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Fantastic post - thanks MichaelT! One question - how do you find the Amica fares? I am too far out to book yet, but I have played around with closer dates and don't see the Amica fares. Do they only come up when you get to the purchase screen? Thanks!

Wait - I may have answered my own question regarding Amica fares. Are they only for long distance trains and NOT for R or IC trains? (I am travelling from Monterosso-Florence and then later from Florence-Venice).

Should be available for some IC trains. If your trip involves an r or d train then you won't get option of selecting Amica. If it requires changing trains such as Florence/Pisa and that portion is IC and the Pisa/Monterosso is R, then price/buy your tickets separately to get Amica on the Florence/Pisa train.

To find Amica fares, pull up a schedule at

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

and click "Buy" (shopping cart) for the train of you choice.

In the next window you "Choose a rate" from a scrolling menu. "Amica" is on the list.

If you can't get Amica, you probably want "Standard."

Greatpumkin: "But please by all means keep the argument going as it makes for some good reading."

That's what I'm here for GP. First of all Michael, thanks for the info.

My story: In 2005, after getting a few questions answered on Fodor's, I twice bought four tickets on the Trenitalia website (from Florence to Venice and also from Venice to Rome). I did not find it a difficult process. Just so IKemerson doesn't feel that I think I am superior, I also put the wrong gas in my rental car on the same trip.

My question (and I am not being a wiseguy), has the Trenitalia website become more difficult to use since I bought my tickets in 2005?

((H))

Kybourbon - duh! Why didn't I think of buy the IC and R sections separately? Great idea.

thank you ellenem - I am going back in.

BTW - I just saw on the Trenitalia site that they are NOT accepting any Amex charges right now.

I just attempted purchasing tickets at Trenitalia's website to no avail. I called my bank first to let them know of my purchase plans. It didn't work and the site made me sign up for "Verified by Visa" as I've seen before on this thread. I called my bank again and they said they'd try something different but the note was in the system and holds to purchase abroad were taken off. I tried again, still no tickets. I think my bank may offer a Virtual Credit Card and if so that will be the third try I suppose...

lindatork - It's not the distance for Amica fares, it's the type of train. You should be able to get them on AV, ES, ICPlus, and IC (not on R, IR, D), but they can sell out and have to be purchased at least 24 hours in advance.

>>> maitaitom on Mar 17, 09 at 01:57 PM
My question (and I am not being a wiseguy), has the Trenitalia website become more difficult to use since I bought my tickets in 2005?<<<

Beginner's luck.

"Beginner's luck."

From the looks of the many anti-Trenitalia posts, you just could be right.

((H))

Linda,
There is no reason to buy a ticket for an R train ahead of time--they are not reserved seats. You just get on ANY R train headed for your destination and find a seat, so having tickets ahead of time is of no benefit. It's like buying a ticket for the local bus.

Me? In almost two dozen trips to Italy, I've always traveled by train and never had a ticket in hand before I arrived in Italy. It is easy to do once there and causes no agony on this end.

Tom--I think credit card issues and different systems working with the Italian system is what causes most of the problems. I just don't bother with it, aside from using the site to check and print schedules.

Finally got it to work via PayPal Plug In, which gives a single use credit card #. This Plug-In works on either PC or Mac; I believe the PC version you have to download but the Mac version you use straight off your web browser.

I believe this is the correct link:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...c-plugin-intro

Just saved myself $15 on train tickets since I could get the Amica fare in advance!
Hope this helps others!!!

I've been trying for a week to buy tickets through Trenitalia, and while the site is very handy for finding a train and making an order, the contractor they use to process credit card transactions is having problems.

I started by reading The Man in Seat 61 site, a wealth of information. I want to buy through Trenitalia as they offer substantial discounts (which are often difficult to decipher on their web site), but suffice to say that they booked me, using the Smart fare and second class, from Naples to Lugano in May for 84 euro, far less than I have seen anywhere else. As I said, the Trenitalia site happily set me up for the purchase (registering with the site was easy), but my multiple attempts to pay have all failed.

I have a Visa and a Mastercard, each with the online protection feature enabled, and my cards have had no problems with other recent overseas charges. On my first attempts, the system seemed to think my cards did not have the protection feature enabled, and routed me to a site run by my bank to get the feature enabled; the bank site bounced the request (apparently because my cards were already enabled. After a few attempts (I always assume that I might have made a typo), I was refused further access. I called the bank and they suggested I reregister the cards, which I did. Meanwhile, the Trenitalia site gave me a time out for too many attempts. This morning, my time out had apparently been rescinded, so I tried again. This time the credit card processor properly asked for my password (apparently having concluded that my cards were registered) and appeared to process the transaction, but then reported the charge had been refused (which my bank insists is not so, and is not consistent with recent charges I have made for hotel reservations, etc.), so I have to conclude that the processor used by Trenitalia is not up to the job. I'm now going to try the virtual credit card mentioned above.

I agree with posters who say it is pretty easy to buy tickets at the station, but if you know in advance that you will be taking a relatively long trip, the discounts available for an advance purchase are not insubstantial, and you lose them by buying from other than Trenitalia, or by buying at the station at the last minute. Fortunately, we will be staying in Rome for a week before going to Naples, so I should be able to buy a Smart 2 discounted ticket at the station when we arrive in Rome.

