plafield

I've read a lot of great information about the trains in Italy on this board and how to buy ES tickets ahead of time on the trenitalia website but can't seem to find any info about what happens if you miss the train that you've purchased for.

We will be flying into Rome and should arrive at FCO at 7:30 AM and are thinking (on your advice!) of going straight to Florence. My first question is how much time should we allow (if we arrive on time)to get to the train station to go to Florence? It makes sense for us to purchase our tickets ahead of time on the website (trying for the 1st class special) but what happens if our flight is delayed and we miss our train? Do we then have to get in the long line to try to exchange them for a later train or are they no good at all?

Any information on this subject would be helpful and stories about missed trains would be interesting too!

kismetchimera

if you buy the ES ticket for a specific hour and you are not able to make it or change it before the train's departure, your ticket is not longer valid.

kybourbon

Here's a link to tickets booked on Es trains. http://www.trenitalia.com/en/treni_s...biglietto.html

WallyKringen

In the following paragraph from the trenitalia site it is not clear if the first sentence applies to online bookings:

[quote] JOURNEY CANCELLATION

If you do not use your ticket due to journey cancellation, you can apply for a refund before train departure by going to the ticket desks at the stations or the travel agency where you bought it.

If the refund of the unused ticket is requested in cash, a 20% fee will be deducted.

If you apply for a refund with a bonus valid for 6 months, you will recover the full value of the ticket for the purchase of another one.

In both cases, a refund or bonus are granted only if the amount to refund, net of the 20% charges, is more than 8 euro. No Bonuses are granted for tickets purchased on-line. You can also ask for a ticket refund within 24 hours from the train departure paying a 50% fee on the price paid. In this case the refund can be requested only from the departure station or the ticket-issue desk; amounts of less than 8,01 euro net of the charges are not repayable.
If non-use is Trenitalia's fault, a full ticket refund is given immediately. However, you will be required to show a valid identity document. [end of quote]

Two questions:

1) What is "Journey Cancellation" in this case? A traveller's voluntary decision not to go ahead with that trip? Or a cancellation caused by someone else? (I suspect the former.)

2) Can a traveler take the online-reservation documents to any station desk before the train's scheduled departure and get a refund?

What is clear from subsequent wording is that the "bonus" (really a voucher) does not apply to on-line purchasers.

Has anyone reading this actually taken their online-reservation documents to a station and - instead of getting printed tickets - asked for and gotten a refund?

WK

Betsy

There are many trains that go from Rome to Florence every day; it's sort of like a (long) commuter run. There's no need to buy your tickets ahead of time. Just buy them at FCO at the same time you buy your ticket from FCO into Rome Termini. That strategy frees you from the concern of having to make a train at a certain time.

plafield

So it seems if our flight from JFK is delayed and we can't make it to the train station from FCO in time for our pre-booked ES ride to Florence, we're out of luck because we certainly won't have the opportunity to cancel in person at the train staton with 24 hours notice!

Has this ever happened to any of you? How much time do you allow between landing at FCO and the departure time on ES for Florence? Do you recommend not pre booking and just going to the station and standing in line to buy the tickets to Florence? We'll be arriving at FCO on a Sunday morning, which I understand is pretty heavy train travel day.

TimS

You could book a later train to play it safe and then get a partial refund if you have time to catch an earlier train.

The Purchase Guide at trenitalia.com reads as follows: "Tickets purchased on-line are refunded and the amount is credited back to the credit card used for the purchase. No bonuses are issued as refunds for tickets purchased on-line." If I'm reading the guide correctly, a "bonus" would mean 100% applied to a new ticket.

According to the guide, for online purchases there is a 20% penalty if you ask for a refund before the train's scheduled departure and a 50% penalty for requests made within 24 hours of the scheduled departure.

TimS

My last sentence should have read "within 24 hours AFTER the scheduled departure."

MaureenB

You could call BudgetEuropeTravel.com, and ask them for help. They will know the cancellation policy, and only charge a small shipping and handling fee.
There are so many Rome-Florence trains, and it's such a short ride of about 1.5 hours, I think you'd also be ok just gettng tickets at the station when you arrive. Unless, perhaps, you are there in highest season, because you'll probably be tired from your long flight and not want to wait for the next train if the first one is booked up. Don't know if that happens much, though. Ask BETS.

ira

Hi P,

Allow 3:30 hrs from the time of scheduled arrival before your ES* train leaves and you will make it.

There is a self service cafeteria at Rome TE station where you can relax and have a cuppa if you are too early.

Answering your question:

You can get a 50% refund of your ES* ticket if you apply within 24 hr after the train leaves.

However, the 1cl ticket is only 42E and the 2cl ticket is only 29E.

Why not just buy your tickets for 2cl in the ES* at the train station at FCO?

Betsy

Yes! Buy your tickets at FCO for Rome-Florence. Several of us have advised you that this is the best way to do it. Read the posts above carefully.