Pre-purchase Train Tickets
Feb 7th, 2011, 07:36 AM
#1
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Pre-purchase Train Tickets
Does anyone know if I were to pre-purchase tickets a month prior to my trip for travel on the train (Switzerland and Italy), am I able to change them if my travel plans change?
I understand there would probably be a fee, but is it an expensive fee that I should not consider pre-purchasing tickets if my travel dates/times are not set in stone?
I understand there would probably be a fee, but is it an expensive fee that I should not consider pre-purchasing tickets if my travel dates/times are not set in stone?
Feb 7th, 2011, 07:57 AM
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We will be at Milano Centrale and Rome Termini. Probably 2 of the busiest stations. That and the fact that I will be travelling with a 13 and 11 year old and 2 large suitcases (and my husband too), so if I can pre-purchase to save time, I hope to do so.
Feb 7th, 2011, 08:40 AM
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Actually there are very good reasons to buy them online from trenitalia.com if your transaction goes through. Lower price & convenience are two big ones. Present promo price is called MINI. See thread http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-in-italy.cfm
Feb 7th, 2011, 08:43 AM
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Every time I've bought tickets online, they showed you the terms and conditions of the ticket you are buying, so you can see for yourself. Different kinds of tickets have different terms for exchange or refund. I would imagine that legally they have to do that, but I've only bought tickets online for France and Switzerland and Spain.
Feb 7th, 2011, 09:21 AM
#11
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To buy train tickets in italy, you can also go to many travel agencies who will sell you the tickets in the quiet and ease of their office rather than the hubbub of a busy train station. If you know the trains you want to take, ask your first hotel for a local travel agency that sells tickets, go there, and book the tickets you need for you entire stay. You can still get some of the discounts mentioned.
Feb 10th, 2011, 07:25 PM
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1. Domestic tickets in Switzerland: No seat reservation possible or necessary, open flexible tickets, you may as well buy when you get there.
2. Domestic journeys in Italy: Seat reservation compulsory on all long distance trains. Book at www.trenitalia.com. Choose from 30% discount with no refunds, no changes to travel plans, or the flexible 'base' tarif which allows changes, that's your call! If you choose the latter, you may as well buy in Italy.
3. International trains between Switzerland and Italy: Cheap tickets can be bought in advance, at trenitalia.com northbound, at www.sbb.ch southbound. No refunds, no changes to travel plans. More expensive flexible tickets can be changed, but again if you're going to pay full whack for a flexible ticket you may as well wait till you get there and your plans are firm.
2. Domestic journeys in Italy: Seat reservation compulsory on all long distance trains. Book at www.trenitalia.com. Choose from 30% discount with no refunds, no changes to travel plans, or the flexible 'base' tarif which allows changes, that's your call! If you choose the latter, you may as well buy in Italy.
3. International trains between Switzerland and Italy: Cheap tickets can be bought in advance, at trenitalia.com northbound, at www.sbb.ch southbound. No refunds, no changes to travel plans. More expensive flexible tickets can be changed, but again if you're going to pay full whack for a flexible ticket you may as well wait till you get there and your plans are firm.
Feb 16th, 2011, 09:20 AM
#14
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www.italiarail.com sells Italian tickets allegedly at about trenitalia.com prices - if in North America you can eschew the intricacies of trenitalia.com and get about the same prices with saving all those hours of agony that many Fodorites report with using trenitalia.com.
For loads of great info on Italian and Swiss trains check out these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com (commercial site on man-in-seat-61 who posted above); www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - and if traveling much at all in Switzerland check out the Swiss Railpass, a real bargain IMO that covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses, free entry to 400+ museums and 50% off pricey cable cars to mountain tops. Your kids and any kid under 16 gets a free Swiss Family Pass with your Swiss Pass and kids never pay a dime for any travel - even on discounted trips to mountain tops!
In Italy ask at stations for famuily discounts that are often available on a walk up basis.
For loads of great info on Italian and Swiss trains check out these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com (commercial site on man-in-seat-61 who posted above); www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - and if traveling much at all in Switzerland check out the Swiss Railpass, a real bargain IMO that covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses, free entry to 400+ museums and 50% off pricey cable cars to mountain tops. Your kids and any kid under 16 gets a free Swiss Family Pass with your Swiss Pass and kids never pay a dime for any travel - even on discounted trips to mountain tops!
