Hi all, plan to go to Italy and use trains for most of the travel. Will reserve online in advance, but wondering how flexible it is to change the time and/or date of departure once the reservation is made?
Thank you!
Linda
Thank you all for this information! It has provided a lot of clarity and reduced angst!!
ciao!
Linda
The only trains you need to book in advance are fast trains between large cities. Other tickets are generally local trains called regionale that don't change price and don't sell out so only book them as you need them.
The two companies that run fast trains are Trenitalia which is the state train company that also runs local trains and the private Italotreno - aka .Italo - that only runs certain fast trains. They both have tiers of service and they are pretty equal in terms of comfort and travel times.
https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html (use Italians names for cities eg Firenze and Roma for best results)
https://www.italotreno.com/en
Both come with specific reserved seats and buying tickets in advance can save you money - sometimes significant amounts. However, early tickets come with restrictions in terms of changes or cancellations so you can only get full flexibility by paying full price. Given the hassle of making changes if you aren't willing to stick to a time you should wait until you're ready to travel to buy tickets because you pay full price either way. Fast trains rarely sell out - like on big holidays - so there's generally no reason to buy ahead and pay full price.
Both companies have phone apps and I recommend at least getting the Trenitalia one to book local trains and check schedules as you need them.
The Man in Seat 61 is a wealth or in depth knowledge of trains in Italy and Europe.
https://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm
Hope that helps,
=Tod
The train company offers flexible tickets in the options you will see /,, meaning you can change it for free or a fee or that it is 100% refundable if you don't make it or change your mind. These are price the highest.
For high speed trains - those that can and have to be reserved in advance - there are different ticket fares; the cheapest fares locks you to a given time and place, the intermediate fares have some flexibility, the base fare (not discounted) is the most flexible. When you reserve be sure to read all the clauses and you will know exactly how flexible your ticket will be.
But: even if your ticket can be exchanged for a later or earlier time, if you try at the last moment you cannot be absolutely sure there will be places available on other trains. For example I often have to do business day trips Florence-Milan-Florence, but coming back in the evening often I cannot find available seats if I want to leave an hour earlier than planned. Also, it is easier to change trains with Trenitalia than with Italo as they run more trains.
In any case, an high speed ticket is good only for the train and place for which is issued. If you want to change, the first ticket is voided and another ticket is issued, again valid only for the reserved place. Like airplane tickets.
