tdyls

*does the Happy Dance*

Yesterday I bought AVE tickets for a trip next week between Madrid and Segovia. I used my US credit card, from a US IP address, and it worked. So to give everyone some hope, here's what I did:

0. Earlier in the day I saw that Maribel had suggesting using a "verified" (I forget the exact term) Visa or Mastercard. My Amex is my primary credit card, so I decided to my Bank of America Visa.

1. I went through the standard Renfe purchase process, in English. I clicked "use credit card" at the appropriate purchase screen (as opposed to using Paypal).

2. The processing software recognized my credit card as one issued by BofA and began a two-factor authentication process. The BofA logo appeared in the "processing" box. Note that I did not choose to use two-factor authentication; the credit-card processing software did that automatically.

3. I received a text from BofA on my phone with a 6-digit code, and then entered it in the appropriate box.

4. The purchase went through, and I received my train tickets and a confirmation code.

5. About 5 minutes later, BofA called me to inquire about this charge from Spain. I gave them satisfactory answers, and that was that.

Christina

hmmm, well I used a Visa that is in that verified program and whenever I use, they don't text me code numbers to use, it just goes through although that sign flashes (this is on SNCF). And I think the last time I tried RENFE, that same credit card wouldn't work on them even though it is in the Verified by Visa program. I just used Paypal which generally doesn't have any problems although you cannot avoid the Paypal foreign purchase surcharge, unfortunately, no matter what credit card you have attached to Paypal, it is their charge. But since I never buy that much on there anyway, I just live with it.

anyway, glad that worked for you.

drchris

I was able to purchase tickets on Renfe using a VISA card without any problems. I hope it will work if we ever return to Spain and need to use it again!

Maribel

tdyls,
Congratulations! You're one of the lucky ones.

If you need to purchase more Renfe tickets in the future, now that Renfe "likes" your Verified by Visa card and your Visa fraud protection now has a history of your Renfe purchase, you might want to register with Renfe to make the purchasing process even easier.

You can do this by clicking on "Renfe customers, Identify Yourselves" at the upper right corner of the home page, then register, have a profile and the booking process goes very quickly. You can also purchase using the Renfe app.