italiarail.com vs trenitalia.com

I don't have any experience with italiarail.com, but I was able to purchase a ticket on trenitalia.com using my debit card. Other have reported success using a Capital One credit card. If you haven't tried it, you might want to give it a shot.

To follow-up, it appears italiarail doesn't offer the 30% advance purchase discount that trenitalia offers, so price-wise, there's no advantage to buying in advance on italiarail, versus buying your ticket once you arrive in Italy.

If you can't save any money buying early just wait til you get there. Most trains in Italy always have seats available. I got lucky and was able to get the meno 30 discount on my tickets, saved about $400.00 but I have a sister in law who lives in Italy buy them at the station and send them to me. I tried a half million ways to buy then from the trenitalia website and never had success. I tried debit cards, chase cards with the blink technology, capital one cards, the only thing I didn't try was using my brother in laws italian credit card. One reason to buy early is to save if you can't save don't buy til you get there. Have a great time Cliff

Trenitalia IS Italian Rail. Italiarail is just a ticket reseller like RailEurope, but they do seem to undercut RailEurope a bit. For Rome to Venice on an AV, RailEurope wants $102, Italiarail wants $97, Trenitalia wants €73 ($93.56 at today's exch rate). Both RailEurope and Italiarail want $14 for an AV supplement.

Just wait and buy them in Italy. Neither site will offer the pre-purchase discounts that trenitalia does so don't waste your money buying tickets from a reseller. The trains never sell out and there are many trains a day to the larger cities. Donna

I bought my tickets through italiarail.com because I needed to meet my cousin at a certain time at a specific train station so I needed to make sure I would be on that particular train. The service was great. I received my ticket in less than 48 hrs. even though I only paid for normal shipping. That being said, I have also bought tickets at the station if I did not need to be somewhere at a specific time.

I just purchased tickets on italiarail.com for slightly cheaper than on trenitalia.

I have to agree with other posters - just buy tickets in Italy. I thought I would save time and money buying online, but it turned out to be nothing but a hassle - trying to find help in Italian train stations (especially Termini) can be a nightmare. We had much smoother experiences with the tickets we bought at the train station and it really didn't amount to much more (maybe $20) than if we'd bought online - and we did alot of train travel! It's very easy to buy tickets in Italy from the machines.

If you'll look at RoninRome.com, he has directions on how to purchase tickets at train station kiosks, including pictures of the machines and touch screens. His info is great. Go by the train station a day or two before you're leaving (during off peak hours) to pick up your future tickets, and you can get the mini rate discount. Like they said, trains are virtually never full except on biggest holidays. It'll all come together.

I just purchased my trenitalia ticket on their website last week. Had no issues. Got a printed receipt that I believe I just have to scan when I board the train in Italy. I used my capitol one card...no issues.

I just purchased tickets on TrenItalia the other evening. Had no issues. Used the ticketless option. Have a payment confirmation receipt and ticket receipt. Got the mini rate and saved well over 50%