Trenitalia E-Tickets

The e-tickets are much more convenient than purchasing the paper tickets.
You don't have to register when using the Trenitalia App. There's an opt out provision so you can just book as a guest - it's the "continue without login" prompt at the bottom of the screen.
You can use one account to book as many tickets as you want - you'll be issued seperate electronic tickets for each passenger, with their own unique PNR code, once the transaction is complete. We just used the App during our own trip earlier this month and it worked great - no issues at all with our US issued Visa card.

Thanks! What exactly are the E-Tickets and PNR Code – can you just scan them on your phone to board the train and show to the conductor? How does the process work exactly?

I have taken Trenitalia trains numerous times over the last few years. I didn't have a smart phone when I first visited Italy so used to use paper tickets, obviously. I was in Italy last month and used the Trenitalia app on my phone almost exclusively to buy tickets. (In a few cases, I arrived at a station last minute, too late to purchase on my phone, as the train was leaving in just a few minutes. There's a cut-off time for purchasing tickets on your phone before the train departs.) I found using the Trenitalia app on my phone extremely convenient - saved me an enormous amount of time and added spontaneity to my travels.

My first destination on this trip (flying into Venice) was Turin. I bought a Frecciarossa ticket from Venice Mestre leaving just over two hours after my plane was scheduled to arrive - bought it weeks in advance to get the cheap economy fare. (A risk in case the plane was late, but the flight was early and I arrived with more than hour to spare at Mestre.) I didn't pay for WiFi on the plane, but I don't even know if it had been available when the plane was about to land. Best I might have hoped for if I were buying a ticket last minute would be to buy it as soon as the plane touched down and then try to get cell service then. Maybe in Rome you'd have plenty of time taxiing on the runway before the plane arrived at the gate (can't use the phone, I believe, while waiting in the immigration area) to buy your ticket.

Yes, I did register with Trenitalia. Not a requirement - but otherwise, I would have had to enter my name and info every time - what a PITA! Registering made buying tickets much quicker and practical. I connected my Paypal account to the Trenitalia app so I could buy a train ticket for myself in my name with just a few taps. When I was visiting some city and figuring I was ready to catch a train in say 20 or 30 minutes, I'd just pull out the phone and buy a ticket and then start heading toward the station. (Pretty much all of my tickets, after the first Frecciarossa ticket, turned out to be regional tickets anyway, so no worry about selling out or high prices.) Not needing to enter my name each time saved an enormous amount of time.

FYI, if you go the Paypal route and have a credit card set in Paypal as your default payment method, as I did, note that Paypal defaults to DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) for credit cards for foreign transactions...but you can turn that off in Paypal (so if your credit card has no foreign transaction fees, you won't be charged any). I suppose you could just use your US credit card directly, though - I didn't try.

Yes, you need a Codice Fiscale (tax code) to register with Trenitalia. There is a way to generate one for an American. I think the tax code is just some bureaucratic thing that isn't really needed for a non-citizen, but you can't register with Trenitalia without one. I found this article linked in a Rick Steves post from a few years ago and just followed the instructions - worked fine:

http://www.italychronicles.com/how-to-create-a-codice-fiscale/

I also used the Trenit app for checking train schedules. It seemed easier to use for that than the Trenitalia app. I think you might be able just to register with Trenit instead of Trenitalia and buy tickets with Trenit (then you can buy tickets on Italo trains, too), but I just just used both apps. I took only Trenitalia trains, and I figured I'd just register and purchase directly with them.

In 2017, we traveled from Milano to Lake Como. I purchased our tickets on line a couple of months prior to our travel. I felt more comfortable printing out our tickets (there where 4 of us) than using my phone. They worked perfectly and I wasn't worried about an app or phone malfunction.

Your e-tickets will be sent to you as an attachment on the confirmation email you'll get from Trenitalia - one attachment (ticket) for each person and each with their own unique PNR. Just have the app open on your phone as you pass thru security and they'll wave you thru.
There will be an announcement (in Italian) on the train if there's a ticket checker making the rounds. Same thing - just have the attachment open to show the ticket(s) to the conductor, who will scan the PNR's with a little mobile device he carries.
The whole process really couldn't be any easier.
Might add that your e-tickets will already be time stamped so you don't need to worry about validating them ... as per the paper tickets.
Welcome to the 21st century.

You board the Trenitalia trains on the "honor" system - and expect you may be randomly inspected by a conductor who will carry a little gadget that can scan the QR code from your phone or check the PNR code . I don't think even my Frecciarossa ticket to Turin was even scanned - I kept seeing conductors heading into my car, then the train would stop and they would get distracted.

Andrew is correct in that there's no screening before boarding at the rural stations.
At the larger city hubs however (like SMN in Florence) there is a security gate you must pass thru in order to access the platforms. They never checked any bags as far as I could tell, but they did require you to show your ticket (electronic or paper) before they'd let you pass.
Only had to show one of the tickets for my wife and I, ie they didn't require a visual check of each member of our party - just proof that at least one of had a ticket apparently. Would guess that there's a similar arrangement at the larger train hubs in Milan, Rome, etc. Need to be prepared for it at any rate.