Buy both regional and hi-speed tickets in advance, when bundled?

Yes buy the Florence to Naples part now, the prices are going to go up, There is no advantage to buying the regional ticket separately when in Italy; the price is set it does not go up,

If buying a ticket from A to D but the B to C is Regionale train. Buy them all together. The Regionale train ticket will come pre-validated but that doesn't matter because you are locked to the A leg and the C leg so you do not need any flexibility with the Regionale train. The advantage that you gain from buying a Regionale ticket in Italy is the flexibility of when you start you trip on the Regionale train. When you buy a Regionale ticket on line you must specify a start time and day so that ticket is only valid for four hours from the start time your indicate.

Advantage to buying the regional leg in Italy is that you maintain an option to leave earlier and spend time in Florence before taking the train to Naples.

Bravo, with your help, we starting to catch on! thanks.

All of our trips begin with a regional train, then connecting to the hi-speed train.

Any advantage of disadvantage to the advance purchase of the hi-speed trips, and leaving the regional tickets to purchase while we are there?

Regional tix - buy when you are there at your convenience at any station in Italy. There is never an advance discount, and tickets never sell out, so you retain flexibility in case your plans change. Intercity or Freccia - buy in advance if the savings in price are enough that you are willing to lock in an exact date and time. Or if you don't want to be locked in to an exact date and time, buy when there, you will pay the 'base' price. Enjoy your trip!

If your intention is to travel from Siena directly to Naples (via Florence) then I’d suggest buying the tickets together.
You just need to enter ‘Siena’, as the departing city, and Napoli Centrale as the arrival city, on the Trenitalia website.

Enjoy!

....Any advantage of disadvantage to the advance purchase of the hi-speed trips, and leaving the regional tickets to purchase while we are there?........

Buy all together. See my 6/30 response. The only reason to buy Regionale tickets locally is for flexibility. Since you have to board a hi-speed time at a specific time you don't have any need for flexibility.

Take heed to Frank’s advice.

Another advantage of booking your tickets together; you don’t have to worry about validating them prior to boarding the train!

I agree with Priscilla and as an example, I’ve purchased all of my tickets a few months ahead for an upcoming 3- week trip to Italy. I like to step into a train station and know I didn’t need to arrive early to purchase a ticket since lines can vary. No need to validate the tickets I bought on- line so no potential expensive fee for not validating. If I decide for some reason to change one ticket, the regionals tickets are inexpensive.

One other point to mention is that tickets for hi speed trains are specific to train, date and departure time so can only be used on the one train listed on the tickets. If you were to arrive at the station early and board the wrong hi speed train, you'd be subject to hefty fines collected on the spot!

How do we use tickets that we purchase at tenitalia?

We made a purchase at Loco2 and received a paper printout with a code to use on the train. Looks as if we can also use the code on the train with our phone, in the event we lose or forget our paper copy.

Does Trenitalia offer this same feature via a smart phone in place of paper tickets?

Thanks.

dg,

I normally buy tickets at www.trainline.eu as they sell tickets for not only trains in Italy, but many other countries in Europe (France, Spain, Germany). Registration on their website is required, along with payment information, but after that the process is very user friendly. They also have a smartphone App.

I normally like to print a "hard copy" of the tickets as that avoids any "smartphone issues". I normally store them in an 8 1/2" x 11" plastic sleeve, in the order I'll be using them. However, you can just use the PNR codes by themselves if you like.

I always have a couple copies of the tickets buried in my luggage in case I misplace the copy I am using. It has happened once. Don't use an e-copy because I have seen a few tourists struggling with their smart phones because of battery issues. A hard copy always works. If you purchase tickets in a station or ticket machine they will give you a hard copy. For the Regionale trains it is a smaller ticket printed on cardboard stock so that it can be inserted in the validation box to be validated.

...How do we use tickets that we purchase at tenitalia?...... The same way you use any ticket. Not sure what you are asking? The tickets you print have a scanable code that conductor scans with his hand held device. Same if it is on your smart phone. If it is a paper ticket from the station they will likely scan it, or punch it or tear it.

Thanks for the helpful information.