Hello,
I work for a U.S.-based travel agency and, over the past several months, we’ve been unable to purchase seat reservations for any Swiss trains—both standard routes operated by Swiss Federal Railways (including point-to-point tickets and those using a Swiss Travel Pass) as well as panoramic trains such as the Bernina Express.
These are routes for which we have booked seat reservations in the past, and availability is clearly shown on the SBB website and relevant panoramic train booking platforms. However, when attempting payment, all transactions are declined and/or simply will not go through and be processed. We have tried multiple credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), including those with 3D Secure authentication enabled. We’ve also attempted bookings via both the desktop website and the SBB Mobile app, with and without VPNs, and continue to encounter the same issue.
We contacted SBB directly and were advised that a Swiss-issued credit card may be required, which is not feasible for us or our clients. Has anyone else experienced this issue, or found a reliable workaround?
Thank you in advance for any guidance.