I felt quite accomplished this week as I continue to plan for upcoming adventures this summer. I successfully applied for, and received, my CartaFreccia which enables me to purchase and use senior rate tickets.
The application for non-residents said I would hear back within 45 days. It only took 3 business days from the time I emailed it to them. Great customer service.
Carol, that sounds amazing! Can you share any more information about how you applied for the CartaFreccia? Is the application on the trenitalia.com website? Is the application info also in English? Thank you!
http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Cartafreccia/Assistenza-ai-soci#6
Don’t be put off that it is in Italian. Scroll down the page a bit to the 5th arrow where it refers to non residents in both Italian and English. If you click on this one, the information on the next page is in first Italian and then in English and gives directions as well as the form you need to complete.
Basically, you complete a form and email it in. You do not need a tax ID or Italian address.
I hope this helps.
The extremely useful part of getting Cartafreccia membership as a senior (over 60) is that the senior discounts can be applied to purchases up to shortly before departure and can be changed once for free. So you don't have to buy non-refundable super economy tickets way in advance if you aren't sure of your itinerary.
There is an issue with the English translation of the senior offer page - it says the Senior tickets can be purchased up to 10 days before departure, while the Italian version says you can buy tickets with the special Senior price offer up to 24 hours before departure.
Cartafreccia Senior offers - English
Cartafreccia Senior offers - Italian
You pays your money and you takes your chances, I guess. Not sure why there is such a discrepancy.
Did it 3 days ago and already got my confirmation email!
Thank you so much Carol!!!
Another thank you to Carol!
I sent my application through yesterday, and received a response tonight, so it only took one day. Really great service.
HI. Thanks for this. I'm trying to apply now, but it tells me I need a physical address in Italy (to receive my card) before they will accept my application. Did you do this, and if so, how? I appreciate your help.
Pagates, the step by step directions are listed above. My guess is that you are not filling out the paper form and emailing it in as directed. Are you instead trying to do this online? Non residents need to fill out the non-resident paper application where it doesn't matter if you have an address in Italy or a tax number. You then scan it and email it in, wait a few days, and they email you a paper card and information on how to set up a linked password/account on the Trenitalia site.
Thanks VERY much. You are exactly right. I have now found the paper form and will fill it out and email it in today. Again, many thanks.
Perhaps a silly question but should a form be completed by both my spouse and me?
Does anyone know if the same can be done for the "young" category? Also, if you have a mixed group, can you do you have to do multiple purchases? Unlike the Thalys and airline tickets there they ask age before displaying prices, trenitalia site does not seem to have that option. I would be purchasing two regular tickets, two young tickets, and two senior tickets....
Phrank, I am sure that each individual needs his/her own account so I would complete a form for each of you.
tmalave, here is what the website says about "Young" (under 30)
"Are you a CartaFRECCIA member and under 30 years of age?
With the Young offer, you can travel with discounts of up to 50% on Frecce, Intercity and Intercity Night trains and in all service levels, except Executive.
You may change the date or time of departure only once, up to the departure time of your train, by selecting a journey on the same category of train or service and then paying any price difference there may be when compared to the originally purchased Base price. The offer is non-refundable."
So it looks like those wanting the "young" discount need to apply for a CartaFreccia as well. I have never tried to purchase tickets for a group so I hope someone else knows the answer to your question.
Thank you Carol. I read the same thing, and I can't find anywhere where it says that you have to be a resident of Italy or the EU. Now to figure out the tickets to that we can all travel together....
Unlike the Thalys and airline tickets there they ask age before displaying prices, trenitalia site does not seem to have that option.
@tmalave on Trenitalia's home page, next to the return box you can enter the number of adult and children travelling together. If you put one or more children, on the search results page the site will display the relevant fares. Of course if you select the Bimbi Gratis (Free Kids), you must read the Terms & Conditions displayed.
For instance:
BIMBI GRATIS
Children (under 14 years old) free for groups from 2 to 5 people with
at least one adult. Only one change and partial refund until
departure. Subject to seat availability.
Unfortunately the site doesn't ask customers to enter the date of birth of each child, you must read the T&Cs and do not make mistakes.
I doubt a tourist with set dates of travel would save more money with the Cartafreccia Young than with the SuperEconomy fares that cab be purchased by everyone.
