Is it a good idea to purchase point to point train tickets on line from trenitalia.com? How does it work; i.e. do you get a paper copy to show on board? How about validation - I understand that ticke
Is it a good idea to purchase point to point train tickets on line from trenitalia.com? How does it work; i.e. do you get a paper copy to show on board? How about validation - I understand that tickets must be validated before getting on board or there is a fine.
Also, for late April and May travel, when should the tickets be purchased? If you miss your train, can you use the ticket/voucher for another train the same day? I'm thinking the tickets are only good for that day.
One last question. Has anyone had experience getting a train out of the port town of Civitavecchia - especially on a Sunday? What's the best way to get from the dock to the train station? Can you walk?
First trip would be from Civitavecchia to Orvieto- if possible on a Sunday. If that's not doable, we'd go up to Pisa (actually might prefer Lucca). After that we would be making trips out of Firenze as we will be there for 1 month with no car. GRAZIE
Regional trains are fixed-price, no reservation required, and 'open' tickets are issued which must be validated before boarding.
Long-distance trains have cheaper 'Mini' tickets if you book in advance at www.trenitalia.com, reservation is compulsory, but tickets DON'T need validating as they are date- and train-specific.
Saves you money because they offer reduced fares, called the mini-fare, for a limited number of seats on some of the popular routes. However, if you miss your train, the mini-fare offers a refund of only 50% and you must meet certain conditions to obtain that refund. For other ticket types (Flessible and Base), the refund policy is more generous.
Saves you time. Because you already have your "ticket," the electronic confirmation of your train reservation which you printed and brought with you, you're all set to board (after you locate the correct track (binario)). Buying train tickets at the station can be time consuming because you generally must wait in line at the counter or wait in line at an automated machine to buy your tickets.
Guarantees you a seat. A reserved ticket is also a reservation for a particular seat in a particular carriage. Sometimes, on Regional trains, there are not enough seats for everyone who boards, and people stand at the end of a carriage or even in the aisles. That doesn't happen on a train with reserved seating only.
When using the online system, you usually cannot buy tickets more than 90 days ahead of time. The online system is "loaded" with routes and fares periodically. You can check what the frequency and routes will be like by using a date within the current week that corresponds to the day of the week you expect to be traveling. (Sometimes there are fewer trains on a Sunday.) Also, when you use a date within a week from the current date, the price of the regional trains will be displayed. Otherwise, they are not.
You can check routing and prices on the Trenitalia (Italian National Railroad) website:
Note, too, that mini-fares are offered only on train trips that are on Eurostar, Frecciarosa, Frecciargento, and IC trains (higher classes of trains), not on Regional trains. If a route includes a segment on a regional train as well as on one of the higher classes of trains, the mini-fare will not appear. You can still buy a mini-fare if you plan to buy two tickets, one online for the higher class segment and one at the train station for the segment by the Regional train.
You can read about the conditions, including refunds and exchanges, for each type of ticket at the link above after you choose a route and choose the trip you want to take. A screen is displayed which prompts you for the ticket class and then the price of the ticket you want to buy, which corresponds to a fare type of Flessible (most expensive with most generous refund and ticket change policy), Base (less generous refund and ticket-change policy) , and sometimes Mini. On the left of each fare type is an option, More info, which lists all the conditions of that fare type.
Note that many users have experienced problems attempting to use their credit cards to reserve tickets. However, it's been reported that the Trenitalia website has been accepting American credit cards since last summer.
"One important point, the MINI fare may NOT be the choice if you have to make a reservation less than two days prior to your scheduled time. Before the MINI fare – you were allowed with other discounted fares – to get on a later departing train and pay an administrative fee (€8). With the MINI ticket, if you miss your train – for any reason not contributed to by Trenitalia – the ticket you are holding in your hand MAY BE worthless. You may then be required to buy a separate, full price fare to continue to your journey. As GAC points out in a board posting, “Bottom Line: if there is a reasonable chance of missing your reserved train, DON’T select the “MINI” promotional fare, but instead stick with the “Base” fare.” So pre-booking a MINI ticket on a day you’re arriving by plane is not recommended."
I want to travel from Venice to Verona,Verona to Florence and Florence to Rome.Which mode of transportation shall be the most convenient?Also i have read that travelling by train is a good experience in Europe.Can i purchase mini fare tickets for June now?Also i couldnt loxate mini fare from Verona to Florence.It only shows base fare.
Thank you Silverlock. I will pay full fare and not worry. Would know about switching trains at Trastevere vs. Termini. If I have 5 min to change at Trastevere is it possible that all trains leave from the same platform or is it as large a station as Termini? How can I find out in advance what platform I would have to switch to? Thank you.
I want to travel from Venice to Verona,Verona to Florence and Florence to Rome.Which mode of transportation shall be the most convenient?Also i have read that travelling by train is a good experience in Europe.Can i purchase mini fare tickets for June now?Also i couldnt loxate mini fare from Verona to Florence.It only shows base fare. Posted by sara123
Fares are available into August at this point; in some cases the mini fare may be sold out for a particular day or train. Try other trains that day, or in the days just before and after...you might still get lucky!
