Confusion on which website to use for High Speed train tickets

Always go straight to the company who runs the trains.... www.trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.com , depending on what company you use (they may have different prices, timetables, and stations, depending on what you want)

Waiting until you land and buying the next convenient train ticket is a FANTASTIC idea. Take advantage of cheaper discounts on your set in stone times and travel days. You could buy your ticket in advance and save money, but why worry about making a train, changing a ticket, or having to wait around for a long time to catch that specific train? The last time I flew into FCO we did the luggage and passport stuff and I ended up on a different train than I had expected I would, but I walked up to the machine and bought the entire trip on the spot, leaving in less than 20 min I believe.

If you purchase your ticket the day you arrive, it’s showing €99 from Roma Termini to Venezia S. Lucia. If you were to purchase it today for your April 6 train, it’s €56. That difference in price is what to decide. For me, I don’t want to be waiting at a train station (which I have done a few times in other countries in the past) with jet lag because it was a huge difference in cost.

Download the Trenitalia app. When you arrive at the Rome airport, take the Fiumicino Express train to Roma Termini (center of the city). Then purchase your ticket to Venice with the app. You need to use the Italian spelling for the cities, mentioned above. Select a Frecciarossa type direct train -should be 4 hours to arrive in Venice, not anything where you need to make a connection to another train. Some of the slower trains would take you 8 hours - ugh!

. I have been told to use www.italiarail.com since I am American and it is an American company.

You should be thankful to the people who told you this. Now you know they'll make stuff up for you to rely on for your trip. You should put similar faith in any other advice they give you.

Italiarail is simply an American travel agent specializing in Italian train tickets. They take a small cut, and may not show all the trains, like cheap regional trains where they cannot make any money.

You should be thankful to the people who told you this. Now you know they'll make stuff up for you to rely on for your trip. You should put similar faith in any other advice they give you.

The "people" in this case may be The Man in Seat 61 - ItaliaRail prominent in a large box on the page for Italy:

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm

Since the default recommendation for train travel tips on the forum is that website, should we not put any faith in any info displayed there? There is an offer to refund the booking fee for Seat 61 readers.

Download the apps for Trenitalia and Italo to your phone. You will be glad you did. You can buy tickets from there as well as check schedules, delays, etc.

Typically flights inbound to Europe are rarely delayed by any great measure and often depends on where you are departing from (JFK is more reliable than LGA, in my opinion). Also, it should take only 90 minutes from landing to clear Customs but your mileage may vary.

Thank you all for your replies. You have been very helpful.

You can also purchase your entire journey at that machine at the FCO airport train station, no need to find another machine to buy another ticket from.

To markcw - regarding the Man in Seat61. Italiarail is given as one of 4 booking options, not as the only one. It is also stated that they cannot book Italo trains so you may not get the best value fare on routes where Italo and Trenitalia compete.
Other companies like Trainline will provide the competing quotes, or you can compare yourself.
From the fact that Italiarail will refund the booking fee if you cite that you were referred by Man in Seat 61, he is clearly getting some kind of commission or click through money.
There are a number of cases like this on his website where he does not declare a pecuniary interest. I have no problem with him earning money that way, but wish he would be upfront and honest about it. For me, personally, it taints his reputation slightly.

He did used to be crystal clear about when he did that, now he isn't.

Personally, unlike many here, I treat him as one source, not as the Bible. I would always check with the relevant rail companies, in fact I would do that as my first step.