SBB Denying my Credit Card for Saver Day Pass

I haven't heard of it stopping payments recently, but you might want to take a look at this (old) thread on a security protocol called "3D Secure" which can (and occasinally still might) block payments when using US-issued credit cards for either online payments or at unattended payment machines (gas pumps, some highway toll systems, some train ticket machines). It may be something else entirely, but this has bitten many of us at some point over the years.

3-D Secure credit card payments - wha???

This is an old thread but what you are describing is exactly what happens when this system blocks your payment - it seems to just fail, you call your bank, they shrug and say they didn't block it. If you ask the vendor, they shrug and say they see no problem. The problem is with the payment processor - a middleman.

Solutions include switching to a different credit card, using an alternate form of payment (Paypal, etc.) if you can.

Best to read the entire thread as this issue is often/widely misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Last year I had a similar weird issue trying to buy a SBB Saver Day Pass! I think the only thing that worked for me was booking via trainline.com instead - I put in my intended start and end stations, and the ticket they suggested was the SDP (as it was the cheapest way to travel between those two points). I was able to buy the pass through Trainline's booking portal instead of SBB and it worked perfectly.

I think Trainline is a UK company, and I'm in the UK, so maybe that helped, but either way it's definitely something to try.

Thanks all - I went ahead and used a second card and it sailed through, no problem. Strange that the primary card I use was accepted for the first purchase but not the second. Onwards.

I had the same problem where SBB said that the charge was denied or failed. Same problem with another credit card. I called customer service at one of those credit cards and after two attempts where the charge failed (while the credit card rep monitored the transaction), a supervisor at the credit card put in an override to stop suspicious transactions just for a few minutes and the charge went through.