Sainte Chapelle concert ticket

Do you have a second credit card you could try? Or maybe even a bank debit card?

Which website are you trying to buy tickets from? Maybe there's another one that will accept your card.

Hope this helps,
Marty

You can also buy them during the day at the cafe across the street. There is usually a board set up by the entrance to Sainte-Chapelle security line pointing you across the street for a purchase.

Sometimes credit cards are a tricky prospect. Often for a lower price ticket it's not a problem with my VISA but you might want to contact your CC provider and have them open it for a foreign transaction. I have less trouble when I use an American Express CC than with VISA if that's a possibility for you.

Check sundown times and try to attend a concert around then, when the sun is still shining through the windows. The place is probably the most beautiful church I've ever seen. It would be a shame to miss the stained glass windows because it's dark outside.

I sometimes have luck trying the card a second time. I have a theory that the transaction times out before they get the trans-Atlantic approval back and the use of cookies allows it to go faster on the second try. Just a theory but it works often.

We also encountered the "foreign bank card" problem trying to pay tolls on some of the Autoroutes in France. They're operated by different companies and some accept US cards while others don't.

As for the Sainte-Chapelle concerts, make sure to arrive early, and try not to have large bags or packages, because you have to go through airport-style security before entering the building.

Hi everyone,
Here are my responses:
1. I haven't tried a second CC yet. I tried my regular one 2-3 times. I did call the bank for it and they checked and said no transaction was attempted by the ticket agency. They did make sure it would be accepted but when i tried again with the bank rep on the line it still didn't come from the ticket agency. Then when I emailed the ticket company they said they don't accept foreign bank CCs. So I didn't see the point in trying another. If they accepted Paypal then i would have tried it since it seems to work when banks block international transactions. I haven't tried a bank debit card but since my bank is local it seems this wouldn't likely work either. But i may try it. The ticket agency was TickeTac.com. I have an American Express and i could try that, but maybe they only allow French bank CCs?

1. Even if i can't get into a concert I will definitely still visit the church and try at sundown if that's the ideal time. Or might earlier in the day be better, as was also suggested?

2. If I need to i will certainly go there and check across the street. I'm concerned though that waiting until the day of that all the inexpensive seats will be taken on all the days i'm there. For me, the higher prices might be a deterrent.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

You might try using the bank's web site to set a travel alert on your card for the day you try to buy the tickets and trying again. In my experience, I've had more success using the website of the credit card company to set up a travel alert on your card, rather than calling the company. My understanding is that the Visa/MasterCard networks clear these transactions before they get to your company--so your rep on the phone may not see them because the network isn't letting them through. (When I set an alert on one of my cards, it explicitly states that the travel alert will be sent to the Visa network.) For what it's worth, we bought tickets from this same website for a performance last spring, so I think the "we don't take foreign bank cards" is just their way of saying they don't know how to resolve the problem for you. That said, because we all have different banks and different cards and so on, our experiences can vary quite a bit.

In any case, I hope you get this worked out, because even though we saw our performance during one the heat waves (and had to fan ourselves throughout with the 2-euro program to avoid being drenched in sweat), it's worth the effort.

That sounds like 3-D-Secure checking. Have you set up 3D on the card? It is used a lot this side of the water now, and your symptoms sound just like it.

Your bank never sees an authorization request because VISA never sends them one. You didn't pass the 3-D so the transaction never leaves VISA.

The "we don't take foreign cards" sounds a lot like "I don't know/I don't care/if I tell you that you will go away".

This is the site I’ve used twice to purchase tickets with my VISA credit card. Which site are you using? Don’t give up, it’s a very nice experience. Go before sunset.

https://www.classictic.com/en/special/concerts-in-la-sainte-chapelle/216/

Well, okay, I did get a ticket for Aug. 29. But it took me well over half an hour for it after an hour or more previously. I did need to keep at it as I first clicked on the link for classictic.com that was provided but it didn't list any concerts for the 3 days i will be in Paris. So then i looked for another website but they often either didn't show a good date or showed some other program that didn't look like a concert at all, though i couldn't tell what exactly it was. So i tried another website that also had a link to classictic.com and when I went there through this particular link, this time it showed an Aug. 29 concert. Unfortunately, they seem to add ten Euros to the price for the regular ticket and I couldn't see a way around that so I finally decided to, as they say, "bite the billet" (pun intended) and pay the higher ticket price. Another interesting thing is that this time they had a Paypal option which I know had worked before over there. That went through quickly.

i did give Chase bank my travel dates and they could see when an oversees Visa purchase was being attempted, or if it wasn't. i haven't heard about going directly to a Visa website but that's an idea to keep in mind.
I don't understand the 3-D-Secure checking. i've never heard of it or how it can be set up. Can you explain a little more since that could come in handy too.

Now it looks like i need to next get a Louvre ticket. So frustrating. And I wonder if the Paris Museum Pass is still worth it.
Finally, any thoughts on whether or not it's a good idea to get a Seine cruise ticket now or should i be okay if I just wait and then just go there expecting there will be enough seats in a boat for whatever time i decide to try it, probably an evening one.
Thanks very much again!