I'm looking to take the overnight train from Venice to Munich on June 28th and saw that both the German and the Italian train companies have it listed on their websites. Since the same times are listed for both, I understand that it's the same train, but would one company have better prices than the other?

I ask because the cheapest it looks like I've been able to find is 106 Euro on Bahn (their 46 Euro "special" is, of course, already sold out), and the prices for tren italia are unavailable. It is worth figuring out how to get the prices for tren italia or should I just buy the ones from Bahn and be done with it?

Thank you!

You have to buy the ticket in the country in which the train originates - or else buy from an expensive international reseller. Bahn.de provides schedules for all countries, but only sells tickets for trains originating in Germany.

I seem to recall a dispute between Italy and Germany which had something to do with trains and Italy not currently selling these tickets (you can probably purchase from a travel agency in Italy). Usually, if you purchase a ticket from a specific country's train company, you have to pick it up in that country. I know that's true of Trenitalia. They do normally have Smart fares for these trains, but they require advance purchase and Trenitalia will not process US credit cards. Here's the rates from Smart fares from Italy to Germany. Sometimes you will see a choice of Smart 1 or Smart 2. One requires at least 14 day advance purchase and the other 7 day (depends on country).
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...3f16f90aRCRD#5

Thanks for the replies!

When I try looking up the fare on Tren Italia and click on "smart fare," it says that the price will be determined during the reservation phase, but then after I enter the information, it says "this service is not available at the moment, please try again later." Since this is the same message I got yesterday (and what prompted me to write the post), I'm unfortunately still confused. Is there something else I should be doing?

Oh...I forgot to mention that I have a Spanish credit card, so I won't be trying to make my purchases with an American card. I have an Italian roommate that I can ask to call and purchase the tickets if necessary and just pick them up when I get there, as well.

Hi H,

>I have an Italian roommate that I can ask to call and purchase the tickets if necessary and just pick them up when I get there, .....<

Excellent idea - assuming your friend is in Italy.

Enjoy your visit.

You can book this train at either www.trenitalia.com OR www.bahn.de (Mytraveler is not exactly correct here)

same train, same price range, though reservations tend to come from a separate pool of tickets held on each country's computer system, so if the 49 euro rate has sold out on one it may still be available on the other.

Trenitalia has a nasty habit of not accepting many non-Ialian credit cards, so bahn.de is the better bet.