chemist661

I have been booking the RENFE web specials for travel at the end of this month. (Madrid-Sevilla). I tried 3 different credit cards, I got message G001 every time after I submit the credit card details. I fill out the Vertified by Visa forms, then I get G001--we can not proceed further. I notified the financial institutions that I am buying tickets, etc.

I know I inputed the information correct on all 3 accounts. Anything I am doing wrong?

Thanks.

alanw

RENFE's web site only works for Spanish credit cards. Some people have managed to trick it into accepting others, but that's the exception. The cards will work fine at the ticket offices.

It's really not necessary to prebook that route, there are plenty of trains and they are rarely at capacity.

snod08

hello: I was able to book renfe tickets online using US-based credit cards. didnt have any problem. You can print the tickets as soon as you book them too. If you buy early, you can get the "preferente" class (equivalent to first class) at very cheap prices. This has more legroom, etc.
I really loved my rides on Renfe (i only used the Ave trains).
however, I am no expert on Renfe by any means.

slowly

Couldn't get it to work with any of my cards (US and German). Worked fine in the ticket vending machine at the station though.

csrr03

My friend and I were in Spain this past Nov. Buying tickets for the Renfe trains was painless. we took 3 trains buying the tickets at the station 1-2 days before our departure using both cash and credit cards. We went from Barcelona to Valencia to Madrid and back to Barcelona. Staff was helpful in giving different prices and timetables. There were plenty of options to choose from. The ave trains are the cleanest and are more comfortable than the others. Finally, the trains were never at full capacity (keep in mind we went nov 15-24th). Hope this helps a bit.

lo2e

Note to the OP or to mods... perhaps this question should be moved or re-asked in the Europe forum? I know the talkboard is discussing whether to build a Euro-Rail forum, but it is not here yet. Just a suggestion!

mikew99

I had no luck buying tickets on RENFE for a recent trip from Madrid to Barcelona. I did my research here and elsewhere, used the proper card (AMEX), and after several attempts, had no luck online. I called the RENFE online support number and was told that there were problems with U.S. credit cards on the RENFE Web site, but I should be able to call the main number and use my AMEX card over the phone.

I did get through to an English-speaking agent at RENFE, but the AMEX transaction failed to go through. Turned out that AMEX flagged the attempted transactions as potential fraud cases, so denied them outright. I called AMEX to confirm that the charge attempts were legit, and AMEX promised to allow the charges to go through next time.

But I never got another chance to speak to a RENFE phone agent. I would call repeatedly and always receive a recorded message that all agents were busy and then the phone would disconnect. I tried several times over 2 days. On my last try, I tried calling during the middle of the night (in Spain). No English-speaking agents were available at that hour, but the agent I spoke with said there might be a strike on the day I needed to travel (learned a new word, huelga, that day) and to call back later!

So after spending hours trying to purchase tickets on RENFE, and not wanting to leave it to chance, I gave up and bought a flight on Spanair (via Travelocity) for the same price. Took less than 30 minutes from beginning to end. ^

Would have been cool to take the train, but at least I get EQMs. I hope you have better luck!

chemist661

I ended up calling RENFE and getting the 40% Estrella advance purchase discount. Only AMEX, Diners & Discover would work by calling them. The 60% web discount would be nicer but not to be. Hopefully their system can accept outside credit cards. (as the RENFE rep stated as the reason the US credit cards would not go through).

Journey was 187.60 euros all in for 2 people for RT Madrid-Sevilla. Thanks for your help.

onthesam

In my experience, (somewhat unrelated to your question) with some of the shorter RENFE trips (Barcelona to Figueres for example) the online prices and availability do not exactly reflect the actual price and availability (online more expensive, less frequent service).

saint82

[QUOTE=mikew99;11021368]I had no luck buying tickets on RENFE for a recent trip from Madrid to Barcelona. I did my research here and elsewhere, used the proper card (AMEX), and after several attempts, had no luck online. I called the RENFE online support number and was told that there were problems with U.S. credit cards on the RENFE Web site, but I should be able to call the main number and use my AMEX card over the phone.

I did get through to an English-speaking agent at RENFE, but the AMEX transaction failed to go through. Turned out that AMEX flagged the attempted transactions as potential fraud cases, so denied them outright. I called AMEX to confirm that the charge attempts were legit, and AMEX promised to allow the charges to go through next time.

But I never got another chance to speak to a RENFE phone agent. I would call repeatedly and always receive a recorded message that all agents were busy and then the phone would disconnect. I tried several times over 2 days. On my last try, I tried calling during the middle of the night (in Spain). No English-speaking agents were available at that hour, but the agent I spoke with said there might be a strike on the day I needed to travel (learned a new word, huelga, that day) and to call back later!

So after spending hours trying to purchase tickets on RENFE, and not wanting to leave it to chance, I gave up and bought a flight on Spanair (via Travelocity) for the same price. Took less than 30 minutes from beginning to end. ^

Would have been cool to take the train, but at least I get EQMs. I hope you have better luck![/QUOTe

Tried to buy Barcelone to Madid tickets on the web. Went through just about the same run around as above. Called the agency, even called the Spanish national travel bureau here in New York. I was told, "Well this is Spain Sir"

Makes me want to go to another country if the simple act of buying a ticket can be so infuriating and complicated.

alanw

I understand Canada has American-friendly credit card machines in their train stations.

antonius66

[QUOTE=saint82;11110976]
THAT is truly Spain. Having been there no less than 2 dozen times, that just makes me laugh. It seems there is always a huelga going on.

socoast

The problem is with the US credit card companies. There is quite a bit of fraud based in Spain, so large charges coming from Spain while you are, as far as they know, in the US seem fraudulent.

One phone call to your CC company, in my case, Citibank, and the transaction was allowed thru. BTW, Citi could see how many times I tried, too.

Also, the Renfe website is optimized for Windows Explorer, so Mac users are advised to use Firefox as Safari is problematic.
On Explorer, I could see a checkbox to select my seats. On Firefox, no box displayed and I was assigned seats - different rows. And, there doesn't seem to be any way to change seat assignments.

While Renfe does seem to have one of the worst designed ecommerce websites I have ever had to use, it does ultimately work.

Yarhead

A few days ago, I booked a train from Alicante-Madrid on Renfe's website and used a Visa Electron card that was issued in the UK. Just giving my $.02 because there was some speculation about which cards worked or not.

Side question: It looks like I have at least 4 hours in Alicante as my flight lands there at 10:30 AM tomorrow and my train doesn't leave for Madrid until 4:00 PM. Any suggestions as to stuff to do during the day? Please note that I will have my medium/large sized rolling duffel and a small backpack. Maybe head to the park (La Esplanada) for a few hours?

TrueBlueFlyer

I gave up using the refne web site as it wouldn't even give me train options for travel from Madrid to Murcia next March.

I find refne and sncf in france useless when it comes to finding info or booking stuff.

I know the french would prefer you sit in the ticket office in a line of ten people to get what you want rather than help yourself online.