I just tried to make a "booking" for 6 people. If you put in a certain number of passengers, it brings up the choices and lists : Passenger 1, Passenger 2, Passenger 3, etc. So it is possible to book for all of you at once. For each passenger there is a drop down menu. If you choose a special fare, such as senior or young, it requires you to put the CartaFreccia number for that person in the reservation at that time. Therefore, it seems to me that if you have the account numbers for everyone you should be able to book their tickets all at once as a group.
Sorry to bother you Carol, but not sure how to get here:
I just tried to make a "booking" for 6 people. If you put in a certain number of passengers, it brings up the choices and lists : Passenger 1, Passenger 2, Passenger 3, etc.
Blockquote
I am going to trenitalia.com. I put in six passengers from Milano Centrale to Venezia Sta. Lucía, and a date in June. What I get is a list with prices and different fares. If I choose a fare and want to pick the seats, it will ask for passenger details where I can put a loyalty code, but short of buying I can't see where I could pick a different fare. Not sure what I am doing wrong.
Thanks again,
I went back in and it looked a little different for this route. I did figure it out.
If you pick a particular train combination and click on the arrow next to "Starting From" it gives you several fare options. If you click on "young" or "senior" then it opened up and gave you an opportunity to select passengers and put in data. Give this a try and see if it makes more sense for you.
And FWIW, I have a French Carte Avantage and they sent an email yesterday which I believe said that you can buy certain discounted tix into certain other countries. I seem to remember Luxembourg, and I think Italy. YMMV.
@Carol,
Thank you for your patience. I finally got it to work! I have to click on "see other offers" to be able to select a different offer for different passengers. The first couple of times I tried that it said there were no "other offers" which was throwing me off. I think it was a glitch. Off to request the cartafreccia for parents and teens!
@Carol,
Followup: I applied per your instructions yesterday at about 5pm EST. I had my very cordial response email this morning by 6am. I am enrolled and have printed off my copy of my own CartaFreccia Card with senior benefits! Again many thanks for your help and also for your patience.
Saluti!
Phil
The good news: Had my CartaFreccia code and printout within 24 hours!
The bad news: For the life of me, I can't figure how to get/apply the senior discount. When I select tickets, the only option I get is adults or children. Any suggestions?
@Sam
I think the issue is that you are not going far enough in the process. You need to input the route and date that you are interested in. It will then bring up some options. If you click on the arrow next to the pricing on the option that you are interested in (far right) , it will expand the choices to different fare types available on the routing.
I hope this helps.
@Carol from Oregon.
I have sent you a PM, because I think I can help.
Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread! I've already bought one set of tickets that we're going to need this year, but I still need another set. I'll go ahead and try this, since everyone seems to be having pretty good luck.
I see that "Province" is a required field; what did you put in there, state?
Thank you, Carol now retired. I bought tickets through Trenitalia's American website, but I like using the regular website, and I certainly like getting a discount!
@ Jane, I put the abbreviation for my state.
Carol, thanks so much for posting this. I've received the initial response from Trenitalia with my 9-digit CartaFRECCIA program code number, but I'm confused about what the next step will be. It will be a few weeks before I want to start buying train tickets, but I want to be ready to go when the time comes.
The second paragraph of the (machine translated) Trenitalia's email says, "We will then send you another email that will allow you to download the password for access to the Cartafreccia reserved area and to purchase on the website www.trenitalia.com."
What triggers the sending of the additional email? Does that happen when I begin the process of purchasing a ticket, enter the 9-digit code number and select "Senior" as described in my next paragraph? Or am I already supposed to have received a second email? The first one arrived early on Monday morning and there has been nothing since then; I've checked my spam folder.
When I begin the process of buying a ticket, I am prompted for a "User/Code". Is that my 9-digit number? I'm also prompted for a Password. Do I go through the "Forgot your username or password" process to move forward (triggering the second email from Trenitalia)? Do I wait until I'm ready to buy a ticket to do that (and do it every time I want to buy a ticket), or can I do it now to get a password set up ahead of time?
Or do I go to the "Reserved Area" by clicking at the top of the Trenitalia web site, which brings up a similar entry box calling from my User / code and password, and giving a "Lost password" option. There's also a "Register" link. Perhaps that's what I should do now, since I'm not yet ready to start buying tickets?
I don't usually have problems following directions, but I'm missing something here. That "We will then send you" business without further explanation is confusing me.
