i_am_kane

First, let me say if I was booking point-to-point tickets for two people there would be no problem.

However, I am trying to purchase 10 first-class, point-to-point tickets in Italy. The best bang for my buck is the "offerta famiglia" fare, which is two adults and one child for the price of two adults.

I have put into the system (phony) days in May which correspond to our June travel days. We will be purchasing as three separate families, i.e. one mother, one father, one child under 10. A single youth ticket for a 12-year old. The savings compared to Rail Europe and Budget Europe is half, which is over $600.

The way I understand the web site, is that I must enter my first "family," and purchase the tickets. This is where I am confused...how do I book the second and the third family, plus the youth so that we are all together in a nice seating arrangement? (At least with booking an airline you see the actual seats on your screen.)

I would love to save over $600, if only I could figure the seating arrangements out before I hit "Aquisto."

This is our itinerary for 10 people:

Venice to Florence, then Florence to Rome. After those train rides, we drop to six people from Rome to Naples, and then Naples to Rome.

I also tried to send an e-mail to Trenitalia on their web site, but it wouldn't accept my United States address, which was a required field. So, the e-mail wasn't processed.

MaureenB

I have to say the Trenitalia site has been a pain, even when I'm just trying to purchase two point-to-point tickets. There have been a lot of complaints on this forum about the Trenitalia site lately, so I think it's having widespread glitches right now.
For your relatively complicated itinerary, I'd suggest you call BudgetEuropeTravel.com at 1 800 441 9413 or 1 800 441 2387. They are experts in European train travel, and will recommend the best routes and fares. They sell the tickets at face value, so you won't be paying a big mark-up. They only charge a very small Shipping & Handling fee to mail paper tickets directly to you. No matter how many tickets you're buying, it's just one S&H fee, if you make it as one purchase. I think I paid $15 last time I used them. I highly recommend them for expertise and helpfulness.

Eloise

I_am_kane,

Don't despair with Trenitalia.

You have to purchase 3 Famiglia and one group consisting of 1 Famiglia and 1 Intera (for the 12-year-old; they don't have a youth fare as far as I can see). Purchasing the 12-year-old's seat with one of the Famiglia groups will insure that s/he is not stranded alone.

There is always a point in the purchase process where they ask you what carriage and what seat. Most people don't know what to do with it and they don't need it. But it gives you the opportunity to enter the carriage and a seat number from the last Famiglia group that you've purchased. I can't guarantee that all 10 of you will be sitting next to each other "in a nice seatiing arrangement", but you should at least be close to each other and in the same carriage. Also, if you explain that you are together and ask politely, Italians are often prepared to exchange seats so that you can sit together.

Eloise

So sorry, correction to the above:

2 two Famiglia (6 people)
1 Famiglia + 1 Intera (4 people)

ira

Hi IMK,

Eloise has it right.

After you book the first "famiglia" arrangement, you can choose your second, third, etc groups to be close to the first one.

You should, at least, all be in the same car.

i_am_kane

MaureenB,

The cost for 10 people in first-class from Venice to Florence quoted by both Rail Europe and Budget Europe is $425. If I did the practice reservation correctly on Trenitalia the cost would be $275. A savings of $150. We will have more train travel, so it eventually adds up to a $600 savings.

Eloise, Yes, I agree, the "intera" price for the 12-year old. The sticky part is as we both have said is reserving seats without any guarantee we will all be together, nor really any guarantee we will all be in the same rail car (but unlikely that would happen).

i_am_kane

Big question: Ira and Eloise

WHAT IF I PURCHASE AND SCREW UP? Is there any recourse?

Eloise

I_am_kane,

Yes, we both realize that there is no guarantee - which is true enough in many situations - but I honestly think that if you book on the first or second day that you can (60 days prior to date of travel), you will at least all be in the same car.

I know if I had to purchase the train tickets - fares mount up rapidly when you're talking about 10 people - I would not sniff at a savings of $600...

Eloise

P.S. Good luck and buon viaggio!

