I am planning my trip with my family of four to Italy. We plan on landing in Rome and taking the Leonardo Express to the Rome Termini and then a train directly to Florence. Should we buy tickets online ahead or wait until we arrive?
We will also travel from Florence to Venice, Venice back to Rome and then Rome to Naples.
I am concerned if we have a delay in our flight that could mess up our train tickets. Any advice?
For some trains you might want to change at Tiburtina rather than Termini, depending on the time of departure. Check:
www.trenitalia.com
from FIUMICINO AEROPORTO
to FIRENZE SANTA MARIA NOVELLA
If you buy ahead and the plane is late, your tickets become garbage. So it’s up to your appetite for risk.
If you buy ahead, make sure you give yourself a lot of time between the scheduled landing and the train departure.
If you buy on the spot at the station, a standard class ticket to Florence is approximately 60€ Between Leonardo express and Frecciarossa.
There is also a Frecciargento that departs from the airport, with no changes required. At 11:08 and also at 15:08 in the afternoon.
Supereconomy fares offer discounts of over 40%.
I would wait to buy the Leonardo Express until you reach the FCO train station. The trains leave quite often and do not fill up. Plus I doubt there’s any saving in buying ahead.
Buying an advance ticket for a train on arrival day is too big a gamble for me. Advance tickets on all of the other trips could result in significant savings, so as long as you're OK with the restrictions they come with. On our trip last year, we saved enough for several very nice dinners.
We will also travel from Florence to Venice, Venice back to Rome and then Rome to Naples.
I’d definitely recommend booking your train tickets in advance for the following journeys; Florence to Venice, Venice to Rome, and Rome to Naples, as you’ll save money by buying discounted tickets. Make sure your dates are firm as discounted tickets are nonrefundable and unchangeable.
Regarding the train tickets for the day of arrival... This is a tricky situation as one never knows if there will be unforeseen delays with the flight or at the airport (passport control & baggage claims)
I normally do not book train tickets for day of arrival.
You’ll need the train stations in Italian when booking on Trenitalia:
Firenze S.M. Novella = Florence
Venezia S. Lucia = Venice
Napoli Centrale = Naples
Enjoy your trip!
In Germany, German Rail has a deal with selected airlines (Luftahansa is one) where travelers can book open (not train specific) tickets on long distance train from their arrival airport to other cities in Germany for a fare rivaling advance purchase fares. Does Italian Rail do anything similar?
You have three levels of ticket pricing in Italy - Super Economy, Economy, and Base. The SE and Econ are deep discount tickets, availability is limited and varies by train schedule. Once sold they are gone for that train. Base tickets are full price and always available until all seats are sold (very rare). The SE and Econ come with restrictions - basically no change, no refund. Miss the train and the ticket is dead. All trains in Italy require a seat reservation and that comes with that ticket. The exception -- Regionale trains - think bus on rails - is the slowest and stops at almost every station along the way. Those tickets are cheap, never discounted and are open seating. Can't find a seat, stand till one becomes available at the next stop. In general, train service is cheap, convenient, and very functional in Italy.
Trenitalia's BASE fare tickets are wasted one hour after the departure of the booked train.
Italotreno's walk-up tickets, called FLEXi, are wasted TWO hours after the departure of the booked train.
Imho, if you get tickets at the counter on the day of travel the cheapest option is the FL1 local train to Tiburtina and then an Italotreno high speed train to Firenze, Bologna and all the other cities they serve.
Check the price difference between BASE and FLEXi tickets on the official sites of the 2 companies. I bet that italo's FLEXi is cheaper than Trenitalia's BASE 9 times out of 10. Unfortunately Italo has less runs and they have no ticket machines and no counters at Fiumicino. So you are forced to buy trenitalia's FL1 ticket at the airport station and Italo's ticket at Tiburtina. Or you are forced to install 2 apps, there is free wi-fi at Fiumicino.