Carol, perfect timing for me. I'm flying to Milan next Friday. I just printed out the form. I assume I fill it out, scan it and send a pdf with the email?
@acraven,
I applied on Monday and received my emails back to back in a about 15 min. However, the second email only has your number and a link to click and change your password. So with the number on the first email, you can probably use the change password function. (Actually the link in the email only works for three hours, after that you have to use the reset password function). My parents sent their applications last now, and husband this morning, and they have not received a response.
@Chani, that is correct.
@acraven. If you use the reset password function, it will allow you to set up your online account.
Carol - I owe you a drink!
I just got my affirmative response from CartaFreccia - 22 hours after sending in the application. 😀😀
Thanks, Carol.
I sent in our applications yesterday evening, and got responses this morning! And Stan's application also received the follow-up email to change his password. I went ahead and set that for him; if mine doesn't come in the next hour or so I'll go in and change the password on my account.
I also walked through buying tickets on his account from Naples to Siena, which we'll need this summer. I see the senior tickets aren't actually half price, but they are a little cheaper and allow changes. I did hit one point that wouldn't let me go any farther, but I'll not worry about that right now. I'll come back to this when I have a bit more free time.
Thank you, Carol!
This is great news, thank you Carol!
I wonder when Trenitalia started accepting applications for non-residents?
When my mom (87) and I traveled to Italy, a few years back, I’d asked about senior discount (for her) and was informed that the senior discount was only for residents.
Priscilla, that's what we were told a few years ago, as well. So when I went to the website to buy our Venice - Rome tickets for this year, it never occurred to me to ask for a discount.
Thanks again to Carol now retired!
Whoop! Just bought our Naples - Siena tickets!
Thank you all. We were able to apply and bought our senior tix from Milan to Venice. Probably stupid question but I have read about being sure to have the tickets validated for your train trip. I have a printout with a QR code for our tickets and wasn’t sure how to get this validated. Help for an ol’ lady?
jhtin - you only need to validate regional train tickets. The Freccia trains are reserved seats so validation isn't necessary.
Carol I used the Freccia card to buy tickets both online and at machines without a problem. BTW my US credit card worked in machines without a PIN. It has a chip. Thank you again.
You need to time-stamp only the Regionale trains tickets locally purchased. I use the verb "time-stamp" because I think "validate" to be confusing when speaking about 24h open tickets.
With "locally" I mean purchased either at the counter (any counter sells any ticket), or at the ticket machines or at the travel agencies that display Trenitalia's logo on the window.
The reason is that Regionale tickets locally purchased (or "not bought online" if you prefer) can be used on any Regionale train running that route on the picked day. Free data connections and mobile phones are making this benefit a relic of the past, but there are some Trenitalia customers who do not know how to get train tickets online at the last second.
I was just on the Trenitalia website and trying to sign up for Carta Freccia for seniors. It requires you to choose Country of birth. Many countries are listed, but not United States of America nor just America, nor just USA. There is no option for choosing the United States of America as country of birth. Has any natural born American been able to sign up for this card?
Try Stati Uniti d'America
It is important to read the directions on this thread carefully. You would discover that you can't sign up for Carta Freccia online as a non-resident, but must instead print off a paper form, fill it out, and email it in to customer service. Then you will have success.
I will paste the directions in again down below for your convenience.
https://www.trenitalia.com/it/cartafreccia/assistenza_ai_soci.html#6
Don’t be put off that it is in Italian. Scroll down the page a bit to the 5th arrow where it refers to non residents in both Italian and English. If you click on this one, the information on the next page is in first Italian and then in English and gives directions as well as a link to the form you need to complete.
Basically, you complete a form and email it in. You do not need a tax ID or Italian address.
Thank you for the replies. And thank you, Carol, for repeating those instructions. I will proceed with downloading the form and then emailing a completed copy.
Chani, you said
I used the Freccia card to buy tickets both online and at machines without a problem.
Do you have an actual card? We have CartaFreccia numbers that show up on the tickets we bought, but no other documentation that I can find. Do you just enter the number to make the purchase?
I don't think I'll need to use this again this year, but I'd like to know for future reference.
Thanks.
You can print a card off of the website if you like once you have your approval for the card.
Can you use the senior discount card for the train from the Milan airport to Centrale Train Station? Or is Trenord a completely separate company? If so, would you have to validate this ticket?
