Please sign in to post.

Trenitalia's tricky website - a cautionary tale

I booked three people on the high speed train from Venice to Florence. I put in the correct date but in looking at the options, the website changed the date to the next day without me noticing - perhaps because I scrolled through all of the available options on our travel date? I inadvertently purchased tickets for the next day, not the day I wanted. A post on Tripadvisor suggested this could also be due to not setting the hour of departure but I did do that initially and the train I ended up booking was the exact same train for the following day. Here is the other thread: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g187768-i20-k7237837-Trenitalia_Ticket_Change_Problem-Italy.html

Trenitalia's online purchase system does not have a preview screen that allows you to double-check your booking before clicking to purchase. It takes you straight to a credit card screen with no other information about your booking and you have to click yes to buy or no to cancel without being able to double check your purchase. I was confident in the information I'd put in so I clicked yes. It did not occur to me that the website would change the date on its own. (If you get this screen as I did and haven't yet double-checked, I recommend cancelling and starting again since the dates and times you put in may not stick.)

We've already got hotels booked so changing our plans was not an option. I thought there must be a way to modify the reservation online, especially since I realized the error immediately. I could not find any way to do this on Trenitalia's website without paying a 32.50 euro fee as with any reservation change. The customer service line was closed so I made the online change and paid the 32.50 euro and immediately emailed Trenitalia with my reservation code asking if the change fee could be reversed. I got an email back the next day telling me to call the customer service line.

I called the line and got through after a couple of attempts. The agent told me that if I'd called before paying the change fee, they could have fixed it but since I paid the change fee, there was nothing they could do. Hopefully posting about my mistake will save others a few euro.

Posted by
32405 posts

cc,

For future reference, you can also book tickets on either Trenitalia or Italo using the www.captaintrain.com website. It's more user friendly than the Trenitalia site, and I've never had any problems with it. Captain Train also handles tickets for Germany, France and a few other countries.

Posted by
4152 posts

There IS a "preview" screen!!! I guess you just missed it but there is one where you can check your purchase before entering your payment. Once you select the train you want there is a red box that pops up on the right of the screen that gives you all the details of your trip including date, time and type of fare. This same box pops up on the next screen where you enter all of your details such as names and credit card types.

Donna

Posted by
11613 posts

What Donna said, it's a box that shows what's in your shopping cart.

I have used Trenitalia.com for years, and a week ago I bought a ticket for the wrong date, it can happen to anyone - the more confident I am, the worse it gets.

Mine was only a €9 mistake, double that was still cheaper than base fare.

Posted by
299 posts

There is a preview screen, and there is also a warning when you continue scrolling onto the next day, it's a warning sign that tells you that train is on the next day.

I guess you missed it but it is there, I have been buying tickets for years and it has always been there!