Train Tickets - Buy Ahead of Time?

If you are willing to commit to dates and times buying in advance is a great savings. It also gives you better seat selection (and class of service). I just booked Rome-Napoli-Rome and beyond - think I saved enough for a few special dinners at least!

If you purchase the day of departure you will pay the "base" price for your tickets and won't qualify for any discounts. If you know your travel dates you may want to book ahead of time and take advantage of the deep discounts you can get. Remember, these tickets have very strict change policies so be sure of your travel plans before purchasing.

Donna

We ALWAYS purchase as far ahead as possible so as to maximize our savings. It's really a no-brainer for us...if I buy a ticket on the 10:00 train then my BEhind will be in the seat on that train no ifs ands or buts. It's really not difficult to commit when you think about all of the other things you must commit to on a trip.

Awesome...thanks for all the replies!

Oh yikes...my Italo train from Napoli to Venezia S. Lucia is 'sold out' today -- there were seats yesterday. I am wondering -- have you ever found adjustments where seats become available again...or should I get my train booked on Trenitalia while I can?

Is the all train sold out? I mean all classes and all fares? If so they can't release new tickets.

In theory there could be somebody who purchased the walk-up, changeable fare weeks in advance and that now wants to take another train. I wouldn't bet on it.
If discounted fares are sold out, but there are some full FLEX tickets left, they could change the price of those seats in the coming weeks to fill up the train.
Trenitalia would never do it, but Italo is more unpredictable.

Entire train at that time (Italo) sold out). I went ahead and purchased for that segment (Napoli - Venezia S. Lucia).

Wow, you found an unicorn... lucky you! Take a pic.
These are the results of Trenitalia releasing less and less discounted tickets!

Melinda,

I'd suggest buying your Napoli to Venezia train tickets now while you can still find them at a discounted price.
You can see what's available for both Trenitalia & Italo by checking on trainline.eu where you can also buy your tickets without extra fees.

Buying (high speed long distance) train tickets in advance is a good idea if your dates are set and you want to save some money. Having said this, the only ticket I don't buy in advance is the ticket for my day of arrival due to the fact that there may be unforeseen delays with my flight, at the airport, etc, etc.

Have a wonderful trip!

Edit to add...
Melinda, I took so long to add my reply that I didn't know you had posted again.

Good for you for securing your Napoli to Venezia tickets! For future reference, you can book your tickets up to 120 days in advance for best deals!

Ha darioalb! Thanks Priscilla...I think I will look at my remaining train schedules and get those booked as well. Thanks all -- again!

This is purely a personal decision - but whenever we're making a multi-city visit to Europe - I far prefer booking ahead of time. We already know the days we're going to travel - and its one less stressful thing to deal with during a kind of stressful day (moving from one city to the next). I enjoy it for the peace of mind it brings.

Have a great trip!

I am still in Italy and booked Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome in advance, saved money, reserved seats and made life easy. on Trenitalia. Tip I got from RS site was to use Pay Pal for fast and easy booking. Worked great.