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Point to point tickets in Italy--is there a major cost savings to purchase in advance?

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Point to point tickets in Italy--is there a major cost savings to purchase in advance?

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Old Aug 16th, 2007, 05:52 PM
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Point to point tickets in Italy--is there a major cost savings to purchase in advance?

We're traveling by train from Ovieto to Rome. The cost of purchasing 2 rail tickets is about $50 for 1st class w/seat. I'm wondering if we don't purchase ahead of time---is it that much more just to purchase the ticket directly at the rail station?
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Old Aug 16th, 2007, 06:23 PM
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Where are you getting that price? When looking on www.trenitalia.com, the price for two first-class tickets is 24.50 Euro, or around $32. I know there are some discounts for ordering ahead of time, but I'm not sure this route would be one of them, so it wouldn't be any more to buy them at the station.
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Old Aug 16th, 2007, 06:38 PM
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Orvieto to Rome is an hour train ride.

If you are even asking about price then you shouldn't even be looking at 1st class. Second class on the trains is just fine. I would vote for 2nd class on the faster IC trains, or if $ is the prime concern then take the slightly slower regional (R) trains.
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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 06:07 AM
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HI I,

Standard rate is 19.5E.
Amica tickets are 13.2E.

You can buy the Amica ticket up to 23:59 of the day before.


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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 08:56 AM
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Whether we go first or second class is really not the issue here. What I really want to know is, if it's 25EU, 50EU or whatever to buy tickets today through the Trenitalia website, does anyone know the cost of walking up the day you're traveling and purchasing a ticket? I just want to know if there's some major cost savings to buy in advance?

I know when we traveled from London to Paris on the Chunnel train we paid about 29 British Pounds because we bought ahead of time. If we had waited until the day we traveled it was hundreds of dollars.

I'm assume this is a simple point to point ticket so it wouldn't be outragious to buy the day we travel but I just want to make sure. My reasoning is, if we get to Orvieto and it's a nice day, I may want to spend some time there instead of being locked into traveling to Rome at a specific time. Hope that makes sense!
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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 08:58 AM
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If you buy through Trenitilia, it is my experience that prices are the same as at the station.

They are now offering Flexi tickets on many routes as well.
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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 09:04 AM
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The 20% Amica fare saving on 19.50 Euro is less than 4 Euro. We're not talking about hundreds of dollars here!
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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 09:04 AM
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When I inquired last January about purchasing 2nd class rt tickets to Orvieto, departing from Rome, I was told that it was wise to get them at least a day ahead. I bought them at a travel agency near my hotel the evening before we traveled; there is a small supplement to do this. Perhaps it would be better a day ahead to insure a seat if you are traveling at a peak date or hour.
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Old Aug 17th, 2007, 09:18 AM
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Thanks everyone. I just didn't want any surprises. I guess the next question would be, what are the peak times? We'll be traveling on October 2nd and I expect that we'll choose a train sometime between 12pm to 4pm. Are these peak times?
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