sacc

Verified by Visa is a process put in place by Visa, the international credit card provider. You set it with Visa, including a password, and then when you want to use your Visa card for online purchases, it smooths the process.

I've mainly used for making reservations in Italy over the Internet with different vendors -- museum reservations, Trenitalia, that kind of thing.

scrb

Are you referring to temporary numbers?

Where do you set the password, what is the site URL?

It sounds like you can use one credit card number once for a transaction and then it requires another part number.

I do have a Visa through MBNA and their site has a ShopSafe feature which generates temporary numbers.

sacc

Here's a link to Visa's U.S. site explaining Verified by Visa.
https://usa.visa.com/personal/securi...arch%26meta%3D

I don't believe that it gives you a temporary number.

Basically, Visa has added another level of security, where you set up a password. Then, presumably, when you want to conduct a transaction on line, you give your Visa number, the security code on the back of the card AND the extra password.

hcnj

Pardon my ignorance.

To those folks who say they have successfully used the Trenitalia website from the US: Did you use it using a US based bank credit card? This does not mean you live in the US or are a US citizen, it means your bank card issuer is US based. I am also trying to understand why the Verified By Visa feature works if all US based bank credit cards are blocked (as told to me by the Trenitalia personnel at their call center)?

Re the fellow who claims there is no Italy FlexiPasss: There was last week. You purcase it based on the number of days travel you want and 1st class/2nd class, and yes, it does require an additional "supplement charge" on certain high speed trains. I would have bought them for "convenience" if they had been more economical as well. The problem for me is that when you factor in the res charge for all your legs it is too much of a premium unless you do extremely long hauls like Venice/Milan to Naples/Sicily. The trick is to cost justify the Pass using your 'fixed' base city travel and then use the pass for lots of "day trips". For example a first class 3 day minimim pass might be $240 (=$80/day average) so if you stay in 3 'base' cities that would cost you pt to pt $80 or more each/total average(Naples to Milan, Milan to Palermo, Palermo to Florence), then it MIGHT make sense to buy a Pass for 4/5 days since it only costs about another $28 per day 1st class and you could then justify day trips (or additional intercity travel)to other cities on the additional days since it is much easier to spend $28/day on travel than $80.

wellison

I am another traveller trying to use Trenitalia. I've read the thread, but my problems are.

1. I registered but I guess I have the wrong password. Using the "lost password" function I never get an e-mail back with my missing password.

2. I called RailEurpe and was willing to pay their handling fee of $33.00 and give up discounts, but they don't have all the trains Trenitalia has and my schedule was based on Trenitalia's schedule. The order taker at RailEurope was unable to explain why.

3. I even tried to create another account with Trenitalia using another e-mail address and was unable to do so.

So, how bad are the lines typically if I go to the Florence train station and buy my three seperate train tickets, 3 days before I need the first train? Trains are Florence to Vernazza, Vernazza to Pisa and Orvieto to Rome.

Thanks everybody,

Wayne

LoveItaly

I have never seen real long lines at the Florence train station wellison. But you should be able to buy your tickets from the ticket machines too. I think to get the instructions in English you punch the botton for the GB flag. Have a beautiful trip!

kybourbon

wellison - There is no need to buy advance tickets for Florence/Vernazza or Vernazza/Pisa since the majority of the trains on those routes are R trains. That means they don't sell out because there are no reserved seats. On many there is no class choice either. They will be similar to riding some type of commuter train or subway. You get on and try to find a spot to sit.

Orvieto to Rome will have R trains, but also a few IC trains. You can reserve a seat for the IC trains if that's important to you.

wellison

Hi All,

Trenitalia has become a challange, I will probably just buy tickets when in country. But my problem is that Trenitalia has never sent me my password(s). I request them over and over as "lost password" and never get a response. (many days have passed). I checked my junk & spam ISP folders, nothing. I also found no way to e-mail a question to Trentitalia. Anybody have any ideas?

