Truoble buying Swiss Travel Card (15 day)

RohitK

I am able to login into my sbb.ch website, select a 15day travel card for (guests from abroad), add 3 additional co-travellers, add my credit card info and click purchase.
This is where things go bad for me. I get the following error consistently :
“The payment could not be finalised. Please ceck your card details.”
I have tried it from my iPhone, IPad and Laptop. have tried manually entering all the information. I have tried autofill from my plugin I that use for all of my other oline purchases.
I am at a complete loss at this point. Any help would be appreciated.
It really should not be this difficult !!!!

Danhiel

Hello RohitK

Is 3-D Secure active on your credit card?

Kind regards
Danhiel

RolandP

Hello RohitK

Kindly keep in mind, we are customer support page run by volunteering travel experts, not the SBB Customer Service. We do answer questions in our spare time. We therefore appreciate a respectful language and conversation.

There are at least 5 recent questions about the same issue. It is helpful to read through previous posts.

No, purchasing a ticket using a credit card is not difficult. It happens a hundred thousands of time a day, provided the credit card meets the security standard required by the webshop.

Kind regards,
Roland

Nicole_B

Hello RohitK

RohitK I checked with my Bank and Chase Visa Card does support 3D secure.
I have used it in Asia before without any issues.

Did you receive the 3D secure code as an email, SMS or in a separate Access app (process varies depending on the card issuer) before the error message “The payment could not be finalised. Please ceck your card details.” appears?

If not, I suspect the cause of the error message in the event of a faulty process for the 3D Secure Code. If, for example, the card has been replaced since Asia (e.g. new validity) or contact details such as telephone number / e-mail have changed, the 3D Secure Code must be set up again and / or the new contact details must be verified. Setup and verification may require several process steps on various website links and applications of the card issuer (processes are defined by the card issuer).

You can find further possible reasons for declining your payment method and possible solutions here:

Help with payment methods | SBB help & contact
open “My means of payment was declined (unauthorised). What can I do?”

Notes:

For security and data protection reasons, card issuers never send the reason for rejection to merchants such as SBB. SBB therefore only knows what is already in the error message (means of payment was declined).
However, as far as I am aware, the card issuer should be able to give the cardholder the reason for refusal (this concerns the card issuer’s customer data).
The customer support of the card issuer is often not the same customer support as that of the bank. In case of problems with the payment card, it is therefore important to contact the correct customer support, the phone number can usually be found on the back of the card.

Kind regards,
Nicole

RohitK

Danhiel
I am based in the US. I checked with my Bank and Chase Visa Card does support 3D secure.
I have used it in Asia before without any issues.
Thanks.

RohitK

RolandP
Thanks. I did not mean any disrespect towards any of the volunteers. I may have vented my frustration into the Ether a little.
I would agree that with SBB volume it should not be an issue.
On the other hand I hold a Visa Credit Card from one of the major US banks and the are telling me to contact the vendor :-( and I am stuck in the middle.
Is there an official customer care email for phone number for SBB that I could use to reach out to them?

RolandP

RohitK

Then enter all card & personal details in full capital letters. If you have to enter the country of residence, before submittig. select the country of residence from the list, then change it to another country, and again back to the correct country, then send.

Kind regards,
Roland

RolandP

Hello RohitK

I do understand the frustration. On the other hand, we are here to help voluntarily, counting exclamation remarks is not our most preferred task 😄

Do you have another ceedit card by any chance?

You can also purchase it from the Switzerland Travel Center; their webshop is less picky. The only disavantage, it will not show up on the SBB Mobile app yet be distributed as PDF tickets that can be used on your phone, too.

https://switzerlandtravelcentre.com/en-ch/train-tickets/rail-passes

Alternatively, what if you purchase the passes one by one from SBB, instead adding the others as co-travelers?

And, after submitting, do you receive the 3D secure ID to be entered in a second step?

SBB can be contacted by phone from the US at 011 41 51 225 78 56.

However, SBB cannot help with credit card payment questions as the payment process is handled by an independent payment provider.

Kind regards,
Roland

RohitK

RolandP
Thanks. I went with the third party provider and ended up with PDF tickets.
There is a long thread on Reddit about this issue and apparently a lot of folks from the US are having issues buying online from the SBB website.

Can I manually add this Travel Pass to my SBB mobile app?

Zebis

Hi RohitK

Yes and no. You can theoretically add a manual “GA Travelcard” which gives you access to buy discounted tickets for international travel and some railway systems which are not included in the Swiss Travel Pass (STP). But for some cog railways like Jungfrau Bahnen you are not allowed to purchase tickets with the GA Travelcard reduction, since STP holders only get 25% discount, instead of the 50% with the domestic GA Travelcard.

But no, you cant add it into the SBB Mobile app to show it during ticket control. You will still have to present the PDF.

In my opinion, you shouldn’t add the STP as a GA Travelcard in the app, since it confuses more than it helps.
If you want to purchase international, or domestic tickets which are not included in the STP it’s always better to ask someone at an SBB ticket office / online.

Best regards
Zebis