Hello guys,

I am a Chinese living in UK now and plan to travel to Netherlands Belgium and Germany next month, but I failed to find a way to purchase the train tickets online beforehand. I have tried http://www.nshispeed.nl/ and http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ to check the trains and tickets. Though the fares are quite reasonable in these two sites, I cannot pay the fee with my Chinese credit cards either the UK debit cards.

Therefore, can anyone tell me:
1) if there is other resource which is not expensive and i can pay it with my credit card? (I don't wanna use http://www.raileurope.com/ coz it's expensive to me)
or,
2) is it a good idea to purchase the train tickets at the Netherlands/Belgium/Germany train stations just before I leaving? and if so, can i pay it with credit card issued by China bank?

Thank you very much!!!!!!!

I had the same trouble, and ended up purchasing my ticket with a representative at the ticket counter in the train station(s) when I was in the Netherlands last month. My card worked at the counter with no problems, but wouldn't work online or even at the stand alone kiosks.

I wouldn't be surprised if SNCF just doesn't accept Chinese credit cards. I know they blocked some other country that wasn't that unusual, I think they might be worried about fraud. There is no other source than Raileurope as far as I know to buy European railway tickets, other than the own railways websites as I believe they have a contract for that purpose. And if some other website does it other than the national railroad, it will undoubtedly have a markup, also.

I suspect you don't have any choice, but depending on what train you want, it probably shouldn't be any problem to buy a ticket in person. Few trains are ever totally sold out, although it can happen.

NS don't like credit cards much anyway. Online you need a Visa, Mastercard or Amex card, and you'll pay €2.50 extra for using it. They may not accept Chinese cards simply because of the risk of fraud.

For trips within the Netherlands you just buy the tickets on the day. Only Schiphol and Amsterdam Centraal accept credit cards I believe, and they must be chipped. So cash is the way to go there, or try your debit card with it's pin and see if it works (if it too is Chinese it probably won't).

For international tickets there are agencies in the UK you can use. Visit the wonderful www.seat61.com for more help and info on where to buy tickets in the UK.

Thank you very much, Mscleo,Christina and hetismij2! This is very helpful! I am now go through the seat61 website. And I have one more question, if I buy the ticket in person in the train station, will the price be much higher than booking in advance?

I bought a train ticket in a small city in Netherlands a few days ago. Could not use any credit card - tried the ticket vending machines and ticket counter and both accepted only cash. So just use cash.

If you're taking a local type train say from the Netherlands to Belgium, getting a ticket at the counter should be no problem as seats are not reserved. You just get a ticket and hop on any train that day.

Thank you mmyk72! In this case, i will bring enough cash with me.
And, for those who might come across the same problem as me, I now can recommend a website to solve this problem：“You can buy Dutch train tickets online with Visa or MasterCard at http://www.b-europe.com. ” I quoted this from the very useful website http://www.seat61.com/