NorthShore06

I tried booking our tickets from Paris to Florence on the Trenitalia Web Site and just couldn't seem to make it work. I found a link to DiscoverItaly.net on the Trenitalia site and was able to order our tickets through them. Hope this helps!

ira

Hi IMK,

>WHAT IF I PURCHASE AND SCREW UP? Is there any recourse?<

What ever happened to good old Yankee ingenuity?

Ask the other people on the train if they would be kind enough to change places. Many of them will.

OTOH, if you book some people for Thursday and other people for Friday, this could cause a problem.

See "Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain.

Eloise

Hello again,

I didn't see your desperate plea until after I had posted my message and its P.S.

I think - operative word: think - that you could make changes once you arrived in Italy. I did see one message about someone trying to exchange tickets on www.trenitalia.com, and I have to admit that I was baffled by what s/he quoted from the Web site - and I speak relatively fluent day-to-day Italian.

In general, one can count on Italians coming through with the goods if one appeals to their kindness. And Italians have kindness to spare in buckets for anything having to do with families.

i_am_kane

Northshore06, thanks for the tip about the web site.

Ira, "OTOH, if you book some people for Thursday and other people for Friday, this could cause a problem." I laughed out loud! I'm on this web site practially begging for help...so much for my Yankee ingenuity

Eloise, My 60-days prior for ticketing is on Wednesday, April 26th, and I will make a decision by then.

cruiseluv

Hi I am Kane,

Unfortunately, i don't have any wisdom to offer. I will also have a lot of train travel in Italy later in the year with family members( we will be a total of 6) I will be curious to find out if you were succesful. Please come back and let us know if you were able to use the website!

Grazie and buona fortuna!!

MaureenB

Kane, BudgetEuropeTravel does NOT mark up the tickets-- they sell them at face value. You would save as much as buying direct from trenitalia.com, except you'd spare yourself the headache of trying to figure it out, and only pay the small added expense of S&H (i.e. $15 in my case last year).

i_am_kane

MaureenB,

The difference in the quoted price by Budget Europe and Rail Europe is that they were unable to quote the "offerta famiglia" (family offer). I don't know why they can't do that because I never got an explanation.

I will call Budget Europe again tomorrow, and will find out why they can't quote two adults and one child for the cost of only two adults, as on the trenitalia web site.

I will let you know their answer.

cruiseluv, Absolutely yes, I will post my final decision.

MaureenB

Thanks, Kane. I'd be interested to know. It's my understanding that BETS can purchase any deal that's being offered, so they should be able to sell the famiglia fare.
I need to call them myself, but just for one adult and one student traveling within Italy point-to-point.
We'll be there the second and third weeks in May. Does anyone think we need to get tickets in advance to go EuroStar from Rome-Florence-Venice-Santa Margherita-Nice? Or will trains be open enough to get tickets the day of travel? I would like the flexibility of traveling at times that work for our itinerary as we create it, but also would like the peace of mind of having tickets in hand if it's necessary.

ira

Hi MaureenB
>Does anyone think we need to get tickets in advance to go EuroStar from Rome-Florence-Venice-Santa Margherita-Nice?<

Check the schedules at www.trenitalia.com. The ones that have many trains, eg, Rome/Florence won't likely need reservations in advance. The others might, since you are getting close to the high season.

>I would like the flexibility of traveling at times that work for our itinerary as we create it,...<

Will you be making hotel bookings in advance?

MaureenB

Hi, Ira. Yes, being a compulsive planner to a degree, I've booked all the hotels, especially since tourist season is beginning there. (My itinerary is on another thread: Bragging Rights: Planning my first trip to Italy). But I'm thinking we want the freedom to travel by train each day as museum lines dictate, so we get to see everything in our short amount of time per city. I called BudgetEuropeTravel and Bob thinks we'll be fine without reservations, plus it's cheaper to purchase tickets once we're in Italy. What do you think?

i_am_kane

I just spoke with Budget Europe, and it is my understanding that in the case of the "family offer" this product is not in their contract to sell. It is only sold directly through the trenitalia web site.

I cannot risk my making a booking mistake and not having our entire family together on one train car, so I have decided to purchase through Budget Europe (plus they are so very nice).