U.S. citizen lives in the UK, trouble buying train tickets for Italy
Apr 23rd, 2011, 02:16 AM
#1
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U.S. citizen lives in the UK, trouble buying train tickets for Italy
I am a U.S. citizen living in the UK, I'm trying to buy train tickets for a trip in Italy. I looked at the U.S. version of Rail Europe, but it said it would have to ship the tickets to me. I will be in Italy in a week and a half, and doubt the tickets would get here in time (we have a military post box, which makes delivery slower). I thought of the UK version of Rail Europe but someone told me since I have a U.S. passport, I won't be able to actually use the ticket I purchase. Can anyone help me with this? I prefer buying train tickets before I travel, so I don't have to worry about anything when I get there and can just relax. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Apr 23rd, 2011, 03:13 AM
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Train a lot over there just got back took multiple trains
I never reserve abroad always a hassle never do pass always
a scam regional and intercity trains are cheap.
Best value last week Orvieto Florence Regional/Intercity
had an entire compartment to myself for 4.5 euros per person
Easest best cheapest just buy from local machines
at stations they took all my credit cars just fine.
seat61.com if you must buy online but you really do not have
time.
I never reserve abroad always a hassle never do pass always
a scam regional and intercity trains are cheap.
Best value last week Orvieto Florence Regional/Intercity
had an entire compartment to myself for 4.5 euros per person
Easest best cheapest just buy from local machines
at stations they took all my credit cars just fine.
seat61.com if you must buy online but you really do not have
time.
Apr 23rd, 2011, 03:25 AM
#3
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Raileurope is not the site you should be looking at.
Regarding convenience you can just buy tickets when you are in Italy. The kiosks are quite easy to use.
qwovadis is NOT correct about that being the cheapest though. The correct website you should be looking at is www.trenitalia.com. There are discounts available for advance purchase - I think they're now called "Mini" fares.
You can buy electronic ticket on most high speed routes. All you need to do is give the conductor the record locator number (a print out of the receipt is sufficient, or even on your smart phone).
Regarding convenience you can just buy tickets when you are in Italy. The kiosks are quite easy to use.
qwovadis is NOT correct about that being the cheapest though. The correct website you should be looking at is www.trenitalia.com. There are discounts available for advance purchase - I think they're now called "Mini" fares.
You can buy electronic ticket on most high speed routes. All you need to do is give the conductor the record locator number (a print out of the receipt is sufficient, or even on your smart phone).
Apr 23rd, 2011, 06:57 AM
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Hi tl,
If you want a ticket from one point in Italy to another point in Italy, use www.trenitalia.com.
They do have advance purchase discount fares.
Raileurope is more expensive than national rail carriers.
Enjoy your visit.
If you want a ticket from one point in Italy to another point in Italy, use www.trenitalia.com.
They do have advance purchase discount fares.
Raileurope is more expensive than national rail carriers.
Enjoy your visit.
Apr 23rd, 2011, 08:57 AM
#5
As the others said -- you don't want raileurope (It is a US based company owned by a couple of European rail companies and isn't even the cheapest when buying from the States)
Use trenitalia, or even pop into a high street TA in your local town
Use trenitalia, or even pop into a high street TA in your local town
Apr 23rd, 2011, 10:30 AM
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I don't understand what your passport has to do with it, though. Why wouldn't you be able to use a ticket however you purchased it? If a train tickets requires ID, it doesn't matter what country your passport is from.
I have no experience with Italy train tickets, but have never seen any other country's rail ticket marked specifically for certain nationalities, that just sounds totally bogus to me. They may mark up the ticket a lot, you'd have to compare (Raileuope in North Am does), but don't believe what people tell you unless the Raileurope site itself claims you have to be a UK citizen to use tickets sold on their website (which I don't believe they do).
I have no experience with Italy train tickets, but have never seen any other country's rail ticket marked specifically for certain nationalities, that just sounds totally bogus to me. They may mark up the ticket a lot, you'd have to compare (Raileuope in North Am does), but don't believe what people tell you unless the Raileurope site itself claims you have to be a UK citizen to use tickets sold on their website (which I don't believe they do).
Apr 23rd, 2011, 02:33 PM
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travelinglife, you can buy tickets through the Trenitalia website - perhaps use this article as a guide: http://tinyurl.com/tren-online
The MINI tickets are currently the *best buy* out there. You can read more about them in this post: http://tinyurl.com/MINI-fare
I think with those options you can easily beat the Rail Europe Pass prices, although you may give up some flexibility with the MINI tickets. They are somewhat restrictive. Another option may be to just wait until you are in Italy and you can purchase your tickets through a kiosk in any larger train station - see this for help on using the kiosks: http://tinyurl.com/buy-tickets-2011
The MINI tickets are currently the *best buy* out there. You can read more about them in this post: http://tinyurl.com/MINI-fare
I think with those options you can easily beat the Rail Europe Pass prices, although you may give up some flexibility with the MINI tickets. They are somewhat restrictive. Another option may be to just wait until you are in Italy and you can purchase your tickets through a kiosk in any larger train station - see this for help on using the kiosks: http://tinyurl.com/buy-tickets-2011
Mar 31st, 2014, 02:40 AM
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I just bought some Rail Europe tics for Italy because I didn't want to be lining up for tics with my bag and the hassel of going up and down stairs etc. The tics that didn't have a seat reservation ie. the open tics, were just printed off on the home computer a couple of days after booking. The ones with reserved seating were delivered in 2 days by registered post. I am in Australia.
