If I buy a ticket online in advance for an Italian regional train from city A to city B on 20/05/2019, at 06:00, on train 1234.
Q1: If I were to miss the 06:00 train, is it correct to assume that I can simply take one of the next few trains (e.g. 07:00 or 08:00) as long as it's within the 4-hour time frame (06:00 - 10:00).
Q2: Do I have to complete my journey (start to finish) within this time frame 06:00 - 10:00, or just the boarding time has to meet this requirement?
According to the Man in Seat 61, the 4 hour window is for boarding time, not time of journey:
You don't need to validate regional tickets bought online and printed out at home as they're only valid for the train selected or for later regional departures in the following 4 hours in any case.
@Philip:
Thanks for the confirmation! I like to book my train tickets online ahead of time not to save money, but to save the time/hassle on the day of travel. I tried out booking ticket using Trenitalia App and Trenord App; I find Trenitalia App to be a bit better.
While both Apps allows user to buy their ticket as a guest without the need of registration (which is a nightmare as a foreigner, I found out the hard way and eventually gave up); Trenitalia has some additional user-friendly features.
It allowes guest user to retrieve their ticket by simply entering email and booking code (PNR), without the need to registrate/sign in. Its ticket also can be transferred easily to iPhone Wallet; a step not available in Trenord App.
Grazie!
The TrenItalia App is great, though lately I've been having problems with it. Perhaps because they were just updating schedules. One of the things they ask for when you're registering is the Codice Fisicale - your Italian tax number. You can Google that and generate one on line. I find the app easier to use than the website and I haven't printed out a ticket in years. The conductor just scans the code on your phone. Now if they only had a decent FAQ section so queries like yours could be answered.
Buon viaggio!
@Philip:
Thanks for your comment! Yes that 'codice fisicale' really tortures many people like me who attempted to register :)
I realized many people have commented the difficulties they encountered in using Trenitalia to purchase train ticket online for the very first time. Since I went through similar struggle recently, I thought I would share my experience and learning for anyone who might search for this topic in future:
1) First thing first, select 'ENG' language option at the right top corner to display in English.
2) Do not attempt to 'Register'! As a foreign user we don't have information such as 'tax code' and document (which asks for Italian address) that are specific to native Italian. Do not waste your time like I did.
3) After search and select the tickets you want, follow these steps:
* Under the 'Authentication' section, click 'Go on without log in' (If you are using the Trenitalia App, instead of 'Sign In' you will want to click 'Continue without login'). Enter your name and email address (phone # is not required).
* Under the 'Passengers' section, only enter your name & skip the other entries
* Under the 'Payment' section, select the payment option of your choice then click 'Accept General Transportation Condition ...'
* Click 'Continue'
* Enter your credit card information
* The rest should be straight forward
4) If your online order is not approved (rejected), call your credit card company. It happened to me initially, once I notified my CC my next attemp went through OK.
Wait - I had no idea that if I miss a train I could take the next one, as long as it's within four hours. How did you find that out? You said regional trains from city to city... so a train from Florence to Rome counts? This is REALLY helpful information.
It counts if you take a Regionale train to go from Florence to Rome. If you take a Freccia or an Intercity it doesn't and other rules are enforced.
Aside from the fact that there are no transfers from Florence to Rome, Regionale indicates a subsidized local service tailored for commuters and students, not a route.
What's more important is that if you get tickets on the official site and you miss a connection because of Trenitalia you are always protected. If you miss a Regional train you can freely board the next one, if you miss a Freccia or an Intercity you must get a new seat reservation for free at the counter.
Thank you for the clarification, Dario. :o)
Adrienne, I lifted this from one of your previous posts:
I reserved tickets for the Frecciarossa 9591 from Florence to Rome.
To back up dario's explanation, you have reserved seats on a "fast" train. The 4-hour rule does not apply to these, only to regionale-type trains with no reserved seats so don't miss your train, OK? What that would cost you depends on what type of ticket you bought and its restrictions: see Base, Economy and Super Economy on this page:
RE and RV are both regional trains. (Found as part of the train #)
For regional tickets purchased at a kiosk or window: the ticket is good to start journey from 4 hours after you validate it. We’ve been able to buy tickets a few days out for the return trip. Just remember to validate BEFORE you get on train. And put tickets in a safe place.
There are some trains in the Milan area where you can not purchase on trenitalia, but have to use Trenord.
Last week I was in a panic as we had to buy our dog tickets for our high speed trains at the window by adding to our reservation. Then I proceeded to loose the tickets. Since I had our people tickets on my iPhone wallet, the conduction only looked at the PNR # associated with our reserved seats and saw entire reservation including our dog.
