Buying rail tickets for Italy

dggar · Post by **dggar** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:00 pm

Has anybody successfully bought tickets on line using the Italian State railway website

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

I am registered with the site and have a user name and password. When I attempt to buy tickets I am able to select the Fare, Train and seat reservation I’m then directed to the
Payment page where I enter my credit card number and the 3 digit code and expiry date.

I’m then required to enter my Forename in one box and my Surname in another box. This does not correspond with the way my name is stamped on the credit card and the transaction fails at this point.

Whenever I have made payments on line I’ve always been asked to type in the name as it appears on the card into one box

crwbandrwg · Post by **crwbandrwg** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:19 pm

If you're stuck, you can always use this the International Trainline site:

http://www.internationaltrainline.com/t ... sp?AFF=TLN

dggar · Post by **dggar** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:40 pm

Thanks crwbandrwg

I have tried this before as it takes you to the same search engine used by Raileurope and http://www.Seat61.com( a site well worth visiting for anyone contemplating european rail travel)

The fare quoted for 4 adults from Rome to Naples is £59.
On the Italian railway site the same fare is 59 euro so at present exchange rates this is almost a 50% mark up.

dggar · Post by **dggar** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:17 pm

A further update:

Every attempt using my Nationwide Visa card failed.
When I tried with my Co-Op Visa this also failed but I was phoned up by the Co_Op bank straight afterwards to tell me a blocked transaction had shown up.
They said there had been fraudulant activity involving the trenitalia site.
After confirming details they cleared my card and told me to try again after 15 minutes. This time the transaction went through.

I have now purchased the tickets I wanted