Trenitalia credits expiring in May

Have you asked Trenitalia?

If you are no able to come in Italy due to COVID, you can ask the refund of your voucher.
Unfortunately I can't found the English webpage, only the Italian one: https://www.trenitalia.com/it/informazioni/richiesta_di_rimborso.html

If you have purchase directly your tickets ,my suggestion is to fill this form and ask for refund: https://reclami-e-suggerimenti.trenitalia.com/rimborsi/Anagrafica.aspx . If you purchased them through a Travel Agency, ask them to ask for refund.

At the moment is under discussion (by the Govern) if extend the vouchers for other 12 months, but no decision has been taken yet.

Thank you Ricky.

I bought the tickets directly from Trenitalia.

I'm going out on a limb, but my experience with refunds in Europe after the charge is several months old is that a chargeback to your credit card may not be possible. They may want to do a bank transfer, which from a foreign currency to an American bank could be a $50 charge. Some banks have much lower fees.

If forced into a non-credit-card refund, check to see whether it could be handled through TransferWise. I haven't used it, but there have been multiple positive comments from other forum members who have used TransferWise to send money to Europe for things like traffic fines. They have said the fees are much lower than those charged by US banks. I have no idea how the process would work for funds being sent from Europe to the US.

@Tom_MN
I am not sure in this case. In Italy bank transfer are common and usually the cost is 1 or 2 euros (depending by the bank).
Neither I have done a refund due to COVID, so I don't know which details are required by Trenitalia (the first page of the form is only to input your details). Maybe only a bank transfer is possibile, but if I have to choose between lose 50$ (of a total of 500$) or jeopardize for an extension of the voucher... probably I choose the first one.

One of my refunds from a 2020 cancelled trip was done via bank transfer. Whereas there would have been a charge for the international (Europe to US) transfer to my Wells Fargo account, it was free to my Schwab checking (not investment) account. Another reason (along with reimbursed ATM fees worldwide) to love my Schwab checking account for international travel.

One word of caution: be sure to provide the transfer instructions specifically for an international transfer. I made the mistake the first time (with the help of customer service, who did not know the correct process) of providing the domestic (US to US) routing number, which failed. In the case of Schwab, the funds are first transferred to their international partner bank with instructions for further routing to your own Schwab account. So you must provide the details for both the intermediary bank and your own final account details.

Ask your bank specifically for instructions for an international transfer from Europe to the US.

you should definitely keep banging on their door to get satisfaction, these days never take the credit there's too much up in the air

Ricky: This is one of those big and unexpected cultural differences between Europe and USA. Bank transfers can have high fees in the US because that action is less common.

CW: I received a free transfer from Europe in US dollars to a Capital One account. I think from euros it would have been $15. My normal checking account $50. I don’t recall any particular routing instructions.

Tom_MN, it sounds like your transfer was much simpler than mine!