As my upcoming trip to Spain & Portugal is slowly but surely approaching, (too slowly if you ask me!)...today I was finally able to book my means of transportation from Barcelona to Madrid...
Train of course!...its not really cheaper, being that Europe has so many low airfare airlines, which by the way, they tend to be too restrictive for travelers who, like me, are crossing the pond!...they will measure your bag, weigh it several times and if you bought one souvenir too many!...its about 10 euros per kilo!...no kidding...train please!!
So, Renfe...the Spanish train website that we all love!...OK being sarcastic...there's even a special place in Trip Advisor on how to outsmart Renfe.com and have the purchase go through...
Did it work you ask????
Wait!...let me tell you all that I had to do...
I read all fifty some points from Trip Advisor on purchasing train tickets on Renfe...
I tried to register my Capital One MC with MasterCard Secure Code...a link from Capital One...of course, it directed me to: Verified by Visa!...I'm not kidding!...so, this didn't work.
Called Capital One and was on the phone for about 35 minutes after which I realized that we were getting no where and they were of no help, I hung up...Thanks Capital One...btw, why then, do you have a link on your website to register your MC's with MasterCard Secure Code https://tdsc.53.com/mcsc/activate
Decided to go with my debit card instead, although they charge a foreign transaction fee,unlike Capital One, but OK I thought ...what ever it takes...did the Verified by Visa and worked out fine...card registered https://usa.visa.com/personal/security/vbv/index.jsp ...all OK so far.
Went to Renfe.com, found my train ...5 minutes later, the purchase seems to have gone through...but wait!
the Bank declines the purchase!...I forgot to call them and let them know I was making a purchase on a foreign website!
Call the bank, 45 minutes with countless personnel...countless tries on Renfe.com (full name with middle initial, without middle initial, verified the card #, tried other cards ...no luck!
I must have tried 10 times throughout the day...nada...no tickets!
So, other option is to go with the U.S. based company RailEurope.com http://www.raileurope.com/europe-travel-guide/france/how-to-book-train.html?WT.mc_id=google.Destinations+Country.cpc&WT.campaign=1942&WT.term=france+trains&WT.content=z2FS2Zrk&WT.source=google&WT.medium=cpc&WT.srch=1
found out they sell the same tickets for 2x the amount...because well, they know about renfe.com and the drama it is for U.S. clients and other's to get the purchase to go through, would be like winning the lottery...so they can charge what ever...but me, no way, I was not giving up...
Found through Trip Advisor, that people recommend another website Rumbo.es http://www.rumbo.es/
a Spanish website, but way easier than Renfe.com...
got back on the phone with my debit card bank's fraud department...seems that there was still a restriction on my card, so they blocked it and stayed on the line until i tried my luck with rumbo.es...
(which they charge 9 euros as their broker fee...but still way less than going with RailEurope.com...)
BINGO!! GOT TRAIN TICKETS BABY!
*Another website that people use is petrabax.com http://petrabax.com/ which you input your information on the train you are looking into buying tickets for, and they call you back...which they eventually did...but I had already won the lottery, remember! ..with Rumbo.es...but I might use them for my other train ticket from Madrid to Lisbon!...we'll see how it goes!
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