In Italy ask at stations for famuily discounts that are often available on a walk up basis.
Feb 16th, 2011, 12:46 PM
#15
>>>2. Domestic journeys in Italy: Seat reservation compulsory on all long distance trains.Book at www.trenitalia.com.Choose from 30% discount with no refunds, no changes to travel plans, or the flexible 'base' tarif which allows changes, that's your call!<<<
Not according to Trenitalia fare rules. You can change most tickets, not just the Flessible fares. You can also get refunds, but usually not full refund.
MINI OFFER
Trains included in the offer
AV, ES*, ES*city, IC, ICN, Express Trains, couchettes and sleeping carriage services. Excelsior and Excelsior E4 are not included.
Prices
With different discount rates on the base fare, for both 1 st and 2 nd class. You will be offered the best price available upon purchasing.
In any case, the minimum fares for the selected train apply.
Ticket
It can be purchased up to midnight of the day before departure of the selected train. The number of seats available for each price level is limited and can vary . The discount cannot be cumulated with other reductions, including children reduction. If your journey also involves travelling on trains that are not included in the offer, separate tickets must be purchased. The ticket cannot be issued if the seat is not guaranteed and it is not possible to book a seat in the lounge area under this offer.
Booking/ticket change
Booking/ticket change is possible only once from the day the ticket/booking is issued and up to midnight of the day before departure, solely at ticket desks at train stations or at the travel agency where the ticket was issued. You are only allowed to change the departure date or time for the same category of train or service, subject to a change fee (equal to the difference to the corresponding full base price) and only for a journey to take place after the one booked. The new ticket will have the same characteristics as the Mini ticket. Tickets bought on this site cannot be changed online. For ticketless tickets, go directly to the station ticket desk or the issuing agency; as for tickets that need to be picked up at the self-service machine, you need to pick up the printed ticket and then go to the ticket desk.
Access to other trains
You are not allowed to travel on trains other than the one you booked, otherwise y ou will be deemed to be travelling without a valid ticket.
Refund
Refunds are allowed:
- Up to midnight of the day before departure, with 50% deduction, solely at station ticket desks or at the travel agency where the ticket was purchased.
You are not entitled to a refund after such time.
Refunds are not granted if the journey is simply interrupted.
Refunds are not granted for tickets of less than or equal to 10,00 €. For ticketless tickets and tickets purchased via the self-service procedure but not yet picked up (this applies to tickets that cannot be purchased via the ticketless solution), you can request a refund by using the online refund service on this website (only for tickets purchased on this site and for refunds of the full purchase), by calling Trenitalia's Call Center (non-toll free numbers) or by sending an e-mail to [email protected] . After pickup (a function available only for tickets that cannot be purchased via the ticketless procedure), you need to submit your request to any ticket desk at the train station. Refunds are given by re-credit on the credit card used for the purchase.
For ticketless tickets bought at a travel agency, refunds can be requested at the issuing agency or at ticket desks; or, if the agency is closed, as an alternative to the ticket desk, you can phone Trenitalia's Call Center (non-toll free numbers), which will give you the address to which you must send the refund request within the following 24 hours.
Not according to Trenitalia fare rules. You can change most tickets, not just the Flessible fares. You can also get refunds, but usually not full refund.
MINI OFFER
Trains included in the offer
AV, ES*, ES*city, IC, ICN, Express Trains, couchettes and sleeping carriage services. Excelsior and Excelsior E4 are not included.
Prices
With different discount rates on the base fare, for both 1 st and 2 nd class. You will be offered the best price available upon purchasing.
In any case, the minimum fares for the selected train apply.
Ticket
It can be purchased up to midnight of the day before departure of the selected train. The number of seats available for each price level is limited and can vary . The discount cannot be cumulated with other reductions, including children reduction. If your journey also involves travelling on trains that are not included in the offer, separate tickets must be purchased. The ticket cannot be issued if the seat is not guaranteed and it is not possible to book a seat in the lounge area under this offer.
Booking/ticket change
Booking/ticket change is possible only once from the day the ticket/booking is issued and up to midnight of the day before departure, solely at ticket desks at train stations or at the travel agency where the ticket was issued. You are only allowed to change the departure date or time for the same category of train or service, subject to a change fee (equal to the difference to the corresponding full base price) and only for a journey to take place after the one booked. The new ticket will have the same characteristics as the Mini ticket. Tickets bought on this site cannot be changed online. For ticketless tickets, go directly to the station ticket desk or the issuing agency; as for tickets that need to be picked up at the self-service machine, you need to pick up the printed ticket and then go to the ticket desk.
