Intrepid1

The route is Livorno Centrale to Firenze SMN and return.

Will travel on a regional service and in 2nd Class.

Will pay online and collect from the ticket machines.

In order to purchase these tickets one apparently has to pick a particular train and departure time (am I doing something wrong here?)

THE question: is this really the same as an "open ticket" (since seats cannot be reserved)? AND, if we miss the train we selected to get the tickets, can the tickets be used on the subsequent departure?

Thanks in advance, as always.

PalQ

I wish i could help but i don't know the answer to this - have always traveled with railpasses so never buy online tickets. Topping this so maybe someone else will know.

ira

Hi intrepid,

Yes, you are buying an "open" ticket, good for any trains between Florence and Livorno.

Intrepid1

Pal: thanks..so do we but for our Italian portion will be using "the system."

Ira: thanks very much..I figured if anyone would know the answer it would be you.

PalQ

Do you save money by buying online on such a short trip? If not why not just buy the ticket from the automatic machines since you have to go to the machines anyway? I just don't know much about Trenitalia.com and how you can maximize savings - i know on long distances you have the 29 euro and 39 euros, etc. fares that are bargains. Do you always get a discount for buying online? Thanks.

Intrepid1

Pal: very good question and the answer in this particular case is there really isn't any good reason to buy the tickets on line because:

1) No discounts are available

2) We'll have to use the ticket machines anyway.

Call it my own railroad mania..I was, as much as anything, simply wanting to use the Trenitalia site to get the tickets (perhaps I thought it might save a little time but in the end it really won't).

Not sure if this "answer" makes any sense to you but I'm one of those people who defies the laws and does travel around Europe on trains with my head, more or less, hanging out the windows if that tells you anything!

I deeply appreciate your taking the time to answer the initial question and to ask this further follow-on question.

PalQ

ditto - thanks for your response - i'm the type, a rail buff like you, who likes to know as much as possible about European trains - from catenaires to ticketing!