I put the two trips in my cart... go to check out, sign in, and when I enter my Amex CC it says "payment has been denied."

Anyone else get this?

My Amex doesn't have a limit, and I've called and made sure everything was fine on that end.... and it was. So my Amex is fine.

I'm not sure if I need to put spaces in at all. I was entering my card number without spaces.

Also, there doesn't seem to be email support and I can't call. My cell phone can't make international calls and I don't have a land line.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated!

THANKS!!

also I read that if you enter the info three times, that it will deactivate your account, so I don't want to try again???

It's doubtful that they take American Express. In Europe that card is not widely accepted. Try a Master Card or VISA.

they do take amex... I called amex again and found out what happened. They needed to verify my activity because it was an international site charging Euro and included travel - something set of a freud alert... but hopefully they fixed it... I'm going to try again.

Lisa

I am just curious...

Why do so many of you buy your trenitalia tickets online in advance before arriving in Italy? Why don't you just buy them as you need them when you are in Italy?

Maybe I can understand if you are flying in late at night and you need to take a train right when you land to another city in Italy. But otherwise I don't get it. Why buy the ticket more than a day in advance?

The only time I had difficulty buying a ticket was one time on New Year's Eve going to Rome on an InterCity.

If it's a regional train, I buy it just before it departs. If it's an InterCity or EuroStar then maybe I will buy it the day before.

Sorry to the OP, I know this doesn't help your trenitalia website problem. Did you call Amex to make sure the charge didn't go through? And I agree with vinolover about the Visa/ mastercard.

I was able to finally make the purchase after Amex released the security hold...

Trenitalia definately takes Amex, which is good.

As far as why buy the tickets ahead of time? I'm a planner... always have been. Also, we wanted to rail first class... and I've heard first class can sell out. I even talked to the budget europe travel and he gave me the same advice. Buy tickets there unless you want first class.

They are Flexi tickets, so we can even change the itenerary if we need to.

I know... it was certainly okay to wait to buy them.... but I'm a hopepless planner.

THANKS.
Lisa

Amy - in the last 2 years, I have pre-purchased the train tickets from Rome to Venice and from Rome to Rapallo as the limited discounts then being offerred on-line were well worth the savings.

>Also, we wanted to rail first class... and I've heard first class can sell out.

No. Second class can sell out at worst travel times. The first class differs so little from the second that what you pay extra for is mainly the emptiness. A fully occupied first class carriage is about as comfortable, or uncomfortable, as a fullyoccupied second class one.

I agree with amy_zena anyway - buying train tickets 2 months in advance is utterly useless. "Overplanning" at it's highest. It is like planning your bathroom breaks a week in advance.

There are almost no advance discounts any more on Trenitalia, so even this can be ruled out.

Well, while it's useless... it gave me piece of mind... it's just a personal preference I guess. I understand it might be a little over-doing the pre-planning...

Don't worry about it. I buy Holland/France tickets early to get discounts. Why it's such a 'problem' to buy in advance escapes me. Another t crossed, another i dotted. There's no waiting line on the computer.

It's not that I think it's a problem to buy in advance...I was just curious as to why so many people do it.

Actually it does seem to be a problem...because there have been several postings about "Help me with trenitalia website" or "help me with buying train tickets in advance" I just figure why go through that when you don't need to...when you can buy the tickets when you get here and when you need them.

To each his own...I was just curious as to the reasons...which seem to be peace of mind. Fair enough. I don't believe you save money by buying them online. If this was the case...trust me, my husband (who is very tight with money) would know about these great savings!

>Well, while it's useless... it gave me piece of mind... it's just a personal preference I guess. I understand it might be a little over-doing the pre-planning...

To each his own indeed - it's a matter of taste. The only reason I wonder was - what if you decide to change your travel plans? The availability of train tickets gives you a degree of flexibility that you don't have with airlines. But if you definitely know that you won't deviate from your travel plan, you can just as well buy the tickets in advance (although with the attitudes of the Trenitalia site, it is so much more convenient to buy the tickets from the ticket machine in some Italian station - no lines at these).

RE over-planning: When I traveled through Europe 20 years ago, I never dreamed of buying tickets in advance. Heck, half the time I didn't know where I was spending the next night when I woke up. But now, as I'm planning a trip though France and Italy with two small children in tow, the thought of not being sure that there are four seats for us when we get to the station is unnerving - especially since there is a train change in Milan with only 15 minutes between trains.

That said - if I can hijack this thread - I am trying to book a day train from Nice to Verona, and the SNCF site and even raileurope refuse to cooperate. It looks like I can buy the tickets online through Trenitalia; the only hitch is that you have to pick up the tickets in Italy. Since we'll be in Nice for a week with a car and likely to cross the border on a daytrip, that seems okay. Or should I just revert to my youthful ways and wing it? BTW, can you give us a ride if the train is full, Amy?

You're not trying to buy further out than 90 days are you?

TN - is your question for me? If so, our trip is still more than 90 days off but I've been trying to get pricing and schedule by looking at trains on the same day of the week closer in. SCNF gives me either "We cannot make a reservation for this train. Foreign reservations closed." or just "not sold on the internet".

Actually there are quite a few discount deals available for advance purchase. For example, the Due per Uno on the Av train to Naples. Two people can travel on the fastest train for the price of one ticket.

john - On Trenitalia you have to click international first to book/get prices for international trains. I'm not familiar with the sncf website, but perhaps you are missing clicking a link. The German rail site sometimes comes in handy for pricing.
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/internatio...l_guests.shtml

I have been trying to purchase our Rome-Naples train for 2 days and I also keep getting the "Payment Denied" message. I've called Citi (mastercard) and they claim they have not put any sort of security block on my account... anyone experiencing anything similar recently?

Hi TA,

Happens all the time.

A. Get a Yahoo or hotmail email and open a new account with Tren.

B. Use a different CC

C. Keep trying

Thanks ira.
You have been my "Trenitalia Salvation" more times than I can count. I'll keep trying...

Good luck, TA