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I booked online today with Trenitalia and had the same trouble. I typed in my name as it appears on my credit card and got the "payment denied" message. I then typed in just my first and last name and it worked. Hope this helps.

I was able to book one transaction and when I tried another several times it came back "Payment Denied". I tried 2 credit cards and the same thing. I just don't understand if I completed a transaction five minutes earlier. I guess I will keep trying.

You may want to contact Visa and AmEx. Sometimes when you attempt to make an 'unusual' purchase which you don't typically make, your card provider may block the purchase for fear that your card has been stolen. Call the company and see if this is the case. (This happened to me and they immediately rectified the block) Good Luck

Yes, definitely call the credit card company. That exact thing happened to me, and when I called the CC company they said they had blocked it because it was an unusual charge.

I tried to buy tickets online about 2 days ago from trenitalia. That night I had a phone call from the fraud department of my credit card company wanting to know if I knew about the activity on my card. I said yes and had them authorize me to use the card overseas even though we don't leave for a few more days. When I went through the online purchase process again last night, I originally got an error message and a notice to check my email and the international summary order in the customer area of their website to see if the transaction had gone through. Neither one showed the transaction had gone through until about 12 hours later--I had an email this morning saying that the purchase had gone through. Good luck!

So I called my CC company and they authorized the charge and I finally made it past the CC screen, but now I'm getting a message that translates into "Denied authorization - the customer and disabilitato state - not successful Purchase, No I debit carried out" and I got an e-mail saying "Dear Customer, We inform you of the disablement of your account for security reasons"

Has anyone had this happen?

I tried for about 6 weeks with constant failures, even after contacting my credit card company. I sent emails to Trenitalia and they called me from Italy 3 or 4 times, but were never able to get it to work. Finally, it was too late snd I bought the tickets from at the machine at the train station without a bit of a problem. They were always very nice on the phone and apolgetic...it seems that there are MANY problems with their system. Some people get through without any trouble and others suffer from constant frustration. I'm an advance planner, so I found it nerve wracking to wait and buy once in Italy, but it worked out just fine.

I've been trying for weeks and always get the "denied" message--no matter what card I use. The problem is not with our card issuers (although I was able to make two purchases in late March and got a call from the Fraud Department) just to make sure I was making the charges. Anyway, I gave up and decided to use the Fast Ticket machines when I arrive in Rome. Last year I booked more than 100 tickets through the Trenitalia site and didn't have any problems. Oh, well. Fortunately, there are lots of trains running.

I've been having the same problem. I was able to buy a group of tickets ONCE last week and then after that I'd always get "The Payment has been denied" when I tried to buy tickets for another leg of our trip. This morning I tried with another credit card and it went through with no problem so I was beginning to think the problem was with the 1st CC until I logged on to buy more tickets for the last leg of our trip and got the same ol' line. Both CC companies say there is no problem on their ends.

I had trouble too, but keep trying. It could be your credit card, but more than likely it is the lovely Italian website....I picked up tickets at the self-service kiosks at both the Milan and Rome train stations without incident.

PS watch your bags closely at the self-serve kiosks - I was approached by several people I would call "suspicious" offering to help me with my tickets. Say "No, grazie" in a loud voice, they'll usually leave you alone.

I had the same issues, so I booked a leg on Italiarail.com and got our tickets in 2 days. I talked to a live person in the U.S. who answered all of my questions. I wanted to get these tickets and was not too concerned about upcharges or shipping-I just needed peace of mind!!

My story is similar to the many replies on this thread. Just one twist that seems to be worse. I tried to use my credit card twice and each time it was denied. I guessed that the problem might be the "strange" charge so while still online I called my card company. They confirmed that they had denied it and agreed to approve it. I clicked submit one more time and this time the charge went through but also I got an email saying that my accound had been disabled. So now I've been charged but have no voucher for the tickets.

Does anyone have any idea how to contact them. I tried to call the phone number on the website and found that it only accepts calls from within Italy. I found a fax and sent a letter but have gotten no reply. The curious thing is that the email saying that my account is suspended says to call the same phone number to get it reinstated. Too bad I don't have an international number I can call.

Ideas?

IT'S YOUR MIDDLE INITIAL! I've had this problem several times .. most recently booking tickets on Alitalia for a flight between Milan and Naples.

Basically, in the Italian database there is not a separate field for your middle initial. While American credit cards all use the initial as an extra measure of security.

I was able to immediately resolve this problem by calling my credit cards companies (American Express) and another debit card and having my middle initial removed.

I know it's probably too late for those who have posted in this chain but I found a way around the credit card issue. After four attempts using 3 different cards, I called MasterCard. They said it's not their problem - they could see that they hadn't blocked anything. So then I changed the browser Privacy settings (Tools, Internet Options, Privacy tab) to the next to lowest setting. I then went back and was able to complete 2 purchases with no problem. I hope this works for others becasue this is hugely frustrating and time-consuming. Good luck!

Thanks to Carla! I just spent an entire afternoon trying to book tickets between Venezia and Ljubljana on the Trenitalia web site. When I FINALLY made it to the credit card page, it told me that my purchase was temporarily suspended. When I looked for more information it told me that because I had tried unsuccessfully to purchase the tickets at least twice, my account would be suspended for 15 minutes. I was never able to get things going again and finally checked this board.

