I spent a very frustrating morning trying to book two overnight train tickets from Paris to Berlin for April. The prices on bahn were SO much lower than Rail Europe. I tried using different credit cards (that had blocks removed) with no success. Finally I sumbitted a message through custome service and received this response:
"Due to construction works in France, many overnight trains are currently not bookable. I am afraid we have no information currently as to when the French Railways will give us access to the respective trains again, because they have issued no statements regarding this. Please try again at a later time or, alternatively, you can try to make the booking with SNCF directly."
SNCF just leads back to Rail Europe... I feel like this is a scam.
"Due to construction works in France, many overnight trains are currently not bookable. I am afraid we have no information currently as to when the French Railways will give us access to the respective trains again, because they have issued no statements regarding this. Please try again at a later time or, alternatively, you can try to make the booking with SNCF directly."
SNCF just leads back to Rail Europe... I feel like this is a scam.
I am going through this horror right now:
Smallish purchases (80 E, 90 E) rejected for multiple cards on both sncf-voyages and tgv-europe, despite calls to CC companies.
Then 1 purchase went through.
Waited 24 hours to avoid exceeding the daily limit with 2nd purchase.
Next attempted purchase using that previously accepted card was rejected.
Wits' end.
Smallish purchases (80 E, 90 E) rejected for multiple cards on both sncf-voyages and tgv-europe, despite calls to CC companies.
Then 1 purchase went through.
Waited 24 hours to avoid exceeding the daily limit with 2nd purchase.
Next attempted purchase using that previously accepted card was rejected.
Wits' end.
My theory is some people are allowed purchases because they are grandfathered on SNCF or are purchasing using s Euro issued card. New customers have strict purchase constraints. Just my theory, not fact.
I have been going through this same nightmare.
Have never had this problem before and did purchase tickets on the same credit card just this spring.
I have been trying to use my Capital One Mastercard. I am in the US, using the SNCF french site. Checked with credit card company twice and they say everything should be fine and they could not see that there had even been an attempt made to charge anything.
Waited the obligatory 24 hours each time(3)and declined each time.
So after being declined for the third time,I decided to give it a try and use my American Express even though I'd have to pay a foreign transaction fee. It worked like a charm. Tickets paid for and printed.
Any ideas--Man_in_seat_61?
Have never had this problem before and did purchase tickets on the same credit card just this spring.
I have been trying to use my Capital One Mastercard. I am in the US, using the SNCF french site. Checked with credit card company twice and they say everything should be fine and they could not see that there had even been an attempt made to charge anything.
Waited the obligatory 24 hours each time(3)and declined each time.
So after being declined for the third time,I decided to give it a try and use my American Express even though I'd have to pay a foreign transaction fee. It worked like a charm. Tickets paid for and printed.
Any ideas--Man_in_seat_61?
Similar thing happened to us the other week. I tried booking TGV tickets from Paris to Besancon with my Cap One card. It was denied. I then tried with my AmEx card. It was declined. I then asked my wife to try it on her computer with her AmEx card. Went right through. Maybe something with cookies?
Is a puzzlement ---
Is a puzzlement ---
Probably bears repeating that the easiest purchase after a month of frustrating CC denials was to download the SNCF app on my ipad. Very slick, worked like magic. Just need a FRENCH phone number (hotel, apartment, rental company, doesnt't really matter, just has to be 9 digits). Good luck.
NOTE from tgv-europe website:
3D Secure (also known as "Verified by Visa" or "MasterCard SecureCode") is an authenticated payment system that offers added security for your online purchases. During payment, your bank checks the card holder's identity before validating the transaction.
This service is free of charge for payments by Visacard and Mastercard.
The authentication process
Stage 1: book your e-ticket in the usual way and enter your bank details
Stage 2: confirm your identity
Connect to your bank's website and confirm your identity.
After validating your bank details you are transferred to your bank's website.
A 3D Secure window appears and you are asked to follow an authentication procedure which differs for each bank. You may be asked to:
•enter your date of birth,
•enter a code you have received by SMS,
•answer a secret question, etc.
Stage 3: complete and validate your order
After confirmation from your bank, your payment is validated and your transaction completed.
You will receive your booking confirmation by email.
Your transaction will be cancelled after 3 failed authentication attempts. Your card will be blocked after 3 cancelled transactions. If this happens, contact your bank.
Please direct any questions about 3D Secure (obtaining a code, lost code, changing your code, etc.) or the authentication process to your bank.
Heaven know what they mean about contacting your bank via website. Certainly no new window opened on my screen. And my banking institution does NOT verify CC purchases -- Mastercard does.
All a great mystery. After using all our CCs several times, I guess we are blocked forever!
I've emailed TGV Europe. We'll see what they say.
SNCF Voyages replied It's likely a problem in communicating with your bank, so call your bank OR... use Rail Europe.
Yeah, not gonna happen. I'd walk Paris-Nimes first.
