No Monbus service in October??

[rgutena]

Hello Camino walkers! I have been trying to book a Monbus ticket from Muxia back to Santiago de Compostela in October but the Monbus website doesn't enable me to choose any departure date beyond September. When I click on the right arrow at the top of the calendar to try to move to the next month, the calendar stays in September. I have tried different web browsers and it is the same. Given that it is already mid September, I would have thought they would have released their schedule from October onwards by now. Any idea of what the issue is?

 

[Tincatinker]

Hello Camino walkers! I have been trying to book a Monbus ticket from Muxia back to Santiago de Compostela in October but the Monbus website doesn't enable me to choose any departure date beyond September. When I click on the right arrow at the top of the calendar to try to move to the next month, the calendar stays in September. I have tried different web browsers and it is the same. Given that it is already mid September, I would have thought they would have released their schedule from October onwards by now. Any idea of what the issue is?

I'm getting the same issue. I'm also happy to assume its a website issue. I checked for services from Fisterra to Cee with the same result.

Despite the swarms of sweaty pilgrims the route is used by local people to make local journeys. They don't all stay home for the winter. Santiago is where you do your Christmas shopping. There may be a reduction in service frequency in October but there will still be a service

 

[dougfitz]

I had a quick look at the bus.gal site, and the schedule is only going out to 11 Oct at present. If you are looking for dates beyond that, they haven't been released.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Have had similar problems booking mid-October seats with La Estellesa and Jimenez lines.... No problem at all booking ALSA seats for mid-October! (Ain't ALSA great!?)

 

[auburnfive]

Check back in a week or so, when I was booking for September with Monbus the calendar didn’t open up til around mid August

 

[t2andreo]

As a general rule, the Spanish bus companies and RENFE (train service) do not post their operating schedules much beyond one month in advance.

So, if you are not yet seeing something for a date exactly 30 days out - or more - stay tuned and check back in a couple of days.

All will be made clear at the appropriate time. Relax.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[rgutena]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I am looking to buy a ticket for early October - certainly before 11 Oct. But the Monbus calendar literally stops at 30 Sep, so it isn’t even a 30-day thing.

I also have problems with the ALSA site! They rejected my credit card payment 5 times. Both of my cards are travel money cards specifically intended for use overseas and have plenty of credit. Still waiting for their advice on what the problem was. I have been using the same cards for other foreign transactions without problems. Very unhappy.

 

[Bradypus]

I also have problems with the ALSA site! They rejected my credit card payment 5 times. Both of my cards are travel money cards specifically intended for use overseas and have plenty of credit.

Have you tried using a regular credit or debit card linked to your bank accounts? I'm in the UK and have never had problems paying by card with ALSA from my ordinary bank accounts. RENFE payments can be difficult and I usually use a third-party booking site for those.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I am looking to buy a ticket for early October - certainly before 11 Oct. But the Monbus calendar literally stops at 30 Sep, so it isn’t even a 30-day thing.

I also have problems with the ALSA site! They rejected my credit card payment 5 times. Both of my cards are travel money cards specifically intended for use overseas and have plenty of credit. Still waiting for their advice on what the problem was. I have been using the same cards for other foreign transactions without problems. Very unhappy.

Re Alsa - have you tried both the App and desktop site? App can be very temperamental!

But yes, try a bank card and not a travel card.

 

[rgutena]

I would only use a normal bank card or credit card as a last resort for foreign transactions. Apart from the poor exchange rate and exhorbitant conversion fee, I would have thought they are actually more likely to block foreign transactions.

So I called the company that issued one of my travel money cards and they said that they blocked the transaction because the ALSA website didn't pass their security requirements. So I requested that they unblock the website, which they have agreed to do for the next 24 hours only (once they have processed my request) and I can then try again within that 24-hour period... Will let you know how I go. But their advice has made me a bit paranoid now. So just to confirm, the website https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home is legit??

 

[Bradypus]

So just to confirm, the website https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home is legit??

Yes - that is the genuine ALSA website

 

[rgutena]

Yes - that is the genuine ALSA website

Thank you!

 

[Tincatinker]

I would only use a normal bank card or credit card as a last resort for foreign transactions. Apart from the poor exchange rate and exhorbitant conversion fee, I would have thought they are actually more likely to block foreign transactions.

So I called the company that issued one of my travel money cards and they said that they blocked the transaction because the ALSA website didn't pass their security requirements. So I requested that they unblock the website, which they have agreed to do for the next 24 hours only (once they have processed my request) and I can then try again within that 24-hour period... Will let you know how I go. But their advice has made me a bit paranoid now. So just to confirm, the website https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home is legit??

https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home is legit.

Oh how I long for the days when we just stuffed cash into half-a-dozen little hidey places and could just buy things when we wanted to

 

[TravellingMan22]

I would only use a normal bank card or credit card as a last resort for foreign transactions. Apart from the poor exchange rate and exhorbitant conversion fee, I would have thought they are actually more likely to block foreign transactions.

