Validating Trenitalia Tickets that I've Printed at Home

The ONLY ticket that you validate is a Regionale train ticket or special trains like the Leonard Express. If you have an assigned seat, day, hour, and train number then that ticket is only good for that train at that time. Miss it and the ticket is no good. Regionale train ticket purchased on line also come pre-validated for three hours beginning with the time specified on the ticket. However, that is one reason it is recommended that you do NOT purchase Regional tickets on time.

If the ticket you print at home is for a specific train (date and time stated on ticket) then you do not have to validate it. However, since all the forums I read made me really paranoid, I folded my ticket into thirds like I was going to mail it in a legal size envelope in inserted it into the validating machine. It fit no problem & stamped my ticket like the other ticket. I notice the conductor smiled when he checked our tickets.

It is also possible to buy a reserved ticket that comes with a regional ticket that is not reserved. I would validate the regional ticket.

Thanks to both of you! That is a huge weight off of my shoulders. I will probably fold the paper and stuff it in the machine.... just to be safe...

I appreciate the responses!

-Amy

Trust me. You will look like a silly tourist if you are folding up paper to stick in the machine. You only validate an open tickets. In other words, a ticket that can be used at anytime. And the only ticket that is sold with no reserve seating is a Regionale ticket purchased at a ticket window or from a machine in a station. That ticket can be used anytime for 60 days. So when you go to use it, you have to validate it (time stamp) and then the ticket is good on any Regionale train headed in the right direction for the next five hours. Any ticket purchased on-line and printed at home does not have to be validated. In fact, you cannot validate it because the paper will not fit in the validate machine.

A Regionale train ticket purchased on line either solo or within a total travel package comes prevalidated to you don't have to validate that one either. Don't make this complicated.

Hahah! Thank you for keeping the humiliation at bay for me. I will not stuff it into the machine! :-)

I SO appreciate your expertise!

-Amy

You don't need to validate this ticket.
The reason to validate is to " time-stamp" a ticket so it cannot be used again and again later, and since your ticket online has a date/time/ train # even, it cannot be re-used on any other train or day.

Amy,

As the others have mentioned, you don't need to validate a ticket that is provided with a PNR code for a specific train. I'm assuming that all the tickets you've purchased have a PNR code?

It would be easier to confirm the ticket status if you could provide a list of the trains that you've purchased tickets for (send a PM if you'd prefer).

Ken -

All of my tickets have a PNR code. I think I'm good to go.

Thanks,
Amy

Ha yes, no worries. We always have a stack of those paper printed-at-home-tickets because we take students every year. No, they do NOT need to be validated. The conductor will just take the tickets and scan the barcode. No big deal.

Stuffing folded paper into the validation box will not only look silly, it could jam the machine.

Have a great time, look for the carriage number and try to board the right carriage so you don't have to struggle upstream with luggage.