Trenitalia family discount apply to Americans?

I don't know if non-Italians qualify for the family discount. Registering on the Trenitalia site, which is required before booking, can be very frustrating. I suggest that you buy your tickets to Florence as soon as you arrive in Venice. Ask for Amica fares (20% discount). If any of the allotted seats are still available, you can get Amica fares on routes that offer them up to midnight of the day before departure. Yes, on trains that require them, the reservation is included in the price of the ticket.

Lynn

I registered on Trenitalia and tried to buy tickets, but couldn't finish the transaction because apparently Trenitalia only is set up for Italian credit cards. I tried 4 or 5 times to pay with different credit cards but it did not work. I ended up making reservations through a travel agency.

Hope you have better luck.

Chris. Not true about Italian credit cards only. I have easily purchased tickets on Trenitalia using my American Visa card.

When registering with Trenitalia, they immediately sent me a provisional password (within minutes). It seems to me that they want you to sign on right away and change the provisional password to one of your choosing. I didn't do this right away and had a problem. Once resolved with my new password of my choosing, I have been able to purchase tickets. Note also that my credit card company did not block the transactions.

It NEVER works for me...I've tried and tried many time and gave up (!) I was worried because we were travelling last Easter weekend...but all was fine and I was able to get tickets when we arrived at the Rome airport (about a week in advance) - so I wouldn't worry - if you are flexible with the time (there are frequent trains), you shouldn;t have a problem...I have purchased the family fare...don;t know if I was supposed to or not now that you brought it up ;-) but bought it at a ticket window from an actual person...with an American credit card and my American accent...and was not questioned :-) and the conductor didn't give it a second glance onboard...so I'm guessing it was ok (?)!

My take on the family-discount tickets is that this is a government-subsidized benefit and not meant for tourists, but for Italian families. Families who can afford to travel from N. America are not the intended beneficiaries of this largesse.

There's absolutely nothing on the Trenitalia system that indicates this is restricted only to Italians. The whole passenger rail system is subsidized by taxpayers, but we can still buy other discount tickets. Book away, and see what happens....if you're not eligible, they won't allow the purchase to go thru.

Americans are certainly entitled to the other discounts (some, such as the "amica" fare - there are certain ones that are listed as resident only or students only, etc.), so I doubt the family fare would be different - also, last I checked (and it's been a while) the site did list the Family fares in the English version meant, obviously, for foreigners. When it doubt, just ask at the ticket counter.

In a website update, Rick notes the "familia" fares are available to all families. See http://tinyurl.com/5kqbfd for more details.

Lynn, in the off season its fine to just purchase your tickets when you arrive in town for the next stop. My wife and I traveled in late March and we purchased our tickets when we arrived in town for the next stop and never had problems getting seats for the time we wanted. Trains were for the most part half or less full.

This is even recommended in Rick's guides.