Access to other trains
You are not allowed to travel on trains other than the one you booked, otherwise y ou will be deemed to be travelling without a valid ticket.
Refund
Refunds are allowed:
- Up to midnight of the day before departure, with 50% deduction, solely at station ticket desks or at the travel agency where the ticket was purchased.
You are not entitled to a refund after such time.
Refunds are not granted if the journey is simply interrupted.
Refunds are not granted for tickets of less than or equal to 10,00 €. For ticketless tickets and tickets purchased via the self-service procedure but not yet picked up (this applies to tickets that cannot be purchased via the ticketless solution), you can request a refund by using the online refund service on this website (only for tickets purchased on this site and for refunds of the full purchase), by calling Trenitalia's Call Center (non-toll free numbers) or by sending an e-mail to [email protected] . After pickup (a function available only for tickets that cannot be purchased via the ticketless procedure), you need to submit your request to any ticket desk at the train station. Refunds are given by re-credit on the credit card used for the purchase.
For ticketless tickets bought at a travel agency, refunds can be requested at the issuing agency or at ticket desks; or, if the agency is closed, as an alternative to the ticket desk, you can phone Trenitalia's Call Center (non-toll free numbers), which will give you the address to which you must send the refund request within the following 24 hours.
Feb 17th, 2011, 08:33 AM
#16
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Good that discounted tickets are changeable but a question for kybourbon, whose wealth of info on Italian trains even exceeds that of Man in Seat 61 it seems!
anyway to change the discountedm, presumably limited in number on each train does it count on whether seats in those categories of fares remain or are these tickets as changeable as fully flexible full fare tickets - are the discounted tickets as fully changeable as full fare tickets?
thanks
anyway to change the discountedm, presumably limited in number on each train does it count on whether seats in those categories of fares remain or are these tickets as changeable as fully flexible full fare tickets - are the discounted tickets as fully changeable as full fare tickets?
thanks
Feb 17th, 2011, 10:27 AM
#17
Base tickets and flessible tickets are available on all but R trains unless the train is sold out. Mini-fares until sold out. You pay a 25% premium over the base ticket (base fare) price to get the fully flexible ticket (flessible fare). You can change the flessible ticket as many times as you want. You can't change flessible or base for lesser priced tickets. You can also change the Base ticket, but only once (similar to changing mini-fare ticket). Since prices don't fluctuate for flessible and base tickets, it wouldn't matter if you were changing for the same type of train on the same route as there is no price difference.
As for mini-fares, it would depend on whether the fare is still available and you do have a change fee. I just selected a train for this weekend and there were still lots of mini-fares, but in high season that might not be the case. The mini-fare varies (like the Smart 1 and Smart 2 vary). You may find a mini- fare of 9€ for a train that has a regular base fare of 20€. Once the 9€ fare sells out, there may be another level of mini-fare available for 12€ until sold out. Just like the Smart fares from Milan to Switzerland (Zurich/Basel/Geneva)are 19€(Smart 1)until gone and then 29€ (Smart 2) with regular price at 64€. Prices would revert to the base/regular level when discounts are sold out. Typically, there are less discounts available early-mid morning.
Fare rules for all the Trenitalia fares:
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/h..._en.html#1_1_1
If you scroll down past the mini-fare info, you get the fare rules for the international trains also.
As for mini-fares, it would depend on whether the fare is still available and you do have a change fee. I just selected a train for this weekend and there were still lots of mini-fares, but in high season that might not be the case. The mini-fare varies (like the Smart 1 and Smart 2 vary). You may find a mini- fare of 9€ for a train that has a regular base fare of 20€. Once the 9€ fare sells out, there may be another level of mini-fare available for 12€ until sold out. Just like the Smart fares from Milan to Switzerland (Zurich/Basel/Geneva)are 19€(Smart 1)until gone and then 29€ (Smart 2) with regular price at 64€. Prices would revert to the base/regular level when discounts are sold out. Typically, there are less discounts available early-mid morning.
Fare rules for all the Trenitalia fares:
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/h..._en.html#1_1_1
If you scroll down past the mini-fare info, you get the fare rules for the international trains also.
