I am attempting to purchase tickets for the end of next week in Barcelona. Palau Guell and Casa Batllo worked fine. La Predrera wouldn't accept any of 3 credit cards-in two different names. Park Guell wouldn't let us pick a time even trying multiple times and ticket types (senior, general).
I have written to these places, but any tips or suggestions would be welcome.
For the payment problem, try using PayPal. Note that in my experience it defaults to charging you in dollars rather than euros, which will probably cost you a bit more. There's a not-terribly-prominent place to change that.
I'll take a look at the Parc Guell website now and will post again if I can figure out what the problem is.
Updated to add: The Parc Guell website's ticket-purchase process seems to be working on my desktop computer with an old version of Internet Explorer. You have to indicate how many tickets you want (screen initially shows 0) before progressing to the next screen where you choose a date. I was able to choose a date and time. That screen is color-coded, I assume to indicate how many tickets remain available for each time-slot.
The separate ticket-availability page (outside the purchase process) is not working for me. It's after midnight in Spain; perhaps there some sort of website maintenance going on that is affecting the availability page.
If nothing above explains why you were having difficulty, try using a different browser. If still no luck, use a different type of device (smartphone or tablet if you were using desktop; desktop if you were using a smartphone or tablet). Those technique fairly frequently work.
Thanks, but Paypal wasn't and offered option. The only two options besides a credit card were in ab Asian language I am not conversant with. I did try to pay in euros and also in dollars.
Jeff, you might need to have "Verified by Visa" or the equivalent. We ran into this problem trying to buy bus tickets from Madrid to Granada some years ago. That's when we first signed up for PayPal, which was an option.
Then last year we had several sites in Italy refuse our credit cards; we never did figure that one out. I don't remember how we got past that; I think we finally had to go to another website that offered the same service - train tickets, that time.
I should have mentioned that even if Verified by Visa (or the MasterCard equivalent) isn't required, your credit card may be blocking the transaction because it suspects fraud. If you haven't already done so, call the 800 numbers on the backs of the cards and tell them you're trying to make purchases on Spanish websites. The phone rep may ask you the amounts of the planned purchases, so make note of those before you call.
Thanks. Using CapitalOne visa and it is cleared. Just used it for tickets on another location. so I think t is the website. The suggestion of another browser is a good one. Thanks
I'd like to point out that 90% of the times, the problem relays elsewhere as these sites are used by the millions that visit them without a glitch. It can be your particular bank authorisation system, your credit card not complying with international standards -that is sometimes the case with US ccards-, your browser etc. This, of course, is not to say that sometimes the website in particular can't be experiencing temporary problems too. And yes, this can happen with specific websites only :)
As per ensuring it's not your browser, check that you don't have an extension on your browser that's interfering with the operation. Not to get too technical but certain extensions (especially those related to either privacy protection or to advertisement removal) can sometimes interfere and cause a certain website not to work correctly. Given you're dealing with reputable websites for these sites, it's safe to simply open a Guest Window (click on top of the picture of your user on the top right-hand side of the browser -for Chrome that is- and scroll and click the "open guest window" option) which will open a new browser window ignoring all these extensions, and proceed from there.
Don't have a suggestion to help, only to say I went online a week or so ago and was able to get tickets ( parkguellonline.cat and lapedrera.com) for Park Guell and La Predrera using my Visa. A Visa verification page came up at check out. I was able to pick times for Park Guell. Sometimes I wonder the closer it gets, do the times sell out or is it just a glitch in the system? I know the Park only allows so many visitors in at a time.
Although individual time slots (especially early ones in the summer) can sell out, I'd be surprised if an entire day sold out at Parc Guell before the actual day of the visit. An outdoor site wouldn't appear to have the same numerical constraints as something like Casa Batllo. But perhaps Enric has heard that early sell-outs at Parc Guell are possible. Come to think of it, I wonder whether capacity of the now-included shuttle bus might be an issue.
The OFFICIAL websites for the sites mentioned earlier are:
Saying so because there are a few intermediaries that position themselves with vague slogans and commercial texts that might induce some visitors to think you're buying from the official site when you are not. Intermediaries always charge more than the official sites. Moreover, there are some sites of companies that are not even located here in Barcelona but abroad, in the UK and in the Netherlands. They dishonestly hide this fact on their websites.
Advice: always buy at the official site and/or at the Barcelona Tourism Board website: https://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/
Yes Ann, these days it's possible to have entire days sold out at some of the major attractions, especially from June to September, albeit it's not that common. These sites attract a lot of visitors (far too many IMHO)... we're talking +4.5 million for Sagrada Família, +3 million to Park Güell, +1.1 million in Casa Batlló and nearly 1 million to Casa MIlà, 1.8 million to FCB's museum, 1.6 million to the Aquarium, 1.1 million to Picasso Museum... just to name a few (info from 2017).
And yes, all of the major sites -even the open-air monumental area at Park Güell- have their capacity limited by law. It has to do with safety regulations. For example, Sagrada Familia I believe it's in the range of 800 visitors per hour and 900 for Park Güell.
Enric, thanks for clarifying.
