I'm feeling a little on the left side of the bell curve. I went to the http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/ site and I am trying to go to Florence from Rome early in the morning and then return late that night(This will be for the end of April) . It allowed me to look at the train schedules and fares, but I am having questions over the 30 menos and 15 menos. I was figuring these were discounts for buying ahead of time, correct me if I'm wrong. Once I put in the correct information and even have registered with them, it keeps telling me the train is not reservable. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks
Posted by
Los Angeles
425 posts
It has been widely reported that the Trenitalia website will not accept credit cards which are not issued by an Italian bank. This is likely the cause of your problem. A very few travellers have found a "fix", but most simply "give up" trying to use the Trenitalia website to purchase tickets, and wait until arriving in Italy. Others rely on friends or relatives in Italy to buy tickets at the promotional fares, and some go through travel agencies (for local pickup).
I myself checked availability of seats for the "meno 30" promotional fare (which requires an advance purchase of at least 15 days) for the 7:15 AV train from Rome to Florence on April 25. The system reflected availability at this fare. The system also reflected availability of this fare on the 21:10 return train same day. You save 26 Euros round-trip with the "meno 30" fare. Pretty good.
Remember, too, that nobody can book seats on long-distance trains more than 120 days in advance.
Posted by
OP
San Antonio, TX, USA
19 posts
Yes, I know that there is trouble with using a credit card from USA when purchasing the tickets, and I know about the 120 day rule, my problem is before that, it makes the case "The requested train is not reservable for chosen date" before I can get to trying to pay for the tickets. I am within the 120 days and I chose:
Train Outbound - Train: Espresso 834 date: 30/04/2010 from Roma Tiburtina (06:22) to Firenze Campo Di Marte (08:32)
Train Inbound - Train: ES Italia AV 9533 date: 30/04/2010 from Firenze S. M. Novella (21:10) to Roma Termini (22:45)
I'm not sure which train is not reservable, I'm guessing the Espresso?
Posted by
OP
San Antonio, TX, USA
19 posts
Answered it, if I choose the ES train both ways, then it accepts it. Was hoping to get away a little cheaper. Thanks, David