Need to buy Florence-Rome tickets on 17 Jan for 16 May travel - Trenitalia, ItaliaRail, and Italo all charge $27; Rail Europe also sells Italo for $30. Which site is best to deal with? Italo train seating seemed pretty nice - advice? Will all accept US credit cards? Does only Trenitalia require registration? Thanks.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
You don't need to register with trenitalia to buy tickets. Once you've chosen the train and time you wish there is a section called-contact buyer- required. There is the option to register and to not register (Non Sono registrato ). Choose the not register option and continue with the transaction.
There is no need to pay raileurope a fee when you can book directly with either trenitalia or Italo. I've used both and they are both wonderful. You can't go wrong with either trenitalia or italo. Buy the one with the lowest price available.
Donna
Posted by
Reading, PA, USA
1637 posts
Donna,
Thank you for that tip on the non-registration.
Posted by
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
We used Italo Treno (in addition to Trenitalia) this past September and loved it. I would choose Italo any day over Trenitalia; their trains are extremely nice, clean, shiny & new! Their seats are also very comfortable. The restrooms on the Italo train were spotless but the ones on Trenitalia were disgusting! For the same price, I was definitely glad we used Italo where we could. I booked the Italo tickets directly through the Italo web site which was very easy. I booked the Trenitalia tickets through Italiarail because I had problems booking directly through the Trenitalia site. I had to pay a small processing fee ($5) by using Italiarail but I didn't mind due to the convenience of securing a really cheap fare ahead of time. Have a great trip.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11852 posts
What @donna said. Buy the one that is least expensive, but mind the time and departure/arrival locations. ItaloTreno departs from Tiburtina or Ostiense in Rome, not Termini. It also arrives at some non-central station in other cities, so make sure you understand that. It's not a problem, but it should be noted.
Trenitalia has improved it's game since Italo came on the scene. The bathrooms are better maintained and many trains have been upgraded on the Freccia trains. There's no help for the Regionale. :-)
Posted by
OP
Goleta, CA, USA
8 posts
Thank you all for the advice.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
The advantage to registering on Trenitalia is that you can then retrieve a record that shows you purchased the tickets, just in case something goes wrong.