Credit card troubleSCNF

Have you told the credit card you are buying in France today? You can use the TGV-Europe website in English to print out your tix. Just say your country of residence is the UK or somewhere other than North America, and do it all in English and print out before you go...

When I go onto the TGV europe site I lose my choice of trains to Barcelona! I really do not understand the difference in these sites. I found the train I want and cannot book it. Is there no way to book a train if you are from the US on the SNCF site? If I cannot get this train online, do I just book at the gare nord? But the trains being offered are not the same on all sites. Can somehow i complete the booking on SNCF and pay on SNCF. If you have any ideas, i would be so grateful.

Ok I have the TGV site up and running. Do you think that they will accept my credit card? Do I have to wait another 24 hrs?

I don't see why you should have to wait. But, as I said earlier - Have you told the credit card you are buying in France today? And if that doesn't work, have you tried your backup credit/debit card? That's what I've done some times. But most important is to tell the credit card you are buying in France today.

It is a good practice to notify the financial institutions that have issued the plastic that you will be using for any charges related to Europe of when and where you will be and do that before you attempt to use them for advance purchases, deposits, etc. We learned the hard way that not only do you want to notify them of this information, but then to have them repeat it back to you and then ask for the name of the person you are talking to. Good luck and happy travels.

I have spoke many times to Capital one over the past weeks. And again multiple times today. That is why they say the problem is not on their end bec I have been flagged for weeks as to usng the card in France. According to them, the transaction never appeared at Capital One. And according to the woman I spoke to in France there have been many problems with the usage of American credit cards on the SNCF and TGV. Her solution: buy at the station..

I had the same problem with Cap One and trying to buy Thalys tickets. Try going to it through another country. I finally got it to work through the Netherlands. It was Thalys France blocking the charges, not Cap One!

I also had a problem with my Cap One card. I did call the card and tell them what I was doing and got assurance they would not block the transaction. The Cap One rep was very nice and offered to stay on the line with me while I tried to purchase my train tickets. The website blocked it and the rep said that the charge didn't even show up/try to go through so it wasn't on their end. So I hung up and called my Citi card and tell them I was getting ready to attempt to buy train tickets online and to please not block the transaction. As soon as I hung up with the Citi rep I immediately tried the transaction again with the Citi card and it went through immediately. I was able to print my e-tickets right on my printer.

We were recently in Paris, and booked a day trip to Giverny on SNCF. We went to the train station and received helpful assistance from the staff. There was no problem using a credit card, although our card might not have been accepted at an automated ticket machine.