ClevelandBrown,
Any luck with the virtual credit card?

I went to my bank, and the Visa and Mastercard web sites, and apparently the virtual credit card has not caught on, at least where I do my banking. I think paypal offers it, but I closed my paypal account a few years ago when they couldn't, or wouldn't, provide information on the costs of an international transaction, and I reached the conclusion that they were inept or incompetent. I had been looking at using them to make payments on apartments (we often stay in a town a week or two and like to use an apartment), which is a constant problem, but few apartment owners will use them, so I'm still forced to get a huge wad of local currency at ATMs on arrival, and pay cash.

I tried the link above for Pantheon travel, but it didn't work (perhaps server problems), but the Trenitalia site still has a list of agencies and I'll see if I can link through there. If nothing else, I'll buy at the station when we first arrive in Italy, and I think that will still be less than buying from one of the US agencies.

Since our train will originate in Italy and end in Switzerland, I tried the Swiss rail site and that worked flawlessly, but their delivery options were to pick up the ticket at any station in Switzerland (!) or pay to have it mailed to me, and my frugality gene kicked in at that point.

Trenitalia site rejected all 3 of my CCs, just before the USD did its nose-dive again. Looks like it will cost me a lot more by the time I can go and buy the tickets in person.

clevelandbrown,

Have you considered opening an account with www.xe.com/fx? I use mine to send gift money to relatives in the UK and to pay deposits at B&Bs that don't take credit cards. Money is taken from my checking account by electronic transfer, and a bank draft in the currency of my choice is sent by US mail directly to the recipient of my choice. The exchange rate is only slightly higher than the international rate on the day the transaction is initiated. There are no other fees. For security reasons it takes a little time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.

To avoid having to get large amounts of cash from ATMs to pay the rent after you get to Italy, you could have a draft for the balance made payable to the owner but mailed to you at home. Take it with you and hand it over.

I'm glad to finally hear from someone that xe.com works, as it seems a good solution. I opened an account, which as you know involves some work, but since I have had it I have had a run of rental agents that insist on cash, rather than a check delivered well in advance. Myself, I would always take the earliest payment if I were renting out.

Well I just tried and it didn't take my credit card, the same account and credit card I used back in 2007.

They want me to fax in documents like tax numbers and so forth.

Ridiculous.

Well this post has been going on for a year now and there are just as many confused travellers wanting to use Trentitalia....including me. Used all my Credit Cards....all my helpful Bank Managers and all my intellect...but everything failed . So now I have decided not to go to Vienna from Venice but fly off to Prague instead. hope Wizz Air does not fail me!!!. But one last hurrah for Trentitalia...in the space of just 24 hours, I got 2 phone calls from their Helpline, 2 wonderfully polite agents, full of humour and speaking perfect English, giving me different options to buy tickets...the easiest is to pay full fare and buy a ticket at an Italian station. Thank you..thank you...thank you..

I wouldn't pay full fare at a station. A full fare ticket (flexi) is more expensive (20% higher priced than a standard ticket) as it lets you make changes similar to full fare airline tickets. I would attempt to buy upon arrival and get Amica fares. If not available, you should select standard fare.

Has anyone tried calling overseas to see if they would take your credit card over the phone?

I looked at the Posto Click thing. They give you 24 hours to confirm the reservation though.

Yeah they would have to let you buy Amica fares over the phone or else might as well chance waiting until you get to Italy.

Can you buy at Tourist offices or do you have to go to the Termini?

You can buy at travel agencies with the Trenitalia logo in the window. You can buy train tickets for anywhere in Italy at ANY train station from clerks at tickets windows or from automatic machines that have English options.

Are there any near Navona/Pantheon area?

anyone try purchasing rail tickets thru Travelocity?

Travelocity just rolls over to Raileurope which marks the price up and adds a mailing fee. Buy them in Italy.

Michael T, thank you so much for your thoughtful post. My fiance and I are traveling to Italy on Oct 4, 2009. We're first staying in Ravello, then to Rome from there. I needed to buy train tickets from Salerno to Rome ahead of time because not only does the hotel in Ravello need to know when to schedule a time to drive us to the train station in Salerno, but the B&B in Rome needed to know what time we would be arriving. I didn't want to wing it and hope we'd get the train times we wanted AFTER we got there.

Anyway, I tried to order the tickets on the TrenItalia.it site and it kept denying my credit card. I tried over and over thinking I mistyped something, then got locked out. I called my bank to be sure I was entering my name exactly as the bank had it, etc. and they said everything looked fine. I made a new account on the TrenItalia site and tried again but no luck. I then decided to call them by phone and order that way. When the lady on the phone tried to put my card through, it wouldn't work even for her. She then explained that their system would not recognize a number of American credit cards for one reason or another. She said my only options were to buy the tickets at the station once I got to Italy, or try to find an American travel agency that could book them for me. Mind you I was about to blow a gasket at this point out of sheer frustration. While I was searching the internet for an agency to do this, I came across your post. It somehow made me feel better that I was not alone in my angst, lol!

