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Having difficulty purchasing bus tickets on the ALSA site...

Peregrino Falcon

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
(SJPP - Finisterre)
I am running into a problem purchasing bus tickets on Alsa's site from Madrid to Pamplona, and then Pamplona to SJPP. It will not accept my credit card for some reason.

Has anyone else encountered this, or have suggestions on how to get it to work?

Assuming it doesn't work, I guess I'll just show up in Madrid and try to buy the ticket that day at the T4 office.
 
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I have just successfully purchased tickets on the Alsa site (Bilbao to SJPP) and used PayPal from New Zealand.
 
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Yes . I gave up and bought my tickets at the Alsa booth later on in Santiago.

I faced another problem..not for you but in common.
Checking in on a Ryanair flight on the internet.
My flight was going from Porto in Portugal to Eindhoven the Netherlands.
We were one step before Santiago and whatever I tried ,no succes to reserve my prepaid homeflight and get a seat and boarding card.
I ask the receptionist of a hotel if I could use the computer and the printer.
The spanish speaking lady tried and tried as I did before many times .at last she phoned somebody and the person told her to log on on the english website of Ryanair www.ryanair.com instead of the automaticly redirected spanish webside www.ryanair.es.so I could reserve the seats and could print out the boardingcard.
Very strange.
 
We also had difficulty on the camino before Santiago trying to book our tickets. Gave up and bought them at the ticket office at the bus station. No problem.
 

Its probably your bank protecting you from spending your money.
 
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Larazet said:
We also had difficulty on the camino before Santiago trying to book our tickets. Gave up and bought them at the ticket office at the bus station. No problem.
Click to expand...
Alsa has a sales booth now at the Pilgrims office in Santiago .
I bought our tickets to Porto there last june. Very convenient service from Alsa.
 
Last edited:
Albertinho said:
Alsa has a sales booth now at the Pilgrims office in Santiago .
I bought our tickets to Porto there last june. Very conveniant service from Alsa.
Click to expand...


Convenient in season but not open during the winter. Off season you need to book in person at the SdC bus station. Be sure to take your national passport with you when you book.

Bom caminho!
 
mspath said:
Convenient in season but not open during the winter. Off season you need to book in person at the SdC bus station. Be sure to take your national passport with you when you book.

Bom caminho!
Click to expand...
Good that you mention that Margreth. Anyway you have to go to the busstation to hop on the bus.
 
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I had the same problem last month. I finally resorted to using PayPal although I swear that my MasterCard worked two years ago. No problem once I switched my payment method.
 
Also did not work for me. Tried it several times thru their app and website, but while processing payment it fails. I ended up buying it the old fashioned way, at the busstation.
 
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Is it true you need to check-in and print your boarding passes with Ryanair or they charge you more? If so, do you remember what the window of time is for you to do so? I know you can't do it right when you buy it online.
 
Peregrino Falcon said:
Is it true you need to check-in and print your boarding passes with Ryanair or they charge you more? If so, do you remember what the window of time is for you to do so? I know you can't do it right when you buy it online.
Click to expand...
As I remember you can check in on line 5 days ahead of your flight.
If they print out your boarding card at the airport I thought it costs you 15 €

We had another experience at the airport. Per person you are allowed to check in up to 15 kg .they say 2 backs or cases. I payed for that. both backpacks were around 7 kg each.
At the Eindhoven airport they hardly have staff to attend you so there is a machine that checks in your luggage. It scans your printed out boardingcard. You put your luggage on the belt. One pack went in .the other was refused. I complained about it after searching for staff. Staff you only find behind a till so there you can pay extra as I had to do 35€ . No other choice. They did not listen to any arguments. Ryanair is a mickey mouse airline company with very bad service.for me this was the last time I flew with this company. They treat you like you are a "walking moneybag or creditcard. Not a human being of flesh and blood.
On the way back we put the two backs together to one item. In Porto was airport staff that handled correctly..
 
Peregrino Falcon said:
Thanks, everyone. I don't use Paypal, so I'll just get it at the ticket counter. That said, does anyone know if ALSA accepts American Express at their ticket counters? (They say they do on their website, but it doesn't work on their website.)
Click to expand...

If I were you I would carry cash ... just in case.
 
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Peregrino Falcon said:
Is it true you need to check-in and print your boarding passes with Ryanair or they charge you more? If so, do you remember what the window of time is for you to do so? I know you can't do it right when you buy it online.
Click to expand...

I would suggest reading the fine print before you purchase anything from Ryanair. This airline actually considered charging a fee to use the toilet while in flight.
 
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