plus ticket holders, so another perk of booking Ouigo Plus is the preferential access to the XL seats.

'Full' isn't the equivalent of First Class, what those paying extra to book Ouigo Full tickets have access to are additional travel perks and benefits.
These include all the benefits of Ouigo Plus with the additions of:

• yet another piece of luggage, in effect Ouigo Plus ticket holders can travel with two medium sized suitcases
• the ability to refund a ticket
• the ability to exchange a ticket for an additional flat fee of €7.
  Note that booking Ouigo Full also does not guarantee access to a XL seat.

What you can bring on board with you on a Ouigo train in Spain, without paying additional charges is comparatively restrictive.
If you book the cheapest type of ticket, the Esencial ticket, and don't pay any additional charges, you can only bring on board per person:

• 1 x carry-on bag (27 cm x 36 cm x 15 cm) = a handbag, small rucksack etc
• 1 x cabin luggage (55 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm) including handle, pockets and wheels included.
  The use of 'cabin luggage' is deliberate because Ouigo's policy is that you won't be charged for bringing on board the type of bags which can be taken on airlines, and typically stowed in their above seat luggage lockers - though double-check the size of your bag.

So you cannot board a Spanish Ouigo train with a suitcase or a large rucksack, or additional items such as baby strollers, scooters, bagged folding bicycles and carriers for a dog, without paying extra to do so.

The suitcases can have a maximum circumference of 200cm and weigh no more than 30kg.
If you want to bring one or two these with you, you can either book an Esencial ticket and pay an additional fee per suitcase - or opt to book a Ouigo Plus ticket if you will be travelling with one suitcase, or a Ouigo Full ticket if you will be travelling with two.
Though the additional fees when using Escencial tickets is cheaper than the Plus or Full upgrades, so if you don't want any of the other benefits included with those types of ticket, you can save money.

The other option is to pay more expensive fees per item during the pre-board checks.
Note that if you present yourself with a total number of items and weight which exceeds the limit, you won't be able to board the train.

Because of the options to pay for additional luggage, if you will be taking a Ouigo train you will be requested to be at the station a minimum of 30 mins prior to departure - when taking an AVE train you don't absolutely need to be at the station until a few minutes before the train will be leaving.

When taking a Ouigo train the idea is that you join a pre-boarding queue regardless of whether you do or don't have luggage with you.
Prospective passengers are then called forward in turn and those will luggage will have it weighed and measured to check whether it corresponds to the ticket.
A surcharge of €20 per item will be applied if it exceeds the limit you have paid for.

When boarding without luggage at a station where the Ouigo train will be commencing its journey, it's best not to think, 'well I won't have bags to be screened, so I can arrive later'.
You could then find yourself at the back of a lengthy pre=boarding queue, waiting for those ahead of you to have their luggage checked.

A maximum of two children from 4 to 13 years old can travel per adult for a flat fee of €7 per child.