I went to ItaliaRail.com and had the tickets purchased in less than 5 minutes. I think that the Trenitalia web site just isn't very user friendly.

Thanks again!

I was having the same problems. I changed my privacy settings and it worked now!

But it cost me $40 more than it would have if I had been able to book when I forst tried 2 weeks ago. Grrr.

Thanks for the tip on the privacy settings, I'll try that.

Katie, why did you have to pay $40 more????

The times I originally wanted to book were no longer available and i had to pick another time for 2 of my legs, both of which were more expensive.

This problem is Trenitalia's. It is not your credit card company, nor the settings on your browser. I have used Explorer and Firefox, with settings wide open and popups allowed, and every other combination. I have used three different credit cards and I get variations of all the problems mentioned above. My credit card company has told me that they haven't even received anything from Trenitalia, and that they are not blocking a thing. It is really too bad because for several years Trenitalia worked, but not very well, and only on Explorer, but if you were lucky you could actually choose your seats by clicking on the icons. Now they have eliminated that, but it doesn't matter because you can't use their site anyway. They seem to be working on it, because in the last few days I have had my account blocked but they add a form you can fill out to have it unblocked. So there is a bit of movement there, but not enough yet. I don't blame them. They're probably on break with their 4th espressi

I am having the same problem. I have been trying to book reservations for travel from Florence to Naples later in June, with the same "payment denied" error message. I have checked with Visa as well as the bank supporting my Visa and they have had the same problem. Unfortunately, no luck, either with the phone number. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

FYI - when my husband and I were in Italy last summer we had no problem booking our trains as we went. We usually jsut booked the next leg of our trip before we left the station or popped into one of the AmEx office Rick mentions in his book. Only one time did we have to leave a little later htan we wanted...but hey we were on vacation and rolled with it :)

I experienced the same problem using Trenitalia's website. I finally gave up, made a list of the dates and trains I wanted to take, and went directly to Trenitalia @ FCO and bought all of my tickets at once just as I arrived. The first train request, for 4 days later, was sold out, but I got the next train which left 30 minutes later.

On a different online forum, someone indicated that they had some success calling the following number: 39 06 43 24 31 00 (after first diaing, of course, 011). I haven't tried it but you might give it a shot. Let us all know if it gets you anywhere. Good luck!

Misery enjoys company. Today I tried six times to purchase some first class tickets for a May trip. Like you, I used two different credit cards. What a waste of time. I did everything correctly...first notified my credit card companies and I allowed for cookies & pop-ups. I received my seat assignments from Trenitalia, but the Bank website just denied my card no matter how I entered my name.

I might try using a travel agent, such as the concierge service offered by Context Travel. (www.contexttravel.com). Or, I might just wait til I get there. Good luck and remember to travel lightly...

If you have a Visa.. TRY USING THEIR VIRTUAL CARD NUMBERS! I tried this after several unsuccessful tries, and it worked.

What are "virtual visa Numbers"?

There is a trenitalia agent in Boston who told me that the problem is that since there is so much fraud and identity theft in the US trenitalia has stopped accepting US based credit cards online.

I have had the same problem.Thought it was to do with the 'verified by visa part of it'.When I rang the National bank here about 3 times before I finally got a satisfactory answer, that it wasnt my card.It was a system problem.They said Nationals card doesnt work on that site.When I suggested using another bank's card she said she wouldnt recommend that.Then she discretely muttered that she couldnt say much and the word 'investigated' was somewhere in there.Go figure.

The TrenItalia site is very inconsistent - sometimes it will accept US credit cards; others times it will not. I buy my tickets at the Station for my next "location."

The TrenItalia Travel Help Center number is +39-06-6847 5475. (From the US, you would dial 00 11 39 06 6847 5475) Ask for an English speaking Operator and they will try and assist you. Here's the same info from the "Help" section of their website: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/area_clienti/call_center/index.html

I've spoken to them a few times as I've bought tickets for incoming friends and relatives using my US banked, Capitol One Mastercard. I purchased MANY tickets and had to call a few times to "override" TrenItalia issues. Again, it's not your cards - it's their website and security measures. And frankly, they are inconsistently applied. You can use the same card 10 times and it will not work... but on #11 it might??

They will also "suspend" your ability to buy tickets if you use multiple credit cards on their site, or purchase TOO MANY tickets - Happened to me as we had 5 couples visiting in less than 30 days and I bought all their tickets online - until TrenItalia locked me out for three weeks!

So if you can wait, buy your tickets once you get here...

Ciao, Ron

I tried several times to buy tickets online in June 2008 and got the same "payment denied" message. When I contacted my credit card company, they told me that they had not blocked it, and had not even recorded an attempted charge, indicating that Trenitalia did not even submit the charge. I have tried repeatedly on my home and work computers with no luck. I may have to wait until I get to Italy to buy tickets, but as I am going to Venice I imagine it will be difficult to get to the train station to purchase tickets ahead of time, as I am going to stay by the Piazza San Marco. Has anyone had better luck?