Thanks, Carol. I’ll check it out tomorrow.
Jane - that's what I did. I printed it out. I also downloaded it to my phone, which was handier since the conductors often check the QR code when they check the tickets. In Italy if you're using a machine to buy tickets and it doesn't read the QR code, you can input the code and that will work too.
Thanks, Chani. I'll try this when I get some free time this afternoon. If I hit any problems, I'll be back!
If you download the Trenitalia app on your smart phone, when you choose "profile", your card appears on your phone along with its QR code. This is an easy way to access. Since I am old school, I like to have the paper back up.
I don't have a scan option. Can I attach a photo of my completed CartaFreccia application to the email??
@janet. If you have a smart phone, there is probably a way to use it to scan your document. My students used to do this.
I just sent my completed form into the trenItalia site. Thank you so much, Carol. This will save me a lot of money on my planned fall trip to smaller cities all the way across Italy from Venice to Milan.
@ Janet – if you have an iPhone and you go to the Notes section and click on the small circle with the three dots on it you’ll see an option to scan a document using your phone. That way if you don’t have a printer with a scanner nearby, you can scan a document in the notes section.
Grazie, ancora! I soooo appreciate this forum and all of you who offer such good help and perspective to other travelers. I figured out the Notes thing on my iPhone - thank you Carol and Patricia! Have sent in my scanned application, now fingers crossed for a good result. Again, thank you all!
Question for those who got the senior discount card. We are now receiving emails from Trenitalia…in Italian. How do I translate the emails to English on my iPhone? Or on my laptop?
Cut and paste, put in Google translate
Got the cards printed! Carol, I'll try installing the app as well, but I'm a cell phone neophyte.
Thanks, everyone!
I'll be heading back to Italy for the 1st time since qualifying for the discount. I have been a CartaFRECCIA member for a number of years. My problem is that the app does not recognize me as over 60! It won't allow me to purchase the Senior rate. I'm wondering if I lied about my age on the original application! Hahahaha!
@Marc Maybe you should sign into your online account and check the information in your profile.
I've just booked a flight, so I'm going to apply for this now.
Thank you Carol, for helping us do this.
Thanks Carol. I have and cannot seem to find where/how to change date of birth. But I am certain I can sort it out.
I sent my application off by email about a week ago, and got my code by email this morning.
You print off the card to take with you on the train.
Thanks Carol, for letting us know about this card! :)
I will only be traveling on one train, from Rome to Venice. Should I get the senior discount card, is it worth it? Does anyone know the savings? When I checked, my travel dates weren’t available yet. Thank you
"is it worth it? "
Go to the Trenitalia website, plug in your dates and time of travel and review the pricing available - compare the Senior's rate to the others and there's your answer. The real benefit to the card, as I read it, is the allowing of 1 change to your ticket after purchase. Personally, as someone who has had to "eat" an advance purchase ticket because of a needed change, that is where I see the value.
@ Carol now retired
"The application for non-residents said I would hear back within 45 days" - that appears to be the vortex my application is caught up in.
The savings will depend on how far in advance you purchase your ticket and what fares are available. I picked 3 random dates. One in May, one in June, and one in July. I only looked at Trenitalia's high speed trains. There was only a small difference between senior and super economy on those dates. On one, super economy was even less expensive than the senior discounted rate.
The other element to consider is that you can change the day/time of a senior ticket, but you can't change the day/time of a super economy ticket. If you are quite confident of the date and train you want, this should not be an issue.
A CartaFreccia membership is free, so there is no cost to you beyond printing off a form, filling it out, and emailing it in. It all depends whether you think that is worthwhile or not.
Excellent thread. @ Carol – Thanks so much for the valuable information. I also signed up to the Italo Tren loyalty program. It was a lot easier that the Trenitalia process and also offers great deals for seniors. Some routes are cheaper than Trenitalia.
Question: I am trying to buy fast (FRECCE) train tickets for travel after 18 Sep 2022, however no options show up in the Trenitalia site for these dates. Do I need to wait a bit longer for these dates to get populated with the FRECCE train options?
Yes, you need to wait longer.
I filled out the forms sending them as an email last SAT per the instructions. Got my email from CartaFreccia with my discount codes today. Good thing is that numbers are numbers. The return email was in Italain. Thanks for this post.
