Rick said in his Italy guidebook that you can save money by booking a rail ticket online. I am going from Milan to Florence and then my return will be from Florence to Malpensa. I wonder I should get the ticket now. However I would like some flexibility.
Any thoughts?
It is generally advised against booking a non-refundable ticket for the same day you arrive, in case there's a flight delay, but otherwise you just need to balance savings vs. flexibility, and decide accordingly.
The full ticket price is only about $55 each way in the cheapest class of service, if booked on short notice. Booking ahead might cut costs in half, but you might not care about that amount of savings; see www.trenitalia.com. You'll be booking the train just to and from Milano Centrale station; Malpensa airport requires a separate connection on the private, non-reserved Malpensa Express (allow one hour).
I guess that is my questions. Is there really a savings booking ahead and if so, I wonder how much. Thanks.
This would be for travel once I am there.
There are significant savings available if you book ahead, with the best prices coming online four months before the travel date. There is no flexibility, so only you can decide if it makes sense for you. Go to trenitalia.com.
Charlie,
Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. If you want flexibility, then buying tickets a day or so prior to travel is the way to go but you'll likely be paying Base Fare which is the highest price tier. If you want to save money, you can do that with advance purchase tickets, but these don't provide flexibility. Also keep in mind that the cheapest Super Economy tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable once purchased,
Tickets on the high speed trains, which you'll likely be using on the Milano Centrale - Firenze S.M. Novella and return have compulsory seat reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time, so these don't provide any flexibility. If buying cheaper advance purchase tickets on those, you'll need to commit to a specific departure time.
For the trip from Milano Centrale to Malpensa, you'll be using the Malpensa Express which is a Regionale train, and there's no reason to buy those in advance as there are no price breaks. You can buy those a few days prior to travel at a Kiosk or staffed ticket office, and then validate before boarding the train on the day of travel. DON'T forget to validate or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!
Going out 4 months, I can see some tickets as low as 17 euro, although 29 or 39 euro more likely. the normal price is 54 euro.
Another option is Italo. They have high speed trains from Milan to Florence for around 19 euros (90 days out).
Thanks guys! Very helpful. I ended up buying online for 39 euros. I noticed you could even get them for 29 but those were gone.
Good to know about the return trip. I tried booking ahead but all I got was a schedule with no way to select. That explains it.
Thanks.