So I called the company that issued one of my travel money cards and they said that they blocked the transaction because the ALSA website didn't pass their security requirements. So I requested that they unblock the website, which they have agreed to do for the next 24 hours only (once they have processed my request) and I can then try again within that 24-hour period... Will let you know how I go. But their advice has made me a bit paranoid now. So just to confirm, the website https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home is legit??

Alsa is fine - they are the national bus company of Spain. I have booked 8 sectors in the last 24 hours. Unless I have missed something there are no conversion fees (unless your own bank is charging you), and the exchange rate is totally in line with other vendors! I am a UK card holder so paying in GBP and converting at approx: £1:1.16 Euro, which is totally in line with bank rate. You can use a bank card - it is perfectly fine. Some UK banks charge in the region of 2.99% for card transations but many don't...not sure about other countries or where you are from.

I has some issues with the App this morning as I wanted to change a timing, but desktop worked fine.

 

[rgutena]

Alsa is fine - they are the national bus company of Spain. I have booked 8 sectors in the last 24 hours. Unless I have missed something there are no conversion fees (unless your own bank is charging you), and the exchange rate is totally in line with other vendors! I am a UK card holder so paying in GBP and converting at approx: £1:1.16 Euro, which is totally in line with bank rate. You can use a bank card - it is perfectly fine. Some UK banks charge in the region of 2.99% for card transations but many don't...not sure about other countries or where you are from.

I has some issues with the App this morning as I wanted to change a timing, but desktop worked fine.

My observations re fees and rates were only based on my own experience with Australian cards in the past.

 

[TravellingMan22]

My observations re fees and rates were only based on my own experience with Australian cards in the past.

Ok fair enough! I won’t labour it but I would be suprised if Alsa were charging you conversation fees and not your bank.

That said there is an option to pay in your home currency (AUD) or Euros and it is quite a small bit of text. I early missed it yesterday. The difference was about 4% more paying in GBP a and not Euro albeit the purchase was only about €25.

It may be useful to know if US or Canadian card holders are concerned with the conversion rate from Alsa rather than European folks.

 

[t2andreo]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I am looking to buy a ticket for early October - certainly before 11 Oct. But the Monbus calendar literally stops at 30 Sep, so it isn’t even a 30-day thing.

I also have problems with the ALSA site! They rejected my credit card payment 5 times. Both of my cards are travel money cards specifically intended for use overseas and have plenty of credit. Still waiting for their advice on what the problem was. I have been using the same cards for other foreign transactions without problems. Very unhappy.

You need to contact your credit card issuer or servicing office to inform them that you are making foreign purchases. To prevent fraud, they automatically block charges that are out of context. Living in the US or Canada, you would likely be blocked from making online purchases in Europe or elsewhere unless your credit card company knew to expect this pattern of behavior.

I used to get this block. But over the years, my credit card issuer knows - or rather the computer knows that I regularly make overseas purchases. The computer knows what is in or out of contextm and acts accordingly.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[trecile]

My observations re fees and rates were only based on my own experience with Australian cards in the past

Ok fair enough! I won’t labour it but I would be suprised if Alsa were charging you conversation fees and not your bank.

Right. I use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, so it's not something I worry about. When I've been unable to use my credit card on the Renfe site because of security issues I use PayPal with no problem.

 

[rgutena]

OK, an update (for those who are interested...) - After the card issuing company disabled their security requirements for ALSA, my payment finally went through and I got my ticket! The whole transaction took less than a couple of minutes. It is just a little annoying that the fare has gone up by €2 since Sunday...

I actually recall that I have used these same cards to purchase tickets from the ALSA website before and didn't have this problem. The issuing bank / company have obviously tightened their security requirements due to more recent escalations in online frauds. A friend of mine had a similar experience with her card; she used to be able to use her card for foreign transactions online but then it stopped working recently.

Those who haven't had issues with the ALSA website before, don't be too surprised if you start encountering the same issue as mine from now on. The fact that both of my cards rejected ALSA's requests for payment suggests to me that there is something with ALSA website that many banks consider dodgy according to their current security standards.

Meanwhile, Monbus still haven't released their tickets for October, so I will check again next week as some of you suggested. Thanks!

 

[rgutena]

I would be suprised if Alsa were charging you conversation fees and not your bank.

Of course it is the bank / card company that charges the conversion fees. Banks / companies that offer nil conversion fees for foreign transactions specifically advertise this as a selling point.

 

[MilaChernii]

Hi, pilgrims! I will watch this thread to know updates about the bus. I also have a plan to go to Muxia and Fisterra, but I'm in the mood to go wit the flow. Can it happen that i still will have energy and motivation to walk 3 days more... who knows))

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi, pilgrims! I will watch this thread to know updates about the bus. I also have a plan to go to Muxia and Fisterra, but I'm in the mood to go wit the flow. Can it happen that i still will have energy and motivation to walk 3 days more... who knows))

It might be more worthwhile to check the Monbus website from time to time. This thread might drop off the front page anytime soon.

If your Camino is supposed to end in Fisterra or Muxia it will. Meanwhile Buen Camino