Use google translate because there are some important directions.
Do I need to wait a bit longer for these dates to get populated with the FRECCE train options?
The deadline to upload the schedules up to December 11 is June 12, you can wait the 12th or check again in a week. Italo is waiting for Trenitalia's next move.
Thanks 'Carol now retired' for alerting me to translate the email. I'm retired too. Last AUG. It's great! Anway, not only was I provided the CartaFRECCHIA NO, my account password had to be reset. Since I did not respond in the 3 hour period, the link expired. Anyway, I went online logging in with my existing password. A message appeared indicating that my credentials did match. Selected 'lost password'. This allowed me to create a new password. All is good now. My wife and I have the pass, ready to start purchasing tickets at the senior rate. My trip is planned in OCT. I have a few months to wait before purchasing tickets. Thanks
I am looking at applying for a CartaFreccia for travel to Italy in 2023. Can anyone tell me whether the card has an expiry date?
Thank you.
No expiration date that I can see. It is a membership program that is free.
Thank you. I will definitely apply for one as it appears to be good value.
Has anyone applied recently? I sent them an email around 10d ago and haven't heard anything. I just put "CartaFreccia application" in the subject with a short message telling them that i've attached the form since I couldn't find any email template.
I'm traveling in September and now I'm not sure if I should just book or wait for them since I hear the prices go up the later you book.
My application took 51 days, after it was emailed in the last week of April.
the prices go up the later you book.
But prices are capped, you can't pay more than the BASE fare and the Senior discount for Cartafreccia holders is always a % off the Base fare.
The Card is aimed at locals who want to keep some flexibility and have a discount off the BASE fare, there are cheaper options for early birds whose travel plans are set. Even if you are older than 60 the SuperEconomy tickets can be cheaper, it depends on the train and the day of travel.
Sometimes Italo's promo codes are the cheapest way to travel on high speed trains. Subscribe to their newsletter if you are travelling on a route they serve.
I don't know why but this whole time I thought the "promo estate frecce" prices were only for cartefreccia holders, but now that i'm looking at at again it seems thats not the case?
-_- most of them are sold out now, don't know how i didn't notice this earlier
Italo only shows trains until Sept 10, I'm guessing the schedule beyond that isn't released yet?
Oh man, I have to laugh! I scanned the said application with my iPhone and sent it to the email, but my spell check changed my greeting of Buon Giorno to Buon Giotto. Hopefully they will laugh and not just press delete. Yikes!
“Bionic Giotto!” 🤣
Now.......my spellcheck just changed Barbara’s change to the above!
Well, Giotto must have been bionic to build the tower!
I’ve just finished reading a book about a woman in Puglia with limited Italian....she didn’t know whether to say Buona Sera or Buon Giorno , and it came out Bonjela.....which is a British teething gel product!
My wife and I applied for and received CartaFreccia cards in April. Today I booked the TrenItalia day train from Rome to Palermo in September for 32.60€/$ each. I didn't find an option to use the CartaFreccia discount on the booking web site but was more than happy with the price as it was.
Has anyone tried lately for the Cartefreccia senior loyalty code?
I sent an email with forms filled out for myself and my husband on July 3 and still haven't heard anything back.
Be patient - I received my response in 51 days
My trip is in September and I'm wondering if I should book train tickets now...some of the super economy and economy seats are selling out but the senior tickets are cheaper and I like the fact that you can make one change (just in case).
@frog. The choice is yours! Often the prices vary by route and the value of the senior discount can be important or not.
Hmm.. I sent in applications for CartaFrecce on July 14. I didn't hear back and then forgot all about it until now. It's now been a month, and I have gotten no response. I forwarded the same emails in again, just in case they lost track of them. I'm traveling in about another month, and I'm beginning to think that my applications are not going to come through.
Carol, how very kind of you to help so many. kc from santa cruz
Thanks Carol for sharing this exceptional benefit! ;)
I have filled out the forms. I used the European form of date
YYYY/MM/DD
I will now email them in, and we'll see. We travel to Italy on Sept 14
I emailed my forms on 7/7 and haven't heard anything. Luckily we don't leave until 10/23. Hope we hear something by then.
I jumped on the band wagon for the card but it won’t let me send. it. Maybe the wrong address? cfrecca.application@trenitalia.it. I’ve tried 3 times. Any suggestions? Thanks
Yes, you are missing a letter in the email address
Thanks for that.
