Hallo,
I am B permit holder frm non-EU countries staying in Zurich. I am planning for a trip with my wife and 4 years son to Rome, Venice.
I searched EF for to get my point clarified, but couldnt get much info on trenitalia. My questions may be silly, but I want to be right in order to proceed further booking. All these bcos I am not able to get any support mail ID for trenitalia. It is only via Call center I can contact them....

People frm Zurich(Say Swiss) who have booked tickets online on Trenitalia, can you please let me know If there will be any issues for online tickets ? Are there any restrictions that we from Swiss have to book only via SBB ?(The reason I ask - I had gone to book tickets via SBB at HB after checking Trenitalia. The price given by SBB was very high than what I had online on Trenitalia for same dates, I told the guy it is cheaper online(diff of CHF 225 for whole trip), the answer from him was YOU MAY FACE SOME PROBLEM. I donno why & what can the problem be ???? It was quite rude. Can it be frm ticket checkers in Italy that they dont accept the tickets booked by outsiders online ? If you had come across any issues or email id of support of trenitalia, please lemme know... Any inputs would be helpful. Thanks in advance.


Regards,
Mankav.

I did book over the Trenitalia website a few years back, and picked up the tickets locally. Without knowing for sure, am guessing there should be no problem buying directly from Trenitalia if you can pay online and print out your own tickets.

One of my friends who had bought these tickets at SBB, was laughed at in the train, by the ticket checker. Even I have seen cheaper tickets online - I believe this is because you get a 30% discount on base fare, but not sure which option I selected.

I would also be grateful if anyone is able to shed some light on this...

Hey there,

I just purchased Tickets from the tren italia web site last week for my girlfriend's aunt who will be visiting Europe in July.

I was able to create an online account/ user Id with no problem. And yes, online you can purchase cheaper tickets than at the SBB counter. This is because online, you can book tickets that are non refundable and non changeable which are quite a bit cheaper than the full price tickets. So if you know which train exatly you want to travel on, it is worth to take advantage of this. The guy at the SBB counter said that in switzerland they are not able to sell those tickets, so I should buy them online if I want them.

Also, the tickets are electronic, so you can print them out at home, no problem. Payment is by credit card.

As a suggestions, in case you will travel by train to Milano, there are cheap deals available on the SBB site if you book early. You can purchase these online and the SBB will send the tickets to your home by mail

Hope this helps

Marcel

I often buy tickets on trenitalia and there are no issues.

You have just to make sure you buy the right ticket.

In italy you buy a ticket for a specific date AND train, you cannot jump on any train going to your destination, but only on the one you have bought the ticket for that will state also the coach and seat that is reserved for you. There are some exceptions, but fees may occur.

So make sure you buy the right one and select the option that allows you to receive a confirmation e-mail to print them.

Enjoy your italian trip

Hey All,
Thanks for your replies. I created the account and now shall go ahead and book the tickets. There are few things strange on trenitalia - like tickets which are very cheap on offer - but when I include a Kid, the ticket costs go very high (Example : there are tickets from Rome to Venice for EUR 19 - special 19 EURO Fare)...when I try to book for 2 adults, it shows EUR 38, but when i Include 1 Kid, it goes to EUR 116 - donno why it is - it says Familia Estate...costlier if u have a kid, but its good if 4 adults travel with a Kid. Strange, but find it ok to book.

Yes, I shall book Zurich to Milan via SBB at counter...CHF 30 one way.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Mankav

BTW trenitalia will allow you to receive your ticket electronically on your cellphone (if you select that option).
When the trainmaster shows up you just need to give him the code of your reservation.
So far had no problem with them - as a matter of fact they're ahead of the game vs. SBB IMHO, at least in the internet domain (I'll suspend any judgment on the trains proper).

Paul

Thanks for all this great info on Tren Italia. One thing that would cause me concern is that, what if you want to travel to Rome but your train arriving in Milan from Zürich is late (it happens!) and you can't make the connection? Is your Tren Italia ticket valid for a later train or do you need to buy a completely new ticket at full price?

The issue is that the ticket is actually a *reservation* for most of those all-important trains such as the Freccia Rossa (the high speed train) or many intercities, and therefore it applies only to a specific train.
So you'd better allow for some slack between your connections or be prepared for endless hassles.... :-/

P.

The Trenitalia website is not very clear as far as what would happen of you miss your connection. So I would play it safe and try to catch an earlier connection to Milano...
My 2 eurocents' worth

P.

Yes, Good point regarding getting late. I shall see that I have a time gap of 2 hrs for my connection from zurich to Milan and Milan to Rome.....that should be fine.

Yes, the website gives you the offers available according to the options you choose. So if there is a cheap option for adults, that would not apply for kids. But it might more interesting to buy 3 adults for instance or separately the adults from the kid. There are also offers according to how early you book your ticket.

Thanks for the advice, but having to allow 2 hours connection time negates the advantage of a lower price if you ask me. Easier to just book with sbb.

you might also want to look at Inter Rail passes: does anyone have experience with Inter rail passes- these for EU residents. From a comparison shopping standpoint does anyone know if they are generally cheaper...

They are cheaper if you do long trips, since they allow you to travel for a full day, regardless the destination. You have different options allowing you to travel a defined number of days (consecutive or non consecutive) over a certain period (e.g. travel 4 days over a month).

does Mark Smith know you're punting his site like this?