Hello,
I am heading to Portugal in October, arriving to Porto and then taking the high-speed train to Lisbon. I have been trying to purchase train tickets but the site will not let me without a fiscal tax number. Can anyone provide information/advice on this?
Thank you!
The tax number is for residents only - you'll be asked for ID ( your passport number) which will be printed on your ticket.
We avoided all the online issues by buying the tickets in person but that might not fit your plans.
EDIT: one of the issues when booking online is the postal code, don't use your home postal code, it has to be a Portuguese postal code .
Portuguese postal codes are 4numbers dash 3numbers, example: 1234 - 456
What site are you using? I had trouble buying tickets in Spain on the official rail.site but was very easy on Trainline.
We had nothing but complete frustration with their online site last April. All we could do was wait til we got there. Our B&B host took it on as a challenge and finally managed to beat their system and obtain our tickets. I know this is of little help to you but just know that even the local people have problems navigating the train online system for tickets and find it easier just to go to a station.
Are you booking on the Comboios de Portugal website https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en? If so a NIF is not necessary. When asked for passengers data select Passport in the dropdown menu and enter the number. Booking tickets for the AP trains weeks in advance is advisable as there are usually deeply discounted Promo tickets available.
I've booked in the past on the CP site using my passport number. It also allows the buyer to select eligible discounts, but make certain you have the proof you qualify. I saw one arrogant fellow get de-trained at the next stop for faking a discount.
Thank you everyone for the information! I did use https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en. I got all the way to payment and it kicked me out. I tried three times. Oh, well I will try again and may end up have to purchase when we get there. Thanks again and happy travels everyone!
Some steps you might try. Delete the cache in your browser. Use a different browser. Try with and without vpn. Good luck!
I'm probably too late to help the OP, but for future folks...
While I was unable to book tickets online, I was able to do so using the CP iOS app (search for cp.pt on Apple's App Store). Here's what worked for me and a few tips as it wasn't entirely intuitive.
Let me add that I was able to book tickets online using my desktop computer (iMac, Safari). No issues, passport number was needed for me and partner, credit card was no issue getting it through, just needed to confirm with the card company (this was a couple weeks ago and I do not remember what it asked for other than it was no issue to comply.) Tickets were emailed, and also something texted to my phone which I think is both a receipt and the ticket/seat.
I do not use apps on my phone, I am old school with my desktop, or iPad when I am traveling, and have yet to have an issue.
We also had this issue. I finally put in my passport # to get past it. You have to put your passport # in later so I just used the same #. When you choose your country for your fiscal country, I found the United States in Portuguese so it will be in the E section and not the U section. If you have children, you will also need to enter in the birthdate of your first born child.
The clock starts ticking at the beginning so have all of this data at your fingertips when you start. It took us two tries to do it but we were able to purchase our tickets.