We depart 09/13, and arrive Italy 09/14. That's under 45 days, so we may not have the CarteFreccia. So I thought I would print the applications and take them. I wonder if I could apply at a train station in Milan or something when we arrive?
IF you wait until you arrive in Milan to purchase tickets ALL of the discount opportunities may have lapsed, on not. I don't think I've seen CartaFreccia rates for Regional trains, only longer hauls.
And no, I'm betting you can't do a walk-up with your CartaFreccia application ... but, hey ...
Hi to everyone
Is this a greater advantage than Italo lines? I just purchased with a senior discount from Venice to Florence for Aug. 28 for 59.80 euro Prima tickets.... No special anything is required. I have not been on this line but only used Trentalia in the past. But Trentalia did not have any available tickets for the time we wanted so I went with Italo. I can cancel or change 1 time.
TIA
Lorie
"I just purchased with a senior discount from Venice to Florence for Aug. 28 for 59.80 euro Prima tickets.... No special anything is required"
And it looks like you could've booked that ticket on Trenitalia for 38.90€ for a whole variety of departure times - no special anything required
I did not apply for the cartafreccia,but apparently on the first class ticket from Bologna to Bolzano the system gave me the discount. Maybe some sort of promotional thing?
$29.60 for the ticket.
I applied on 5 August 2022, 3 weeks ago. Still waiting for a response. Looks like Carol and you other guys were lucky.
I just applied for the trenitalia app for my phone. It requires a birthdate, so perhaps this will give me the discounts.
For those of you who are waiting, don’t give up. We were in Italy for three months and saved money having our discounted senior rate. Sometimes it was only five euros but then we joked that our gelato was free for the next two days. And sometimes we saved a lot more.
We noticed that we could not do it at the last minute but even the day before would give us the discount.
Thank you CAROL for helping us navigate this.
I also applied over a month ago and never heard back. On my trip now and just about to buy my last tix so frustrating...
So, I applied by email on July 14 and I got no response. On August 14, I sent the email again and now it's a week later and I've still had no response. Is there some secret to getting them to respond?
"I got no response ... I've still had no response"
It took 51 days for me to receive my response after I applied in April - patience, grasshopper.
There has obviously been a big change in the processing time we experienced last spring to the current processing time. Their website does say "allow 45 days for processing." It seems like allowing about 2 months might not be a bad idea.
I applied July 11 and am still awaiting a response. Guess I'll use it for next year's trip! (But then again, everyone is out of the office the entire month of August. Forgot about that!)
Hello. Has anyone had any luck recently getting a CarraFreccia card for seniors on line? Thank you.
Sent application by email July 3 and still no response.
Thanks for posting instructions. The process is certainly well hidden on the website. You've done a great public service!
To chime in with others...yes website says 45 days. I applied 8/21. Maybe it will arrive while I am on my trip.
We did finally get our email with our loyalty code yesterday! Sent the application email in on July 3.
I did try contacting someone on IM on their Facebook page and they opened a file because I said I hadn't had any confirmation that my email was even received. Don't know if this helped but a few days later we received the loyalty codes email?
I applied 65 days ago, and have not gotten a reply. I had several chat sessions on Facebook a week or so ago, but no action. I think the program is currently effectively dead for non-residents.
fyi - I emailed applications in July for my wife and myself; got an email with our new Cartefreccia numbers on September 14. I already had a trenitalia online account, and when I sign on to it now, it shows me as a CF member and my number. My wife was previously listed on my account as a '2nd passenger' and I was able to update her info with her new CF number.
All of this too late for our trip this year, but ready for next trip. :)
Finally got an email with my CartaFreccia number! Application sent on 7/7, email received today (9/21) so my advice is to give it plenty of time. Luckily our trip is not until 10/23. Good luck to all.
I applied on Sunday 18Sep and just got my approvals 23Sep 4:23 am my time. However I had only 3 hours to respond to get my password etc so I missed the time limit. Then had to go through the recovery / get new password procedure. Done. So I must have been lucky.
However, it seems that there are no seniors tickets on fast train from Bologna to Varenna after midday Sun 16 Oct so options are that we we pay full price €96 for 2 Bologna / Milano plus the Regional Milano / Varenna or go all the way on the Regional an hour later and fight for our seats for €45 total. Possibly best to aim for later on Regional (1 change) as we might be delayed getting to Bologna on time so the extra hour or so may be a blessing in disguise although we lose a few hours in Varenna.
