I read on RS community about booking mini fares at the Le Frecce part of the Trenitalia website. However, when I do the search for the mini fares, it shows the low fare prices for some trains. I select those and continue to seat selection but after choosing my seat, it says error, not enough seats. The first time I thought the last ticket had been sold but it continues to show me low fares for many trains / different dates, etc and lets me select seat location over and over again -- yet always ends up saying error, no seats for the actual booking. The site also will not recognize my user id / password even though the main Trenitalia will. I thought it took a different userID/pw so registered again -- same issue. Does this sound like the website problem or is showing the fare and selecting seats somehow independent of the true availability ? I don't know if I should wait and see if the site is fixed and get my lower fares or buy the higher fares on the regular Trenitalia before they become even higher. Anyone have experience as such. I copied the section I read in the Helpline which directed me to Le Frecce. Thanks ! Excerpt:
NOTE: To find the lowest "MINI" fare for your date of travel, use the "Le Frecce" part of the Trenitalia website, instead of the main reservations page. This section will show, in matrix form, the "base" and "MINI" fares for all fast trains (except the Intercity trains) between the city pair selected, for the travel date selected. Note that the lowest "MINI" fare is often on non-peak hour trains.
Posted by
Secaucus, NJ, USA
148 posts
The Le Frecce site is nice in that it shows you all available fares when you search, but I believe the MINI fare on the Le Frecce site is the same as booking the MINI fare on the Trenitalia site. If you know which train you wish to take, then go to the Trenitalia site and search for that train. The main screen will show all times around the time you entered, but only shows the base fares. Select the train you want and click continue, then you will see the mini fare, but only if it is offered for your train. Then you can book on the Trenitalia site. BTW, I just tried and had no problem with the Le Frecce site recognizing my trenitalia user name and password.
Posted by
OP
PA, USA
17 posts
Have you tried to actually book a low mini fare on the Le Frecce site all the way through to the pay point ? I can get the train, which seat I want but then am told after that - error - there are not enough seats available. For example, May 1st Venice to Rome trains at 13:27 and 16:27 both shows 29euro fares but I am unable to actually finish booking it - multiple attempts. However at the regular Trenitalia site, the mini fare is 61euros for these trains. I have the same issue with trains from Florence to Rome / roundtrip April 5 & 11th, as well as Florence to Venice April 15th. Every low fare train I try to book lets me reserve it, including seats but does not allow a purchase - saying Error
no seats available. Yet it lets me pick my own seat location ! I think I'll give up for now and come back in a couple of hours should I worry fares will go up as the weekend approaches in Italy ? Thanks !
Posted by
Secaucus, NJ, USA
148 posts
No, sorry I haven't tried to finish booking because I already booked mini fares for every leg that I could. Could it be possible that the mini fare on the Le Frecce part is gone, but the system isn't yet? I checked both sites often since the MINI fares began in January and never experienced where it was different on one site vs. the other. However, May 1st is a national holiday, and I would not wait too long to book your tickets. Can you send an email to customer service?