Is there some way to book The Sweden trains using an American Credit card? We have tried several times. The communication I have sent to them has not been answered. We have tried by going to the SJ.SE web site.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I've never tried booking train tickets directly, but I did have issues booking ferry tickets. It seems my card was blocked. But I called and they were able to handle it over the phone. You might try calling, English should not be an issue. The other option is to book through RailEurope, though you often do pay more that way.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5850 posts
Check the info on the man in seat 61's website. http://www.seat61.com/Sweden.htm
Posted by
Columbus
4 posts
Cher, The single biggest problem in buying Swedish (or French) train tickets seems to be with the fact that the USA does not use chip-and-PIN credit cards. Our cards only have the magnetic strip on the back. Further, while my VISA card does work in larger stores, the VISA people have decided to block train-ticket purchases since, as they explained to me, if a VISA card is lost or stolen in France (or wherever in Europe), the thieves go and buy large number of train tickets. Make of this what you will. Regards,
John
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
First, a lack of chip and pin card has no bearing on purchasing a ticket via the internet. Second, did you advice VISA a head of time that these charges would be presented? Third, do you have a verified VISA? That is often useful for internet charges. Fourth, contact VISA to see if the charges were presented. If the charges were presented then it is a VISA problem. If the charges did not make it to VISA then it is probably a problem with the Swedish train web site. And, finally, they may not take Am cards. For a long time, the Italian train web site would not take Am cards.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5850 posts
The man in seat 61's website (posted in my message above) lists a phone number for SJ customer service where you can purchase tickets by phone and an alternate website run by a private company where some people with foreign credit cards have reported buying SJ tickets for a small surcharge. I've seen a number of reports that people have had trouble using foreign cards on SJ's website on other forums (e.g. tripadvisor, flyertalk, etc.). Some have reported the issue is with a foreign card, others with the monetary limit that SJ imposes on foreign cards. You can check with your bank to make sure that they will allow the transaction to come through and they should also be able to tell you if any charges were denied. If they have no reports of an attempt, that likely means that SJ is not even sending the request through.