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Trenitalia website keeps rejecting payment request

Posted by (Lords Valley, PA, USA) on

I went to Trenitalia's English version site and got all the way through the process to the payment page - where payment has been denied over the course of several different tries. I was choosing the ticketless option with the email response which would provide the
reservation information.

I tried using difference credit cards, different (fully updated) web browsers Firefox and Internet Explorer. When I contacted the credit card companies, they said they never received a payment request and never denied one, obviously. I set up a Master Card Secure code since that is listed on the webpage and was able to get to the popup asking for my secure code and then the next screen said payment was again denied.

I got an email following this from Trenitalia ([email protected]) asking for a photocopy of a photo ID of the person (me) registered on Trenitalia's customer website and my ID and password for their site, as well as a tax code number (?) together with the email about the rejected payment. I sent them a reply except
for the tax code number, asking what that meant - my Social Security number? Haven't received a reply back from them in two days.

There was a promo rate discount of -15% so the tickets were going to be E150 for the three first class seats. I tried using RailPass in this country and the tickets are $80.00 more than on Trenitalia's site.

Don't know if others have run into this before. Is there a required registration for non-Italians to use credit cards to buy train tickets - security reasons?

Don't know what else to try and wanted to see if you had any suggestions.

Posted by
10344 posts

Per Larry last week, even Verified Visa no longer works on the Trenitalia site.

Tim, is that also your understanding? That no US credit card is being accepted on the Trenitalia website?

It has basically been this way for a long time, this is not something new or a glitch on the Trenitalia site. They have made a decision not to accept US credit cards.

Posted by
23626 posts

You could have saved yourself some brain damage had you done any search of site and read any of about a 1000 postings on why the Trenitalia sites doesn't like, accept, want American credit cards. Supposed verified VISA will work but no personal experience. My advice -- buy second class tickets when you get there. Other than the discount, there is no advantage to early purchase.

Posted by
421 posts

when I tried to order a few weeks ago all our CCs are registered with verified by visa and they denied them all.

Posted by
8700 posts

Kent,

Yes, that is what I've been hearing, too. Larry has the most personal up-to-the-minute information on this and his short answer is that US cards currently don't work--period.

As Franks says, buy your tickets when you get to Italy. The ticket machines in major stations have an English option and they do accept US credit cards. No need to stand in line at a ticket window.

Posted by
32352 posts

Mary,

As the others said, the easiest and simplest option is just to buy the tickets in Italy, either at a ticket agent or from the automated machines. The "Tax Code" number they were requesting was probably a Codice Fiscale which is something that residents of Italy need to have.

When I was in Italy a month or so ago, all the ticket machines I encountered were still accepting magnetic strip credit cards, but I suspect they'll be moving to "chip" credit cards in the near future (at least for the automated machines). If your card won't work at the ticket machine, you'll have to queue for an agent, although some machines will accept cash as well.

Cheers!

Posted by
6898 posts

Larry here. I just returned from a week in Yellowstone where they did accept my U.S. credit card. I have been reading the small print on the Trenitalia website and one curious area says "PLEASE NOTE: CartaSi informs that credit cards are checked with the IP number of the PC where the purchase has been made. Therefore, and for online purchase only, the transaction could be denied by the credit card circuit."

I attempted a purchase again this evening with my Verified by Visa credit card. Again, I was rejected. It's not my card and it's not Verified by Visa. I have spoken directly with these people and they have no explanation of why the transaction is being denied. It's not on their end. I am curious about the IP address thing. I believe that my IP address at home is dynamically assigned by Comcast which provides my high-speed internet service. I'm continuing to explore this issue.

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