UPDATE--Success at last!!!


I contacted the concierge at the Cavalieri Hilton, and they offered to help me book the tickets through the hotel travel agency. I sent them my credit card details and waited...and waited...and waited. No word. After a week, I called the concierge, and he told me he would take it to the TA the next day. Several more days went by with no word. So I emailed again today, and was told that the travel agent would not be able to book the cheaper Amica fares, only the standard fares and they would charge a 5 EUR commission per ticket. The only reason I wanted to book in advance was to get the cheaper fares. So I told them "no thanks".

I went back to the Trenitalia website and thought I would try one more time. Same result--credit card denied.

Then I noticed a little graphic on their home page that said "New number for contacting the Call Center from outside Italy". The new number is +39-06-68475475. I called it, and this time I got a recording telling me to leave my name and phone number and someone would call me back. I didn't hold much hope of that happening, but at least it seemed like a step in the right direction. I left my contact details and waited.

About 3 hours later, I got a call from them.

The gentleman said he is aware of the problem with using foreign VISA/MC cards on their website, but said that AMEX should work. I had tried my AMEX card before without success. But he offered to help me try again. So I gave him all the dates and times for the various trips we needed, and he was able to get the discounted Amica fares for all of them. I then gave him my HH Amex card number---denied again!!

As a last resort, I took out my company AMEX card and asked him to try that one. This time, it finally went through.

Now I just have to explain to our CFO why I'm booking personal train tickets on my company card.

After I got off the phone with him, I checked my email and recieved the reservation confirmation he sent. I also saw that there was an email from AMEX fraud dept notifying me of a possible fraulent charge from Italy. This was on my HH card. So it looks like that card might have worked if Amex hadn't blocked it.

So for everyone else who has trouble booking train tickets in Italy, my advice would be to use AMEX, and call AMEX ahead of time to let them know what you are trying to do.