Chur to Florence by Train on the same day

Remind me when your trip is. Late June seems to come to mind.

I just stepped through a month's worth of prices from June 7 to July 7 for the 16:10 departure. Prices varied from 67 EUR on Fridays, which is a premium over the normal 56 EUR Base Fare, to 19.90 EUR for a Frecce Special fare on Saturdays, which is completely nonrefundable, Sundays are 45.90 Economy, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are 34.90 EUR Super Economy, Thursdays are 42.90 EUR Economy. That seems hold in general.

So unless you are traveling on a Saturday, is paying up to an extra 21.10 EUR for a refundable ticket worth it for your peace of mind? If you are traveling on a Saturday, I'd grab the Frecce Special Fare for 19.90 EUR and if you miss it, that is all you are out. The lesson is, don't travel on a Friday.

Swiss trains are famously reliable and punctual, but things can happen. Just not in my experience.

If you buy a combined ticket, that are really two separate tickets Tirano-Milano and Milano-Firenze, and the train from Tirano is delayed at Milano, you may ask for a replacement ticket for the second part of the trip. But if you do not show in time at Tirano, you are not entitled to a replacement. The train from Chur is from a completely separate system - you actually exit from a station at Tirano and enter a different station.

Unfortunately, you cannot buy the Tirano-Milano Centrale leg now if the travel date is after June 8. You can buy the Milano Centrale- Firenze SMN ticket now. I don't know if you can link the tickets later. Often, regionale tickets don't go on sale until pretty close to the June 8 date.

Thank you everyone

So unless you are traveling on a Saturday, is paying up to an extra 21.10 EUR for a refundable ticket worth it for your peace of mind?

Yeah i should be travelling on a weekday. But on a weekday I will still be buying the SPECIALE FRECCE of 19,90 EUR isn't it? The economy and super economy says not permitted on another train so its essentially the same as the SPECIALE FRECCE ticket or have i misunderstood this? The only non BASE ticket that allows changes is Economy ticket, but I still have to pay the difference of the new ticket.

Like you said, the train into Tirano starts in Switzerland so in theory my chances of this being late arriving in Tirano is low. The Tirano to Milan train is the only one that may have issues.

The difference between base fare and SPECIALE FRECCE at the moment so far ahead of time is 36,1 EUR, Not the end of the world but just seems wasteful. What if, I buy a later SPECIALE FRECCE train connection - like the 5:30pm or 6:30pm to give a bit of room for the train to Milan to arrive. It may not be such a bad idea as we can get dinner at that time having spent the entire morning and afternoon on trains. I'm assuming the food places in Milan station are still open at the time?

Worst case scenario, if we miss the train in Milan to Florence and buy the ticket on the spot, what is the highest it can go to?

Actually thats not the worst case, the worst case is if there was a strike in which case I don't have a plan B lol. Are strikes announced in advance?

Often, regionale tickets don't go on sale until pretty close to the June 8 date.
This is a good point. This strikes out my option of buying in one ticket.

I don't see any Frecce Special tickets offered mid week in late June, but then I don't know your exact travel date.

Yes, there are restaurants open in Milano Centrale. Try this one.
https://www.autogrill.com/en/brands/bistrot-milano-centrale

Hi Sam

I haven't landed on a date just yet but i picked a few and I can see the fares, perhaps I got the train stations wrong. I put in Milano Centrale to Firenze S. M. Novella

Ah i know why, i didn't realise but the ones with FRECCIA special has one change in Bologna Centrale, the duration is about the same as the direct train - about 10 mins difference so i thought they were all the same. Are the changes okay or is it another point of failure in missing the train? :D

Yeah okay maybe you are right, should just get the BASE fare. If I get the base fare, do I need to specify a time on the ticket? And would there be a price difference on the day that I have to pay if I change the time?

Would Italo have better choices?

Unfortunately, Italo Treno is not booking out after June 8. They have trains at 16:40, 18:40, 19:40 and they look to have a 2 for 1 fare of 24.90 EUR for 2. I don't know when they will open up booking after June 8. Just as fast and many prefer them to Trenitalia.

I guess I would prefer a direct train over taking a change in Bologna.

Italo flex fares is 49,90 EUR but says you can change as many times as you like without penalty or supplement. Trenitalia doesn't say that, it says you have to pay difference on BASE fare, which doesn't work out well if buying so early in advance.

Could the BASE fare change after its been published like the other fare types?

Given trenitalia has already released tickets pass 8 June, only a matter of time before Italo releases theirs to remain competitive?

I was checking tickets earlier this week on italo for another leg and I swear i saw tickets beyond 8 June available on the website. But the next day, when i checked again, they were gone. I'm not sure what happened.

How can i tell on the italo website whether there is a change in platform/train required. I'm going from Milan to Florence.

On the trenitalia website, it looks like some of the trains i need to change at Bologna station. But on the Italio, it doesn't specify. It just says there are stops in between but looks to be the same train.

A direct train will show a travel time of 1 hour and 55 minutes from Milano Centrale and Florence SMN. Click on the circled "i" next to the train time and it will show the train number and stops along the way, Milano Rogredo, Reggio Emilia, Bologna Centrale. One train number equals one train. Trenitalia will clearly show 2 separate trains if it is a connection, and also show number of changes.

Thanks, can I confirm, does that mean the Italo train is always direct with no changes under this route?

As far as I can tell.

Thanks Sam!

Unfortunately, Italo Treno is not booking out after June 8. They have trains at 16:40, 18:40, 19:40 and they look to have a 2 for 1 fare of 24.90 EUR for 2. I don't know when they will open up booking after June 8. Just as fast and many prefer them to Trenitalia.

@ Sam can you please tell me how the 2 for 1 works in terms of changes?

On the page it has https://www.italotreno.it/en/train-offers/history-offers

The Italo 2x1 offer can be modified up to 72 hours before the scheduled departure of the chosen train. You can change the environment and/or date and/or time of the trip with an addition of 50% of the ticket, in addition to any price difference compared to the offer available at the time of the change.

Does this mean it won't really work for me as I won't know until the day whether my train is late or not?

The difference between an economy and a flex fare is about 15 euros.

Am I better getting an economy fare in that i can still change up to 3 mins before departure. In the best case scnerio where the train is on time, this is the best value and i save 15 euros. In the event train is late, then I pay difference + 20% supplement as opposed to a base fare where i still need to pay the difference but without the 20%?

I don't get how this extra tempo works on the italo? Its to protect you missing a train. But if are going to be late, won't you already have modified to get another ticket?

I have had Italian trains come quite late and missed connections. Then had to stand in line to get new ticket

How late should I factor for. Are we talking 10 mins or several hours?

Assuming the 1:08 is on time, i should be in milan at 3:40pm.

Would a train at 5:30 be sufficient or should I book a later one?