3D Secure (also known as "Verified by Visa" or "MasterCard SecureCode") is an authenticated payment system that offers added security for your online purchases. During payment, your bank checks the card holder's identity before validating the transaction.
This service is free of charge for payments by Visacard and Mastercard.
The authentication process
Stage 1: book your e-ticket in the usual way and enter your bank details
Stage 2: confirm your identity
Connect to your bank's website and confirm your identity.
After validating your bank details you are transferred to your bank's website.
A 3D Secure window appears and you are asked to follow an authentication procedure which differs for each bank. You may be asked to:
•enter your date of birth,
•enter a code you have received by SMS,
•answer a secret question, etc.
Stage 3: complete and validate your order
After confirmation from your bank, your payment is validated and your transaction completed.
You will receive your booking confirmation by email.
Your transaction will be cancelled after 3 failed authentication attempts. Your card will be blocked after 3 cancelled transactions. If this happens, contact your bank.
Please direct any questions about 3D Secure (obtaining a code, lost code, changing your code, etc.) or the authentication process to your bank.
Heaven know what they mean about contacting your bank via website. Certainly no new window opened on my screen. And my banking institution does NOT verify CC purchases -- Mastercard does.
All a great mystery. After using all our CCs several times, I guess we are blocked forever!
I've emailed TGV Europe. We'll see what they say.
SNCF Voyages replied It's likely a problem in communicating with your bank, so call your bank OR... use Rail Europe.
Yeah, not gonna happen. I'd walk Paris-Nimes first.
BTW, I found the following elsewhere on the TGV Europe site. It implies that THEY not YOU are in contact with "your bank":
Payment refusal
As soon as you have entered your card details (16-digit number without spaces, expiry date and security code on the back) the SNCF payment site passes these details to the bank authorisation centre for payment authorisation.
As a security precaution, if you enter the incorrect details your bank card will be blocked for 24 hours.
AMEX cards: the TGV-europe site permits a maximum of 2 on-line payments per day
Payment refusal
As soon as you have entered your card details (16-digit number without spaces, expiry date and security code on the back) the SNCF payment site passes these details to the bank authorisation centre for payment authorisation.
As a security precaution, if you enter the incorrect details your bank card will be blocked for 24 hours.
AMEX cards: the TGV-europe site permits a maximum of 2 on-line payments per day
Tedgale:From what I have heard from French friends most french credit cards are connected to your bank and you must have the money to cover the charge. They are more like our debit cards so maybe that is why they keep referring the customer to the bank.
Also, if the 3 strikes rule is in effect then I'm out with my Capital One card. I called again and they say there has been no attempt to charge my card from SNCF.
Cindyjo; sounds like you have a solution, but unfortunately I don't have an iPad or a smartphone.
Also, no authentication box popped up. I just think they have a definite glitch in their system.
We'll probably never know!
Tedgale: Were you ever successful in purchasing your tickets?
Also, if the 3 strikes rule is in effect then I'm out with my Capital One card. I called again and they say there has been no attempt to charge my card from SNCF.
Cindyjo; sounds like you have a solution, but unfortunately I don't have an iPad or a smartphone.
Also, no authentication box popped up. I just think they have a definite glitch in their system.
We'll probably never know!
Tedgale: Were you ever successful in purchasing your tickets?
In the US, banks are always the ones to administer various credit cards, as far as I know. It isn't necessarily "your" bank in the sense that it is the place you have your checking account, etc., different banks just are hired to managed varous credit card products by other entities. For example, my AAA Visa is managed by Bank of America. Several banks do have their own major brands (Capitol one and Discover), and of course, you can get a Bank of American Visa directly, but they also administer the cards for others. All branded credit cards are really managed by some bank, you just may not even know which one it is (although the name usually pops up in various documents you get, or the fine print of where you are mailing payments or calling).
So I presume the SNCF website would be referring to the bank that administered the credit card used when they talk about "your" bank.
In any case, I've used an American Capitol One Mastercard to buy SNCF tickets very recently and had no problem and no box where I had to "verify" anything popped up with my bank or anything about 3D secure. I know I read something like that was going to happen, but I figured I'd just wait and see, and it never did. SO I just presumed the talk was about normal CC transaction verification, that's all, just like any store does which you barely notice.
So I presume the SNCF website would be referring to the bank that administered the credit card used when they talk about "your" bank.
In any case, I've used an American Capitol One Mastercard to buy SNCF tickets very recently and had no problem and no box where I had to "verify" anything popped up with my bank or anything about 3D secure. I know I read something like that was going to happen, but I figured I'd just wait and see, and it never did. SO I just presumed the talk was about normal CC transaction verification, that's all, just like any store does which you barely notice.
Bloody amazing that these problems should persist with simple rail bookings when we can book our international airfares, and arrange to sleep, use the toilet, and shower at properties at either end of those rail routes on the other side of the world, without any dramas at all.
