Booking Alhambra online

'MasterCard and Visa both require verification codes which I've never used before and make me nervous' - Verified By Visa and Mastercard Securecode are security layers which have been around for a small number of years now and are nothing to be concerned about. It would appear you have not signed up to either (or made any on-line purchases using these cards). Google to find out more.

For web sites that use Verified By Visa and Mastercard Securecode, I think there's no way around it but to sign up for the program. If you get tired of the extra security procedures after your trip, another user told me you can cancel the program.

Verified by Visa is nothing to worry about. I had to sign up for it when I bought Renfe tickets online. It has never been an issue anywhere else. I'm not sure the Alhambra takes American Express. It is less common than Visa or Mastercard in Europe.

I had the same issue. My everyday airline-branded Chase Visa card would not work for Alhambra tickets or RENFE tickets on those Spanish websites. My Chase card does not use Verified by Visa and there is no way I could get it to work. Ended up using my national bank branded Visa DEBIT card that did use Verified by Visa (had to sign up; first time ever promoted for that.) Once I signed up, logged out, and then retried to purchase it asked for my Verified by Visa code and the transaction went through perfectly. Again, this was an identical process for Alhambra and RENFE train tickets websites.

I bought tickets today and my Visa Debit card does not have Verify by Visa. I just had to let my bank know and they setup my card.