Wife and I are going from Milan to Venice in May. Train tickets on Trenitalia.com are 75 euro each, pretty much all day if we buy them is advance. Other days the tickets go for as low as 19 or 38 euro - but the day we travel is more expensive. Website says lower priced tickets are sold out.
Is there any chance that we could get tickets cheaper the day we travel by walking up to the station? Or is buying tickets in advance the cheapest and surest way to get them?
"Is there any chance that we could get tickets cheaper the day we travel by walking up to the station? Or is buying tickets in advance the cheapest and surest way to get them?"
Italian train tickets do not go down in price. There are several fare types, and when a type sells out, it's gone for good for that particular train.
If you post the date you are traveling, others can double-check that the cheaper fares are indeed gone for your date. If they are, there's no advantage to buying in advance - full fare tickets don't cost any more bought at the last minute. However, if the reason your travel date has no remaining discount tickets is that it is a peak travel day (like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in the US), then you may want to buy in advance to be sure your train is not sold out (not usually an issue in Italy).
Harold - I didn't think about that - thanks for pointing it out.
We will be traveling on May 16th, a Friday. We are flying in on the 15th, spending the night in Milan, then going to Venice to join a RS tour starting on the 16th. There were still cheaper tickets to Venice leaving at around 7:00 am, but I didn't want to make my wife rush to catch a train that early on a vacation.
Walter, based on my own personal experience, I would be sure to give myself a little extra time to buy tickets at Milano Centrale. I had some problem figuring out how to buy what I wanted from the machine, so went to the ticket counter, or better the large room with the large number of ticket counters. There I needed to take a number (no one told me that, it took me a little while to figure that out) and then rush to the particular counter indicated on a large screen when my number came up. It all took me about 30 minutes, before then needing to seek out my correct platform. Milano Centrale is a big station. If you have some difficulty with the ticket machine, you should not involve someone who comes up to you offering to help. Sadly, they are usually trying to score in some way, expecting a tip if not taking advantage of the situation in some more devious way.
Walter, did you ask your wife whether she would get up early to save 50 euros ??
In all fairness, someone offering help can be doing just that - offering help. And if someone is helpful, given them a Euro for the assistance. A number of times I have been offered assistance and I appreciate it.
I appreciate the input from everyone, but I would like to get back to the point of my question.
If the train website says they are sold out, what are the chances of walking up and getting a ticket?
I've heard of other websites that don't actually have completely correct information. People have told me in other situations (concerts, sporting events, and museums) where websites said tickets were sold out, but they ended up being able to easily buy tickets from a box-office the day of an event. Is it the same with trains in Italy - or are they truly sold out?
If a train has no more seats then it is sold out.
If it is a Regionale it can never sell out because seats are not reserved and there is no limit on tickets sold. If you can squeeze on you can go. Tickets do not vary in price and Trenitalia do not find those train prices more than 7 days out.
If it is a faster train - InterCity, EuroCity, Eurostar Italia, Freccia, all seats are reserved and no standing is permitted. Tickets for those trains are available much further out and are in typically three fare groups. The base fare is like the rack rate - for those who want ultimate flexibility or who haven't planned in time and are the highest fares. There are 2 levels of economy ticket also offered, which are very cheap and pretty cheap. Every train is allocated these - the seats are identical but the lower prices fill up first, leaving just the base fare until it too is gone - then the train is sold out.
If you are seeing trains after your wife would get out of bed which only offer the base fare then the discounted ones are all gone and will never be seen again for that particular run. What you see at the station will be the same but with the added fun of queues.
If you look at an upcoming train now and it has some super-economy seats left now you might look at it in 6 hours and see none. That's because in the interim the have sold those seats and now the cheapest tickets on this run are more expensive.
If the train website says they are sold out, what are the chances of walking up and getting a ticket?
or to be blunt - none, unless you looked before they were released or there was a technical error.
Please reread Harold's correct answer - the first post you received - and read it carefully.
As he says, post what you are looking for and we will double check it. In the meantime any cheaper tickets may be going going ...
Walter, you can always buy your train tickets the day you arrive at your first destination (that is, before the day you want to travel). That way you'll know what train you can get, w/o having to wait until last minute.
More about fare structure: Base fares are full fare but allow changes almost until departure time. Economy fares are cheaper and allow some changes (usually at a supplemental cost). Super economy allow no changes.
Walter,
I think what may have happened is you inadvertently clicked on a Rail Europe site.
Try this
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ee13721bdd69a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD
Showing 4 trains between 8:05-9:35 then a bunch from 11:35 onward 2H35m 37,50 euro
