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Trainline.eu - problem booking ticket on their website based on "address mismatch"

Posted by (Philadelphia area) on

I have seen many people on this site recommend Trainline.eu for buying train tickets. Based on that, I bought tickets earlier today. However, I ran into a problem during the process.

When I hit the submit button on my ticket purchase, I received an error message saying to contact my bank. I called Chase and they said that there was an "address mismatch" on the purchase. At no time in the process was I asked by Trainline to enter my address (which is in the US). Chase transferred me to their security department. After some work on their end, I hit submit again, and got a different error message with a "Verified by Visa" logo. Chase transferred me to the Verified by Visa department. After some more work on their end, I hit submit and the transaction went through. The reps at Chase were all helpful, but this took about 10 minutes and conversations with 3 different people.

I am curious to know if this is something that others have experienced and if other sites such as Trenitalia or Italo do not have the same issues.

Thanks

Posted by
3300 posts

I’ve used my CapitalOne Visa card on Trenitalia numerous times in the last two years and never had a problem. Not to say that things don’t change…

Posted by
3522 posts

The issue is not the Italian web sites, it is Chase.

Credit card transactions use different data at different times to verify it is actually you for online purchases. Easiest is address verification, so that's what Chase uses. Since the web site didn't ask for address, Chase got no address to verify in the approval process. Other card issuers may use other information. At least Chase was able to provide an approval eventually before the web site gave up

Posted by
8223 posts

I have had experience like that using other foreign websites like the French rail site SNCF or other that were not equipped Visa verify; if it was your first time ever using them and you are buying a ticket for a foreign country travel outside of what you do normally it is possible that Visa or the bank blocked it as a security precaution.

Posted by
32393 posts

rd,

I've never had any problems buying tickets on the Trainline website. I believe when I registered and added payment information, I included the extra step for "Verified by Visa" (or the equivalent MasterCard security).

Posted by
10 posts

Oh yeah just had this exact issue. After an hour and three phone calls with my credit card issuer, the train fare is now $20 more expensive, and I still can't complete the transaction. Good times. Visa now thinks the website itself may have kicked me off due to too many attempts to process a transaction. This is the card I got specifically for no transaction fee foreign travel.

Posted by
34211 posts

Did you notify the card issuer that you were making an overseas purchase in Italy prior to the first attempt?

Did you register for Verified by Visa before the first attempt?

If you had done those two things the transaction would have gone through without a problem.

Master Card has a similar program, also used for foreign purchases.

Both cards have those systems in place, throughout their issuers, to combat fraud.

In other words they are looking out for you.

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