Trenitalia app is shown as ‘not available in your country.’ Trying the Trenit app which seems to work. I’ll see in October.
I emailed my application for the CartaFreccia on Oct. 11, 2022. I have not received a response, but I found this online at the Trenitalia website -
"If you do not have a tax code (e.g. a foreign customer), you can register on the Trenitalia.com website by entering
your place and date of birth but you cannot join the CartaFRECCIA programme."
Has this recently changed? Thank you for any information.
Kathy
Another question, on Trenitalia app it asks for Country/Territory of birth. I doesn't have "United States" as an option. Am I missing something?
Thanks again for any information.
Kathy
Look for "Gli Stati Uniti" or "Stati Uniti". If that's not there, is there some sort of catch-all choice, like "All Other"? I don't remember what I had to select when I applied earlier this year.
acraven, Thank you!! It was Stati Uniti D'America.
What did you put down on the form for your "tax code"? Passport #??
You will note tax code is optional, leave it blank. The printed form does not ask for a passport number.
Are you referring to something other than the non-resident Carta Freccia application?
If you've been waiting for a while, don't give up hope! Emailed my application on October 25th last year and got my CartaFreccia number today (January 3rd) ..... now waiting for the follow-up email.
Carol, thank you so much for this info. I just emailed my application last night. We're traveling in March, so we'll see how long it takes. I'll post again when I receive the email.
I think you said you travelled in the fall with your carta freccia - did you end up using it a lot to book trains while there? I'm looking at our options for tickets now (Rome-Florence, either direct from FCO or from Termini, and the most discounted ticket currently is almost half even the CF senior price, but of course we wouldn't have the option of changing trains. We arrive FCO from DUB at 11am. I'm weighing whether to book from Termini for later in the afternoon, then take the express train from the airport, figuring that if we get through passport control etc faster than expected then we can hang out at Termini which might be slightly more pleasant than FCO.
Send in our applications on 17 Aug 2022 and received email with my card code today, 10 Jan 2023. My partner has not received a notification yet.
Can someone help me on here. Does anyone know what this Speciale Frecce means? They are even cheaper than super economy. I understand I can't change or get a refund. I'm just curious if that price is for anyone? Or is it for only certain people to purchase? Thank you for your help

Yes, for anyone. It wouldn’t let you purchase if a card was required.
Just to update wait times, we sent in our applications via email as posted above on Jan 5, got our emails this morning. I had to request password reset again, but it all worked and we now have our CartaFreccia, so ~35 days wait time.
We sent in our applications on Jan 8, 2023 but have not yet gotten a response but your post lets me think positively. Going to Italy in late March so hoping it comes through.
Mine came today. Applied jan 8 arrived feb 14. Thanks for all the forum help and info.
We emailed in our printed applications on January 10th and received the email with our card numbers on Feb. 15th. Thanks everyone!
Does the price change for the senior tickets the closer it gets to the date you want to use them or does it stay the same? The train we plan to use our senior discount card on is Lecce to Napoli. How far ahead should we purchase our tickets for May 26?
Since there are no direct trains between Lecce and Naples, I assume you are going to use the card to get a Senior ticket for the Frecciargento trains to Caserta.
If you click the small i next to a fare name, a window opens with the Terms and Conditions applied to each
this offer can be purchased up to midnight on the sixth day before the departure of your train;
Thanks Dario for pointing out the little i! Lots of information there. We will be changing trains in Caserta.
We submitted our paper applications via email on January 14th and have still not received any confirmation. It has now been 45 days and the posts above seem like we should have received them by now. Should we continue to wait, resubmit applications again or reach out to someone?
Sometimes they are quick and sometimes they are not……. A follow up email probably wouldn’t hurt.
Thanks to this thread we applied in June 2022. So far nothing. I suspect that since I attached our two applications in one email request, that the TrenItalia system blew a circuit. I haven't bothered to follow up since our revised itinerary has us in Rome for 6 weeks followed by only one trip to Napoli (on Italotrena as it turns out). It was simpler to buy a discounted ticket before we left in early February at a price much better than anything offered to seniors by either train company, even with a CartaFreccia.
