mrroblesfl

I'm unable to select seats on a trip from Geneva to Turin. The first portion is on an Eurocity 39 train from Geneva to Milano central. It states seats automatically assigned. My husband and I will like to seat as close as possible. Will we have the opportunity to select seats at all? Do we need to wait a little longer to purchase the tiks. Our trip is for October. Thank

bilboburgler

which company are you using for the booking?

mrroblesfl

italiarail is the only with itinerary with one train change. Also tried raileurope same thing unable to get assigned seats on the Eurocity but It allow me to select seat for the Milano Centrale - Torino Porta Nuova (Frecciarossa 1000) portion

J62

There are tickets for this itinerary available for tomorrow and every day after that from the Swiss RR site, sbb.ch. I did not go through the booking process to try to select seats.

J62

There are tickets for this itinerary available for tomorrow and every day after that from the Italian RR site, trenitalia.com. I did not go through the booking process to try to select seats.

mrroblesfl

But for October 15 it has more than 2 train changes. We are looking a train fare maximum of 2 trains for the route, Geneva - Milano Central - Turin Puerto Nova

uktravelover

Try the Trainline. https://www.thetrainline.com/book/re...ection=outward

There seems to be 2 train options with 1 change. On the 06.59, you can book seats if you choose the quiet carriage.

bilboburgler

italiarail isn't really anything useful and raileurope is something else, I'd start with trenitalia or the swiss train company sbb

margo_oz

Stick with the companies that actually run the trains, either the Swiss operator, SBB, or Trenitalia.

There is nothing to be gained from using these other agents, whose aim is profit.

Changes are not a big deal on European trains.

uktravelover

I find the Trainline can be useful to see all the options and prices. Usually the booking fee is very small €1-2. Obviously you can always use the train operator site if you prefer.

J62

It might just be a too far out scheduling hiccup - dunno.... I would just wait and see if the 1-stop train you want pops onto sbb or trenitalia schedules. Since last minute tickets are available I would not have any concern that the train would fill up or you wouldn't get seats together. If you have a strong preference to book ahead, you can book something to your liking in September or early October...

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! we would like train ride after midday

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! Trenitalia not showing fares with only one change ,,, I will wait and check in a week or two again

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! I didn't check with the Swiss operator. Not sure if it will have the Italian portion on their site but will check. We would not like to buy one portion from one operator and the other with another.

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! I will check again in a week or two and see if the schedule we want shows up on either SBB or TrenItalia. Like I said, not sure the SBB will show the Italian portion from MilanCentral to Turin

J62

What is the concern?
Buying a ticket for a train that originates in Switzerland from sbb, and one that originates in Italy from trenialia would be fine. They are separate trains, so having one ticket or 2 really doesn't matter.

Surfergirl

I just went through this process on italiarail, which, frankly, for the 5 euro fee, was the best option for routes going through Italy. The English platform makes it easy. And even though it says seats "automatically assigned", that only applied for the night train we will be taking from Milan to Palermo. (I wanted Car 8 as my first choice, and it gave us a cabin in Car 7, which was fine). Our day trip, which populated last week on the platform, from Taormina to Naples, despite the automatic assignment claim, allowed us to select our seats, although it automatically assigned us a car in which to select our seats. This came in handy because we are meeting up with friends at the Taormina-Gardini train station, and traveling together to Naples. Once I got our tickets, I messaged my friend with the seat numbers and told her which to pick so we could sit together in the 4 person facing each other seats.

Glad we did this the first day the platform allowed us to book, since we got the best price deal and availability! And yes, I checked other websites, like Trenitalia, and found they all populate at the same time.

To book first day, in the last 4 weeks before booking opened, I was on Italiarail several times a day checking. It kept saying "Coming soon!". FINALLY, it showed up with the train I wanted to take!

Since many years ago, when we were first able to book trains online, I have had accounts with most of the European train lines, mostly using the German Deutsche Bahn platform, but also with SBB. Found Italiarail the easiest to use, and trenitalia the most difficult.

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! Will look into what is available.

mrroblesfl

Thanks !!! Will look into what is available.

mrroblesfl

ItaliaRail does not have the schedule yet for Oct 15. Found other options on
in railEurope but no what we want. The one in Thetrainline is what we like but not able to choose seats on the first leg of the trip from Geneva to Milan which is the longer ride. Do you use ItaliaRail? If so, how far in advance did your routes were available on their website?