Buy train tickets now? Talk me off the ledge

When are you going?
You could get some great discounted fares by buying early - but then you are locked into those dates and times.

Gretchen,

There are FREQUENT trains from Florence to Venice so even in the unlikely event one is sold out, there will be another train along in a short time. When is your trip taking place? You'll be able to save some money by purchasing tickets now, provided there are still some Economy or Super Economy tickets available. Note that tickets for fast trains are valid only for ONE specific train, date and departure time, so choose carefully and don't miss the train as your tickets will be worthless and you'll likely have to buy more at full price (Base Fare).

Note that on the Florence - Venice route, you could also consider using the new Italo high speed trains. They use the same stations in both cities, and travel time will be the same as with Freccia trains used by Trenitalia.

If you want some flexibility with your departure times, just buy tickets at the station using the automated Kiosks. I prefer to buy tickets at least the day prior to travel, so that I don't have to waste time at the station on departure day (when there might be long queues at both the ticket office and Kiosks).

I would buy them there for a couple of reasons:
1) Your credit card may not work (mine didn't when I tried to book tickets stateside).

2) When I tried to book a train ticket from Sicily to Calabria the times/type of train/stops listed in advance were completely different than what they ended up being when I actually arrived at the station. I went to the ticket desk with a print out of the route I wanted to take and she told me "this is not possible," and gave me an entirely different itinerary. To be fair, this is the south and things are a little messy in the south BUT had I been able to buy tickets online I might have been screwed out of money.

Go with Ken's advice unless you are very sure of your date and time of travel (discounted tickets are very inflexible and non refundable).

The probability of a train being sold out is low. At most they run out of the 2nd class seats for the very next train, in which case you can buy a more expensive first class ticket or just buy a second class ticket for the next train after that (there are at least 2 per hour from Florence to Venice).

If a train sells out between Florence and Venice (or viceversa), it's usually the early morning trains during peak season. If that is when you travel, purchase the ticket 2 days prior to departure. If you travel after 11:00am and before evening rush hour, they never sell out.

Hi Gretchen, I would buy my ticket as soon as possible to secure a cheaper ticket for these reasons:

1. Saving money to spend on dinner in Venice!
2. You'll have your ticket in hand. No waiting in line; you'll know exactly when to arrive at the train station.
3. You already know that the RS tour finishes after breakfast (and a lot of people leave before that last breakfast), so picking anytime during the late morning would work.

I quickly counted 13 high speed trains between Florence and Venice and this is not all of them. At least one an hour so the probability of the trains being sold out on the day you want to go is ZERO.

There are three levels of tickets - Super Economy - no change, no refund; Economy - limited change, no refund; and base fare. Super Economy and Economy have limited availability, amount varies by train, day of week etc. Super Economy sell out very quickly because they could as low as 10E.

SO, the only reason (but it is a good one) to purchase tickets in advance via the internet is to take advantage of the deep discounts that may be available and recognize the restrictions place on these tickets. Base fare tickets are available anytime so no reason to buy on line. In Italy -- all trains except regionale trains require a seat reservation so your ticket is specific to a train and time. Miss the train and your ticket is dead. Only the Regionale train ticket allow you to get on any Regionale train going in the right direction at any time.

Gretchen,

As I mentioned before, be sure to also check Italo. They are a good option on that route since they use the same stations, travel time will be the same and you can also buy tickets in advance. I've heard that their website is a bit more "user friendly" than the Trenitalia site.

There must be a lot of trains traveling between Florence and Venice as they are not far apart. If you buy the tickets before you leave you have to go on that day and at that time or else pay to change them. I would think that you must also pay a fee to reserve the tickets, so wouldn't save much anyway.

I would think that you must also pay a fee to reserve the tickets

No, the price is the full price.