I am trying to reserve sleeper car tickets for an overnight train from Florence to Vienna for the 1st of July. The two sites I have checked show the route I want, but they do not allow online purchase for this particular route/train. Is that because I am checking too early? I vaguely recall seeing something (somewhere) about a 2 month window. Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong? Also--Trenitalia's site doesn't seem to be working. I've tried for a few days and after entering my departure/arrival info, I get a mostly blank screen. Is anyone else having difficulty?
One last question, to those who travel by train frequently...I will be arriving in Rome on June 24th. Can I wait and buy the tickets for our overnight route after I arrive or is that pushing it? There are four of us traveling, and two are elderly---I don't want them to end up in second class seats for the long overnight ride. I appreciate anyone's help!

Hi Peggy,

1. You can only purchase tickets up to 60 days in advance.

2. You have to use the Italian language site.

3. You have to be registered.

4. You cannot purchase international tickets on line.

5. You should have plenty of time to purchase your tickets in Rome.

You can buy all of the tickets you need at the train station at FCO when you get your tickets to Roma TE.

Hope this helps.

Enjoy your trip.

Now that you're within the 60 day window, you would be best advised to take care of these arrangements pronto, especially since you will be traveling with elderly folks. Although you could contact RailEurope and pay a premium for the privilege, you'd be better off contacting TrainsEurope and have them book it for you. Call David Gunning (the manager) and ask that he help you personally. His number in London is 01354 660222. You can also e-mail to his attention

[email protected]

This should take care of your needs. We also are taking an overnight on July 1 and learned that few of the European agencies will be willing to assist. TrainsEurope will help and will probably require a small additional charge for confirmed delivery. Either way, much less expensive than Rail Europe, which can be iffy when it comes to overnight reservations. Good luck!

Hi Peggy,

I've also had problems with trying to buy tickets via the English version of Trenitalia.com today.
Having read Ira's comment that you can only buy tickets from the Italian language version of the Trenitalia site I just tried to, and I'm pretty certain that it said that the service was temporarily suspended. (I don't speak Italian but using French, Latin and guesswork that was the probable translation).

So it might be worth having another go tomorrow.

Ira and others who may know: Re buying PREM tickets in the US.

I have been trying to buy SNCF PREM tickets on the SNCF website for two June legs: Paris to Luxembourg right after I arrive in mid-June and then a week later, Lux to Amsterdam. Prices are very good, but SNCF seems to have some agreement that precludes mailing tickets to North America. The PREM screen does not permit any other form of delivery besides mailing, though elsewhere the site discusses printing out your own paid tickets, etc.
Anyone know how to get around this problem.

DavidA

Hi! We had the same exact problem but reversed...we were booking an overnight train from Vienna to Florence. Rail Europe had the route but wouldn't let us book a sleeper, which is what we wanted. We just ended up calling about a month and a half in advance and booked over the phone.

Good luck!
Tracy

DavidA:

There is a recent post on the SlowTrav site by someone who says she left FRANCE as the country of destination for the tickets, but chose the mail option and filled in her U.S. address and received the tickets by mail promptly. I don't know if that was the exception to the rule, but it's easy enough to just print out your tickets.

Leave FRANCE as the destination, then when you get to step 2., don't fill in anything on the address lines; just choose between the text and html options, and continue. Once you've given them the credit card number you'll get a confirmation and a prompt to print.

nrwayne, I took your advice and contacted trainseurope. David replied to my e-mail, and booked the tickets over fax/e-mail. They were much cheaper than raileurope, and I have the peace of mind of having tickets for this overnight leg in hand. For the short city-hopping legs, I prefer buy on arrival, but this resource was GREAT--I really appreciate the lead!

Does this recent thread help? http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Sorry that was not the correct url for the thread on prem tickets--this should be right....http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34497214

Peggy,
All of Ira's advice is correct, except waiting to book the overnight trips. You did yourself a service booking them in advance. I'm sorry I waited 5 minutes to book mine with my train people, because I just did that a few minutes ago. The overnight trains book FAST!

Hi David,

Sorry to be slow with responding.

When booking SNCF tickets, leave the country as FRANCE. You will get a confirmation number.

Bring the confirmation number and the same credit card to the train station to collect your tickets.

For some trains you will be able to print your ticket online. You will be prompted for this.