Raileurope.com VS Trenitalia website

When you shopped the prices did you add on the 10 euro seat reservation fee that you must pay if you buy from raileurope per trip? If not, this is something you must consider when you are making the comparison. Donna

Donna, we must be neighbors. I live in Wexford! I went through both sites, ing first class seats, one way, to three cities and the price was almost the same. The was not an "add on" anywhere in the process for 10 euro's per segment for the first class seat. Since I did not actually buy anything yet, maybe it would have been added on at the end of the purchase process (like after they have your credit card number!) However, I did prefer the ability to book all three "legs" of the trip using the multi-city feature on raileurope. Trenitalia didn't seem to have that ability. I think at the end of the day, it might be better to use Trenitalia as the raileurope doesn't allow you to exchange tickets, merely refund at 80% or less of facevalue and then you must repurchase. I am travelling mid week between Milan-Venice-Rome in October. If it is typically not as busy, maybe I should just wait until I get there to buy the tickets? But, first class is a must! What do you think??? I know I need to think less about this......

There is no 10 euro extra fee when you are buying tickets. The seat reservation is included in the price. Donna is talking about rail passes, not tickets. I too have compared RailEurope and Trenitalia prices and often they are close for full fare tickets. But you will be missing out on the mini fares that you can get when booking in advance on Trenitalia. RailEurope does not offer these, and they also add a handling fee for purchases below their minimum ( not sure what that is now, but it used to be several hundred dollars). Bottom line is Trenitalia is the better choice for advance purchase tickets, assuming you can get the purchase to go through on the website.

Also what you purchase from RailEurope's website is not necessarily what you get. Many years ago before I knew any better I purchased a specific timed Chunnel Train only to find that what they sent me was a totally different time. Be aware.

If your just buying tickets then there is no seat reservation fee. If you buy a pass there will be an additional 10 euros added for each leg of your trips. Personally, I always avoid the reseller sites and just use the trenitalia sites. It's very easy to make the reservations and use the ticketless features. If there are any problems you can go to the ticket counters to get them fixed. I don't know the process you would have to use if you buy tickets through a reseller. Did you check the trenitalia site for the mini fares? You have to choose a train and click the continue button to see the mini fare. This can save you up to 60% if you buy them in advance. Donna

I am going to experiment with the Trenitalia website to see the mini pass savings but I think you cannot purchase more than 2 days in advance to get the mini pass pricing. First class seats Milan to Venice, Venice to Florence, Florence to Rome is running about 180 euro or $250. I'll be curious to see if the mini pass realizes much of a savings for these point to point tickets. A friend suggested that I just buy as I go because October is not high season and, aside from Milan to Venice, which is on a Sunday, the other point to point trips and during the week and won't conflict with the local commuter/weekend travel.

Marianne, MINI fares are available up until 2 days before; if you know the train you want and can book early enough you can save ALOT of money on that route! Whether or not it's high season isn't really a factor - most of these routes don't sell out (EXCEPT for night trains). As mentioned above, you have to choose a train by clicking the button at the far right, then going to the next page to see if any MINI fares are left for that particular train.

The other major note would be that Raileurope does not always show all available trains, but Trenitalia does. Any time I tried to compare the two, when it came to the actual payment, Trenitalia was considerably cheaper, especially if you could take advantage of mini fares.

I travel quite happily in second class. I don't really see the point of paying extra for first class - you'll arrive at the same time.

A BIG thanks to everyone who has posted in response to my questions. After fiddling around on Trenitalia's website, plugging in random dates and times for my itinerary, I now see how the mini fares work. The biggest savings are definitely in 2nd class coaches. Once I am 90 days pre departure, I will begin booking my tickets on trenitalia.com!

My family of four will be taking a bus from Venice to Villach, Austria, then a train to Lesce-Bled (in Slovania.) What do you think, should we buy our tickets ahead of time in the US or wait until Venice?!! Between insurance and UPS mailing costs, it's an extra $60. It is worth if for piece of mind and simplicity?

Karin, since this is the second post of yours I've seen tagged onto another thread I'd suggest that you post a new thread on the "To The West" section. You may find people there who can help you who never read the "To The Boot" section.