Same problem. Tried to pay for 30€ PREM tickets for two from Paris to Dijon, booked about 90 days in advance through www.voyages-sncf.com . Tried Capital One CC (declined), United Visa (declined), American Express (which opens a browser pane asking for address information including street, city, and postal code but NOT country - declined), and finally Merrill Lynch Visa (declined). Capital One immediately generated a fraud alert which I called to explain. Customer service rep stayed on the line as I tried again with Capital One, and again was declined. Capital One said they were not declining the charge, so there was probably an issue with the SNCF processing system.
So I remembered visiting this forum several months ago, came back to it, read through all the posts, and in the process my SNCF reservation timed out (10 minute limit). So on a hunch I re-booked and again tried my Capital One card. And SUCCESS! Maybe it took a few minutes from my call to Capital One for the change they made to my account to take hold?
Stay tuned as I'll be booking our return PREM to Paris in a couple of days.
So I remembered visiting this forum several months ago, came back to it, read through all the posts, and in the process my SNCF reservation timed out (10 minute limit). So on a hunch I re-booked and again tried my Capital One card. And SUCCESS! Maybe it took a few minutes from my call to Capital One for the change they made to my account to take hold?
Stay tuned as I'll be booking our return PREM to Paris in a couple of days.
Just a few days ago I booked tickets from Lyon to Paris on the SCNF french website. Our trip is in April. Had no problem with my American Express. My time was worth the transaction fee to get it done on the first try. It looks like there is still a glitch somewhere since took Rumseydog five tries.
I've had the the same issue for the past several weeks, after purchasing tickets for years online. Today, my Mastercard would not work again, but American Express did. Mastercard told me that the error they were getting was that incorrect information was being submitted -- very strange!!
One further possible solution (haven't searched above to see if it's already been mentioned)
www.capitainetrain.com
It's a private website which links directly to the French Railways (SNCF's) ticketing system to sell SNCF tickets in competition with SNCF's own websites. They were allowed to do this after SNCF lost a court case about anti-competitive behaviour. They are the David to SNCF's Goliath.
You can use www.capitainetrain.com to buy train tickets from or within France wherever you live in the world, as long as you get a print-at-home or collect-at-station option, which you usually do for most journeys starting in France
Exactly the same trains, at exactly the same cheap prices as tgv-europe.com or voyages-sncf.com, and no extra fees to pay.
No Machiavellian redirects, no games with IP addresses, and so far no credit card problems reported...
The only drawbacks? It's in French. But simply use the Google Chrome browser with its automatic translation. It also can't sell some international sleeper trains. So far, one US user reports success!
www.capitainetrain.com
It's a private website which links directly to the French Railways (SNCF's) ticketing system to sell SNCF tickets in competition with SNCF's own websites. They were allowed to do this after SNCF lost a court case about anti-competitive behaviour. They are the David to SNCF's Goliath.
You can use www.capitainetrain.com to buy train tickets from or within France wherever you live in the world, as long as you get a print-at-home or collect-at-station option, which you usually do for most journeys starting in France
Exactly the same trains, at exactly the same cheap prices as tgv-europe.com or voyages-sncf.com, and no extra fees to pay.
No Machiavellian redirects, no games with IP addresses, and so far no credit card problems reported...
The only drawbacks? It's in French. But simply use the Google Chrome browser with its automatic translation. It also can't sell some international sleeper trains. So far, one US user reports success!
I have to purchase tickets CDG TGV to Avignon, and then Brive-la-Gaillarde to Brussels in a couple of weeks and was dreading the process,but this looks promising! I don't speak any French and am on a Mac so I don't think I can/want to use Google Chrome, but I can probably figure out the words with Google Translate.
Man in Seat 61, you mention it should work in the US:
<<as long as you get a print-at-home or collect-at-station option, which you usually do for most journeys starting in France>>
but how will I know before paying if I am getting that option - do you know when it appears?? Think you might do a step by step translation on your site (which I love by the way and have referred to many times)? hint hint
Man in Seat 61, you mention it should work in the US:
<<as long as you get a print-at-home or collect-at-station option, which you usually do for most journeys starting in France>>
but how will I know before paying if I am getting that option - do you know when it appears?? Think you might do a step by step translation on your site (which I love by the way and have referred to many times)? hint hint
It worked for me!
Super, super easy.
I had sent an email with a few questions to Capitaine Train before the purchase and got a prompt response from Jonathan, who was very kind and helpful.
I did call my cc card bank, Chase, to let them know I was making the purchase and they also put me through to Visa so they would know as well. A verified by Visa window popped up but I didn't have to do anything with it, it just automatically authorized.
Capitaine Traine emailed my tickets straight to me. Done and done!
Super, super easy.
I had sent an email with a few questions to Capitaine Train before the purchase and got a prompt response from Jonathan, who was very kind and helpful.
I did call my cc card bank, Chase, to let them know I was making the purchase and they also put me through to Visa so they would know as well. A verified by Visa window popped up but I didn't have to do anything with it, it just automatically authorized.
Capitaine Traine emailed my tickets straight to me. Done and done!
