My question is whether Trenitalia mini-fares change on a daily basis or once they are posted, is it first-come, first-serve? I was using the "Ron in Rome" blog to navigate my way through the trenitalia purchasing process (great blog!) and so it was taking me a little longer than most... I had a great mini-fare all lined up but then lost it due to the system timing out on me (longer than 15 minutes). When I went back through to do it again (much quicker this time as I was confident in what I was doing), the mini-fare was no longer available; I am thinking it was put back into the system and someone else snagged it. The other min-fares for other times aren't as cheap. Wondering if I should just suck it up and buy tickets for a different time (thus a not so cheap mini-fare) or wait and see if anything changes. The tickets are for Venice to Milan in early Oct. -thanks!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23276 posts
Mini fares are capacity limited. So it is possible, just like US airlines, that the ticket was taken before you could get back to it. You can wait but it is hard to know if better ticket prices will be available later. What was the price difference that you lost?
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
i would try completely clearing your browser cache/temp files. It may be that it still showed you being the person having the seats in your cart even though your session expired. If that doesnt work then yes you may have just lost out but i'd be surprised if all the mini fares disappeared now for early October. Anything's possible though.
Posted by
OP
Ashland
8 posts
it was 15 euro/each vs. 26 euro/each, so not huge, but for 2 of us and all those little costs adding up... strangely enough, I tried 3-4 times going through the process again hoping for different results; each time denied saying those tickets at that fare were not available. I cleared my "cookies" and cache and tried again and it worked!
Posted by
OP
Ashland
8 posts
thanks, Debra! I think I was typing my reply as you were too. Great suggestion--it worked! But still curious if anyone knows if mini-fares change on a daily/weekly basis as airfares do.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
They do, they also change based on the time of day. If you travel at off peak hours the mini fares tend to save you even more. Donna
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
203 posts
THey do change, as in, disappear! I waitied too long to purchase tickets and when I finally pulled the trigger to make the purchase, the mini-fare had disappeared for my first choice train. So, I booked a different one. I also learned that the fares are different for different times of the day, so you can save money by choosing to travel an hour or two earlier or later. The mini-fare moves up and down relative to the full fare price.