As I read through all the replies to your post, I stopped on
acswift's answer and thought it sounded like a great idea to go through PayPal and get a single use MasterCard number through them as I already have a PayPal account linked to my bank account. So I went to PayPal and downloaded the plugin I needed (used the link he provided), set everything all up, and got my single use MasterCard number. I went to the TrenItalia site and started all over again and everything went through like a charm!! I was so very happy!!!

Not only did I want to share this with everyone, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to write your article, and I wanted to thank acswift for posting his excellent idea!

stargazer - Glad Paypal worked for you. Many people worry too much about tickets in Italy, but it's good to know Paypal will work. I think you will find when you get on the train (if it's AV or ES) to Rome that it's half empty. That's been my experience, even in high season, except for commuter trains. Were you able to get the Super 60% discount?

I'm not sure what the total discount was but it was a lot cheaper than booking on RailEurope or Eurostar. We got two 2nd class tickets on the Eurostar train (no train changes) from Salerno to Rome for 33,30 EU each (total 66,60). The hotel's transfer service wanted to charge 480 EU for the trip to Rome so that looked like a great deal to us as it was.

By the way, do you know if the train station is safe to wait around in at Salerno, I read some things that said the surrounding area is considered the worst area in all of Italy. That made us a little nervous.

The area around the station in Salerno is just fine for being dropped off by a cab.

The price you paid is 33,30 EU is EXACTLY the fare you would have paid if you had booked at the station, today.

I know I am in the minority and that folks really like to book ahead, but for those who don't want to fuss with PayPal or any other time-consuming system, it still works if you get to the station and just go to the self-service kiosk.

Doesn't the Amica fares expire if you wait too long?

In my case, I saw low fares for Rome to Naples and back but I waited to buy until just the day before travel and it was somewhat more, somewhere between 5-7 Euro more.

So I went ahead and bought the return at the same time.

Amica is an "as-available" fare, like getting frequent flyer tickets. There are a limited number of Amica seats availble on a particular train and they are ionly sold until midnight of the day before departure.

>>>The price you paid is 33,30 EU is EXACTLY the fare you would have paid if you had booked at the station, today. <<<

I believe the online fares are at a 5% discount so you will pay just a bit more at the station over buying online. The other discount fares range from 60% off (30 day advance purchase), 30% (15 days), 15% (7 days) or Amica 20% off (24 hour advance purchase).
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

I, too, received a message saying my credit card was denied. Luckily, because I read these post, I knew there was a chance that the credit card purchase actually went through. I waited until the next morning to check my credit card purchases on line, and sure enough the 2 train purchases had gone through, even though the web site had said my credit card was denied.

But do you have the print out with the code for your tickets so you can board the train?

Tried to buy ticket with MC via Firefox and using my full name when asked for Credit Card Holder.
Name: Joe
Surname: Bloggs
..... credit card denied!

Then tried Internet Explorer. And it worked. Apparently you need to enter the name exactly the same as on your credit card, skipping the titles (Mr, Ms etc)
Name: J
Surname: Bloggs
..... then the usual stuff through Visa Verisign security check pop-up (for those who registed with it) and the confirmation page where you can save or print off the tickets in .pdf format.

Good luck!

One thing to note about tickets purchased through the trenitalia web site (but this was in 2007!): It is more difficult to change the train if you purchased through the web. I tried to change to a different train on a Florence to Rome ticket because my train was delayed and there were many available before it. The ticket office could not help me as it was a web ticket. They told me to phone as I didn't have any internet access. However, the toll free number they gave me was unreachable from a cell phone (with an Italian phone number) and from the payphones. I had no trouble changing the tickets I had purchased in person in Italy when a similar situation occurred going Venice to Florence by train.

Well, I've registered, reset my password, logged out & back in, found my itinerary, selected it to purchase, and even if I enter a date 4 days prior to my planned travel date (i.e., < 7 days), I get the flag that it is not available for purchase. My itinerary is from Rome, Italy to Hyeres, France...so are international tickets the problem? The itinerary is there, with times & connections, but I still cannot purchase it. So, I haven't even encountered the failed credit card yet :) Thanks for all the great info, even though I am not quite there yet.

Michael T did a great job laying it all out for train travelers. I check schedules on the Trenitalia website but I've never tried to purchase tickets online. I rarely know what train I want to take until a day or two before I have to take a train.

I got over my need-to-do-everything-in-advance obsession ages ago. For me, obsessive behavior is much more stressful than dealing with the on-site kiosks. There is a video online somewhere that shows how to deal with the English version of the Italian ticket machines. Unfortunately, the English ticket-purchase software is not as easy or intuitive as an American ATM machine but the learning curve is minor. I've never had to wait for a machine.

It is a shame that the Trenitalia website is so challenging. From a software perspective, it may be difficult to write e-commerce code to accommodate large numbers of international transactions. I can't think of another online product that has the international demand that Trenitalia must have. Even so, there has to be a better way to provide service. Italians are notoriously slow to change. And their attitudes toward customer service often need a kick in the butt.