Trenitalia costs less on Saturdays, when travelling in TWO with the "2X1" promotional fare:

When looking at the English-language pages of the Trenitalia website, don't be confused by the marketing information about the Two for One "2X1" promotional fare, which allows two persons (adults or not) to travel together for the price of one adult, on any SATURDAY, on any RESERVED train (not the unreserved regionale trains).

This promotion has not expired. Rather, as is reflected in the Italian-language pages of the website, it no longer has an expiration date. In other words, the promotion continues until Trenitalia decides otherwise.

To qualify for this fare (which is capacity-controlled), you must purchase the ticket no later than 23:59 (Italy time) of the day PRIOR to the day of travel.

Once purchased, the ticket is non-refundable and non-changeable.

It is valid for travel only on SATURDAYS, on any RESERVED train, and cannot be purchased for the unreserved regionale trains.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD (ignore the expiration date)


http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD

>>>This promotion has not expired<<<

It's been running for months. They list an expiration date, but they keep extending it.

GAC,
Thanks for posting the two-fer information.

You seem to be a specialist on Trenitalia. Perhaps you can explain what the "appropriate case" is on the Trenitalia page discussing bicycles, http://tinyurl.com/cyd2f9 ? Would I need to bring my own "appropriate case" or are they loaned/rented by Trenitalia?

Always check the Italian version for more details. For the bag, it says "apart and contained in a bag or a folding bike properly closed". No larger than 80x110x40.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD

That link leads to more details in Italian.

***Do you have a traditional bike?

You can make one of the two removable wheels, buy a bag ready to take it with you, or make one. The market, in fact, offers a wide selection of bags specially designed for the transport of the bike, in size already planned to take the train (80 x 110 x 40 cm), this is a regional train, or a IntercityNotte Intercity or one of the three arrows, Frecciarossa Frecciargento or Frecciabianca.***

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD

A CLARIFICATION:

The Trenitalia "2X1" promotional fare highlighted above (valid only on SATURDAYS on the RESERVED trains) is not Trenitalia's BEST discounted fare. Indeed, the SUPER ECONOMY fare (valid any day of the week on the RESERVED trains) gives discounts higher than the 50% discount of the "2X1" promotion, and has the identical rules and conditions.

However, if travelling on a SATURDAY, often the "2X1" fare is more easily found than the SUPER ECONOMY fare, especially if not making a long booking.

Bottom line, the "2X1" fare is very useful on Saturdays, while the SUPER ECONOMY fare on other days of the week.

Between Rome/Florence and Rome/Naples, the cheapest SUPER ECONOMY fare is 19 Euros (second class) on the Frecciarossa/Frecciargento trains, which amounts to a discount of 56% over the "BASE" fare. The "2X1" fare on these routes for these trains would be 43 Euros for two persons (versus 38 Euros with the SUPER ECONOMY fare).

Remember, however, that the "2X1" fare is valid only on SATURDAYS on the RESERVED trains, and requires TWO passengers travelling together. Even if one of the passsengers is a child, you must select two ADULTS when booking this fare.

NOTE: in this case (one adult and one child), the same fare would obtain with the "BIMBI GRATIS" promotion, where a child up to the age of 15 years, 0 days travels FREE with at least one adult paying the "BASE" fare. However, the "BIMBI GRATIS" fare is "safer" than the "2X1" fare because it is refundable (minus a 20% penalty) and changeable, and does not require an advance purchase. By contrast, the "2X1" fare is neither refundable nor changeable, and does require an advance purchase.

The foregoing rules apply exclusively to the RESERVED trains, and not to the unreserved regionale trains.

Trenitalia has now gotten around to issue a press release concerning the extensions of these two promotional fares! Nearly two million tickets have been sold for these promotions! Is it possible that Trenitalia is monitoring Fodors postings???


http://www.fsnews.it/cms/v/index.jsp...0080a3e90aRCRD

GAC - I have asked this question here and no one seems to know but is it true that now on IC trains some seats are left unreserved and folks with say a railpass can board and sit in them or folks with an IC train ticket can hop on any IC train that day on that exact route - is this true to your knowledge.

You are the Trenitalia expert so if you don't know of it I guess it ain't true. I think I read this from Man in Seat 61's site -www.seat61.com. As a frequent user of IC trains in Italy and having a railpass it would be of use to me and others.

Thanking you in advance.

I do believe that it is common practice to leave a few unreserved and unbooked seats on Intercity trains (and indeed, on Freccia trains as well). This allows a few passengers to "hop on" the train without having modified their reservation (to accommodate those who don't have the time to change the reservation without missing the substitute train).

Trenitalia explains the parameters in the section "accesso ad un altro treno": first of all, one must have a "BASE" fare ticket (or "BIMBI GRATIS" ticket), and NOT one of the discounted promotional tickets. Secondly, the "hop on" privileges are LIMITED to trains departing up to ONE HOUR BEFORE to ONE HOUR AFTER the scheduled departure time of the train originally booked. Thirdly, the passenger must still pay any difference in fare (such as owing to a higher category of reserved train), plus a penalty of 8 Euros (for not having gone to the trouble of modifying the reservation).

Here is the official explanation:

"If you want to travel on a different train from the one you booked and you have not changed your ticket, you can do it from 1 hour before up to 1 hour after your train departure by paying a surcharge of 8 euro and the difference between the full price applied to the train used and the sum already paid."

"Se vuoi viaggiare su un treno diverso da quello prenotato, e non hai modificato il biglietto, puoi farlo da un’ora prima e fino ad un’ora dopo la partenza del treno, mediante il pagamento di un supplemento di 8 euro e dell’eventuale differenza di prezzo."

>>>or "BIMBI GRATIS" ticket<<<

? That's a child's free ticket.

>>>or folks with an IC train ticket can hop on any IC train that day on that exact route - is this true to your knowledge.<<<

I can't imagine that being true because when you purchase the IC ticket it has an assigned seat for that particular train and change fees are associated with the tickets unless you purchase a base (full fare) ticket.

Here are the Base fare rules in English. Other fares (Economy and Super Economy are also listed on Trenitalia in English, but have different rules).

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/h...ecce.html#BASE

The compartment type IC trains do have those flip down seats in the halls so I can see some last minute availability even if regular seats are sold out. The Interrail pass indicates seats are not mandatory on the IC trains in Italy. Whether it's accurate or not, I don't know.
http://www.interrail.eu/trains-europ...y/trains-italy