Is there a big difference between standard and premium seating?

Yes Firenze SMN in schedules if not Santa Maria Novella and Venezia Santa Lucia - Venice Mestre is las stop on mainland before trains trundle over causeway to terminal station Santa Lucia.

Is there a difference in seating of classes - depends who you ask. Check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com for more on general differences.

Sometimes first class is not much more than 2nd class - in discounted tickets so many might say how much extra would premium be over standard and also the length of the train ride.

Frecciarossa trains have "Premium" and "Standard" (as well as Business and Executive). They don't have 1st and 2nd class. Premium and Standard are the equivalents of 2nd class on the other Freccia trains.

It doesn't depend on who you ask. Premium and Standard seats have identical configurations, legroom, width and seat pitch.The only difference is a slightly fancier upholstery (fake leather instead of cloth). They also offer a beverage, but in my experience, they never get around to it on a short trip, and even on a long trip they may try to sneak past you without attracting your attention. I would choose Premium only if there is no price difference at all, on the off chance that it might be less crowded. However, I almost never encounter a crowded car on a Frecciarossa train.

Thank you. It looks like it’s open for booking in September now and there are tons of seats available so I think I will book them 39 euro seems like a good fare for 2 people. Now I just need to figure out if we should sit side by side or next to each other! Tough to tell which direction the train is going. I don’t know why but feel like it would be better to be forward facing. I guess if we sit across from each other we can switch. Thank you for all your help.

It's impossible to know which direction the train is traveling, because they change direction at some stations, such as Rome, Florence, and Venice, where they pull in and back out. (The new station they're building in Florence, though, will be a drive-through station).

I find that it makes no difference at all which way I face. It's not like a bus. However, you're right, sitting across from each other will allow you to do heads-or-tails to see which way you face.

And €39 is an excellent price.

bv - thanks for mentioning the new high-speed train station being built outside of Florence (and connected with trams to existing SMN one - major inconvenience it seems but the trend in Europe as many locals drive to stations I suspect).

Striking architecture:

https://www.fosterandpartners.com/pr...ilway-station/

The majority of Florence-Bologna high-speed line it says is in tunnels so which way facing on that section could be indifferent?

39 euros for 2? Wow. Wonder what ItaliaRail would charge - what site did you use - trenitalia.com or italotreno.it or ItaliaRail.com?

That €39 fare would be for one, not two.

I think the real reason for the new station is to shave some time off the trips. Pulling into the old station and then backing out is a time waster.

I used this one Trenitalia - Homepage English - Trenitalia. Of course I just tried to go on and it is down for maintenance. I'm pretty sure I was reading it correctly and it was 39 euro for two people. Maybe because I am not going until September 22? I hope I can get that fare tomorrow! My trip is getting closer and I'm getting excited.

You can also use https://www.italotreno.it/en

Italo is a private company running their own trains on the same tracks. Using the same stations. They only run highspeed trains to highspeed train stations. Italo is often a little cheaper. They also run sales fairly often.

The reason I think it's for one person is that it's an odd number, and they don't show fractional euros. Also, all their single fares usually end in 9. They do run 2-for-1 sales, but they're usually not that cheap. However, maybe you were lucky!

Do they take bookings that far in advance- Sept?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...367b00ec67.png

This is what the site says. I'm assuming it is for 2 people. Am I wrong? The weird thing is there is a 2 for 1 for 50 euro which is why I am questioning it.

That certainly looks like it's for 2 people. Great price!

I used to prefer Italo, but I noticed recently that their trains have limited space for 22" bags - a lot of the upper shelf space won't hold more than an 18 or 19" bag, which doesn't work for most travelers. And I don't like leaving my bag at the end of the car, so will probably go with Trenitalia from now on.

Do they email the tickets?

www.seat61.com may have all those answers or bvlenci will if she/he returns.

€20 from Florence is an okay price but it's not exceptionally low. I've paid €20 from Rome. It's cheaper from Florence.

That certainly seems to be for two people, so it's a fantastic price.

Lately I've noticed that they have tickets on sale sooner than the 120-day limit. Also, even though they still group the prices into the categories Base, Economy, and Super Economy, in reality they have different prices within those categories. They may be moving to the airline pricing model, and the prices may be be going up and down in an unpredictable manner.

I also have reservations in September at the same price Sberg found. I suspect Italo may be having an influence on Trenitalia.

Sberg--When you complete your purchase, you'll get an email from Trenitalia showing your PNR. There should also be a pdf of your tickets attached that will have the PNR and a barcode. Print the tickets at home or have it on your phone.

Thank you everyone. I know I asked a lot of questions but this is my first experience with train travel. I am going to book today with full confidence thanks to all your responses. One last question. How long should I leave to get from Florence airport to the train station in Florence? I read that you don't have to be there too early but not sure of the taxi or bus distance.

Honestly there is no rush to book for September. There will be seats. There will be a sale between now and then. Right now for July Italo still has seats at €15.90 per person. Without a sale. Italo routinely has 50% off sales.

OTOH if you're happy with the timing and the price no reason not to book. For a single trip the money you save on the sale is less than a cheap lunch.