I am a new traveler. I am thinking of buying a France-Italy flexipass rail pass but still have lots of questions about the logistics of how they work so here goes. I believe from what I read that you need to validate train tickets before boarding. So do I have to take my pass booklet to the ticket window each time I board to validate my ticket? Can I validate at a kiosk? Do I need to validate? Sounded like the passes were first class travel, is that correct and if so do I always have to get a ticket so I have an assigned seat? Can I just get on any trains (besides the fast and night trains) that are covered by the passes and get the conductor to validate? Do I even need to validate? My girlfriend said she often encountered "fees" for tickets even though she had a rail pass. Why was this as she seldom "prebooked or reserved" seats. Help! Five weeks to departure - how quickly would I get my pass and are they mailed? I'm in Canada.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
You need to get a rail pass validated before you first use it, by an agent at a window. After that, there's no validation.
BUT, fast trains in France and Italy require reservations, even with a rail pass (these are the fees your girlfriend was referring to). The reservation is good for a specific train. If you board a fast train without a reservation for that specific train, even with a rail pass, you WILL get a hefty fine.
In Italy, the reservations are €10 each, and you can buy one as long as there are empty seats on the train you want to take. I believe you can buy the reservations from machines, so you don't have to wait in the (often long) ticket lines. So, having a rail pass in Italy is workable. However, it rarely saves money, because the trains aren't that expensive. And on regional trains, you don't need (and can't get) a reservation, but these are much cheaper than the typical pass day. so a pass (again) is not a good deal for Italy.
However, France is a whole different story. The reservations for pass holders are much more than €10. And, they're limited in number and can sell out quickly. Once they're gone, even if there are seats left, you can't use your pass, but have to buy a full price ticket, or take a different train that does have pass holder reservations available. So, since you need to plan your France travel in advance, a pass offers no advantage.
For both France and Italy, you can buy tickets online in advance with substantial discounts. These tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable (or have substantial restrictions on these actions). However, you've probably missed your chance to snag discounts. You should look NOW to see what the fares will be for your routes and dates. If there are still discounts and you can commit to non-refundable tickets, book now.
For Italy, use Trenitali: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4ddd1a035296f310VgnVCM1000005817f90aRCRD
For France, use SNCF http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/ or Capitaine Train: https://www.capitainetrain.com/en
For Italy, if there are no discounts left, or if you're not ready to commit to a specific train, don't book online. The price is the same on the day of travel (although you may want to buy a day ahead, in case of lines). And if the route shows regional trains, the price on these never changes, and tickets bought on line actually have more restrictions than tickets bought at the station.
For regional trains in France and Italy, you do have to validate your ticket before boarding, or, again, you get a heft fine. There are validation boxes all over the stations; you insert your ticket and with a THUNK, it gets stamped with the date and time. This prevents re-using regional tickets, which are valid over many days. But on reserved trains, the ticket is only good for one train, so there's no need to validate before boarding.
Yes, it is complicated - sorry. The days when a rail pass made everything simple are, sadly, over - at least in France and Italy.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The France-Italy pass offers any traveler a choice to buy 1st or 2nd class, with 1st costing only 18% more than 2nd. If a train does not require reservations, then yes, you can just jump on. But for faster trains in France, we recommend reserving at the same time you buy the pass, to be sure that the trains you want are available. Both products are sold at www.raileurope.ca, and Canadian delivery takes a few days. Since Italy seems not to put an artificial limit on the number of railpass travelers, those reservations are easier to book as you go at train station ticket windows or ticket machines (or there's a roundabout way on trenitalia.com). After the pass has been activated by an agent, you are responsible to fill in travel dates as you go. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/using-your-rail-pass.
With a pass, you can take a night train within Italy or within France, but the direct Paris-Italy night trains do not currently accept railpasses. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-help/rail-faq#paris-italy.
For the most complete schedules in both countries and to know which trains are "subject to compulsory reservation" see the DB link at How to Look Up Train Schedules Online.