Wayne

johngerard

I got tickets after registering following previous advice. I then booked my first apartment but booking tickets for the next leg caused the problems. Whether it was after being asked to set up verify by visa I don't know but all attempts to book any further tickets have failed.
Trenitalia returned my call to the UK from their call centre (0039 06 68475475) & advised it was not possible to book tickets from abroad as their bank does not recognise foreign accounts. He could not explain how I managed to get tickets for my first booking.
I set up a 2nd e mail account but was unable to get tickets using an alternative address & card.
Also my cards no longer work for booking any further apartments - they worked before verify by visa, but no longer. Visa themselves can not explain why it is not working & my bank tried to force a payment but failed - the Italian bank registers to take 1.00 first to test the system is working but then it is denied any further payments, the 1.00 is 'refunded' by not being taken.
I intend trying again but do not think I will be succesfull & will have to sort out tickets when I get there.
As regards the apartments I am awaiting if my telephone booking has worked otherwise I will have to do a bank transfer.

kybourbon

You may be using an e-mail service that prescreens for spam and has deleted the Trenitalia e-mails before ever reaching your spam account. Try using hotmail or gmail. There is still no point in buying those tickets in advance. It won't save you money or get you a seat.

scrb

I disagree. I was looking at tickets from Rome to Naples for weeks before I went to Italy. I tried to book and buy online but couldn't.

So when I arrived, I was advised to wait or go to a travel agent nearer where I was staying.

Instead I chose to wait until the day before my departure to get down to Termini and found that at the kiosks, the same choices I'd printed out were no longer available.

I didn't have to pay too much more but I didn't get the second class Amica fares on the fastest trains.

kybourbon

scrb - You are talking about different routes that have trains (AV/ES/ICplus) that can sell out. The route that wellison wants does not have any AV/ES/ICPlus trains and the trains on those routes can not sell out because you are not buying a seat, only the right to get on the train. You may not get a seat and have to stand the entire way. There is no advantage to buying tickets for Vernazza in advance.

johngerard

Succesfully booked the 2nd leg of my trip on Trenitalia. After 4 days of previously being unsuccesful, I left it a week & today on my first try, on my original logging reference, I got tickets.
It had been suggested by the UK bank that after the first tickets were bought the sytstem was treating further bookings as fraud so the 7 day break may have been enough to clear that up.

cruiseluv

Wished I had found this thread before wasting close to two hours doing all kinds of combinations and premutations in using the Trenitalia website! I kept thinking it had to work because I had used it 3 years ago succesfully. I called my CC banks and they said they were not blocking anything. I was skeptical , but in reading this thread I see they were right.

I was trying to book an ES-city train from Pisa to Roma which is currently offering the Amica fares. Hopefully by the time we get to Rome and I am able to buy it it will still be offered.

If you buy your tickets at a travel agency in Rome, such as American Express, do they charge a commision? If so, does anybody know how much that is? Trying to avoid going to Termini.

ellenem

No travel agency I've used to buy tickets has ever charged a commission, though I've heard some recent reports to the contrary. I've managed to get the Amica discount using an agency when I was buying a bunch of tickets for several trips--the Amica fare was for a trip a few days later. Keep in mind that this was in March so demand may have been lower.

rs899

I booked some tickets on Trenitalia about 2 months ago without much fuss and then when I tried again about a month later - no dice. I also noted that the Malpensa Shuttle website, which uses the same Italian bank interface, wouldn't work either, so I think that's the weak link. Anyway, I was able to easily get Familia fares on site in Milan with less than 7 days in advance using the trackside terminals (which seem to work well). The only thing is that you get an extra 5% discount on line, so I guess it is worth something to try to get the flakey system to work if you have the patience. I would just keep trying different cards and times- maybe you will get lucky.

Rick

Mimar

Cruiseluv, I've only bought train tickets from Italian travel agencies, ones that have the Trenitalia symbol in their window. These were shops that we happened on in our touristing. There was always somebody who could speak English and there was never any commission. I even bought tickets once from a travel agency inside Rome's Stazione Termini, when the lines in the station were really long.

It's a much pleasanter experience than buying in a crowded station at the last minute.

cruiseluv

Thank you for your comments, I think I'll go the travel agency route.