Italo NTV or Trenitalia?

Rome-Florence: If you book ASAP (up to 120 days allowed) on trenitalia.com, you can get a Super Economy fare of €19.00. Florence-Venice: Do the same as above to get a Super Economy fare of €19.00. The cheapest tickets on Italo trains cost €20.00 for Rome-Florence and €21.00 for Florence-Venice.

Brent, Either rail system would be good. Choose the one that provides the best prices. If you pre-purchase Trenitalia tickets and can get the Super Economy fares, that may be cheaper than Italo. However, keep in mind that pre-purchase will "lock you into" a particular train and departure time, so be sure you don't miss the train as you'll have to buy new tickets at full price! As Frank mentioned, Italo uses different stations in some cases. In Rome you'll be departing from Roma Tiburtina, but I believe Italo also uses Firenze SMN and Venezia S.Lucia (haven't checked in awhile). Some interesting trivia - the Italo rolling stock is a different technology than that of Trenitalia or other European high speed trains, and the coaches are newer. Wi-Fi, satellite and other modern conveniences are provided (not sure if there's an extra charge for that?). They use the newer AGV (Automotrice à grande vitesse) design, with some of the electric motors built-into the bogies (wheel assemblies). They're all built by Alstom, a French firm. Happy travels!

Brent - I'm going to piggyback on your question since I came here today to ask pretty much the same question myself. In addition, they only have the schedule and fares posted through the middle of March which makes me think the great fares are going to change. Is this common practice to post a schedule only a couple of months ahead for trains or are were the fares they've had thus far known to be introductory?
If you go to the website the Intalo trains look amazing and the fares seem great compared with Trenitalia. Sounds almost too good to be true...

Train schedules are only available about three months as they tend to change about every quarter. However, the changes are very, very small. The NTV uses different stations so be sure it is going to a train station that you want to go to. There is nothing wrong with Trenitlia so go with the one that has the best schedule for your purposes.

Emma, The difference in fares is not due to any basic fare increase. There is an allotted number of discount fare tickets at each price level. When the cheapest tickets are gone, the fare jumps to the next level until all that is left are full fare tickets.

Hi,
When I was looking at the Italo site the 90 days to the date of departure had passed but they didn't show up, it was only a couple of days after then they were appearing. So keep looking, They run less trains than Trenitalia

Hi, I'm anxious to get Rome-Florence tickets for my family's trip in May. We could have gotten Super Economy tickets (19E) on Trenitalia a while ago since they allow booking about 120 days out, I believe. But we decided to wait for Italo tickets to become available, mostly because their lowest price was not that different (20E) and we figured we could eliminate the odds of catching Trenitalia in a scheduled strike. However, we've heard that Italo tickets are 90 days out (correct me if wrong here) and we should be in that window now, but I'm coming up empty on their website. As of today, the latest I can get a ticket is May 6, and we need tickets for May 17. Can anyone explain? Do we just keep waiting to buy online or go for Trenitalia now, which of course is now more expensive?
Thanks for advice!

Hi Brent, I just bought my ticket from Trenitalia for Rome to Venice at 98 euro for 2. The super economy is no longer available, but my ticket allows me to change my reservations. Either is good. I've been reading reviews and just compare both (trenitalia and Italo) all the the time. But if you are traveling from Rome, you are better off with Trenitalia because Italo's main station is at tiburtina and ostencia you dont wan that unless you are in that area.

Use whichever fits your schedule and whichever has the best price at the time of booking. Prices are similar for the same type of ticket. It really depends on with which company you can snatch the discounted tickets. Italo trains are newer and maybe a bit fancier with slightest better service (at least according to some friends who have used it). The stations used by Italo in Florence and Venice are the same (SMN and SL respectively). For Rome Italo uses Tiburtina only (Trenitalia uses both Tiburtina and Termini). The Triburtina station is in the Pietralata district, a very short subway ride from Termini on the "Metropolitana", therefore don't let the Tiburtina location turn you away from it. Unless you are right at Termini, going to Tiburtina is only 4 extra metro stops (4-5 minutes) on the B line to Rebibbia.

I rode NTV Italo in October, round trip, between Tiburtina sta. in Rome and Garibaldi sta. in Naples. I bought the ticket at Tiburtina a few days ahead of time...motivated by the prospect of a Trenitalia strike on the day of my intended departure! Fare was E19 each way. The trains were spotless, staff was professional, ride was quiet. Staff distributed snacks and beverage of choice: I had a cookie and a glass of prosecco on each trip. The train started and arrived on time. What a letdown it was to depart the Italo and then board the sardine-can Circumvesuviana rattletrap commuter train to Sorrento, which took the same length of time to go from Naples to Sorrento as the Italo took to go from Rome to Naples. My advice: take either NTV Italo OR Trenitalia--whichever fits your schedule and budget. Best wishes