Help with Night train from Switzerland to Italy

My itinerary is also quite similar.
I reach Paris on May 7 morning and am planning to leave Interlaken on May 11th night - about 5 days in between. While booking after going to Paris is a good option for day trains, I dont know if 5 days is sufficient to make reservations for night trains cos people say that it might get booked fast! I havent traveled to Europe before, so any pointers on this subject would really help!!

Karthik,

I think calling Swiss Rail and asking if you can get a discount fare by booking over the phone is a very good idea. No harm in trying, right?

You won't be able to book this ticket with Trenitalia. They don't mail tickets to the US. There is no ticketless option for international trains. You can only pick up tickets at stations in Italy.

Book on the Swiss Rail site.

Thanks a lot for the response!
I tried the swiss site but for international trains they dont list the fares online. I had to send them a request for price quote. They got back with a quote of about $175 for the same itinerary which I checked on trenitalia for 57 euros (non-refundable 2nd class). I am assuming that the swiss site suggested a std 2nd class fare. But I guess the reduced non-refundable one would still be nowhere close to 57 euros listed in trenitalia.
I would probably have to anyways call to book the international train even for the swiss site. Do you know if trenitalia would also booking for international trains through phone and would they accept US credit cards?

Thanks again!
Karthik

Trenitalia does not accept most North American credit cards. The only one that works is VISA--and only if you have gone through the process of signing up for the extra security measure called "Verified by VISA." However, as I said above, if you book with Trenitalia and ticketless is not an option, you must pick up your ticket in Italy. Since you'll be starting out from Switzerland, that won't work for you.

Here's a thought. I assume your route will be the Bern-Bologna night train and then a regional train from Bologna to Venice. You might be able to see fares for that leg on the Swiss Rail site and book it online without going through the e-mail process. Then buy your Bologna-Venice ticket when you arrive in Bologna.

Thanks Tim for the suggestion.
I did try the Bologna leg alone, but since it is a night train, the fares dont appear on the web-site but I have to request it through a query.
The last time I requested, they provided me with only the standard fare (about $155 from Brig to Bologna) for 2nd class but did not provide any saver fares or non-refundable fares.
The standard fare is the same when I looked it up on trenitalia site as well, but they also provide a smart fare if you book in advance (non-refundable) which is only half the std fare's price. Since I have to book a couple of tickets, this could be a big saving!! Do you think Swiss might also have similar saver fares that they would tell me if I called them up??

Thanks for your time!

What's your itinerary like? Would it be easier to buy a ticket once you are there from any train station? I'm planning a similar trip from Interlaken to Venazza. I figured that I would just buy my ticket when I got to Paris or something.

Katrthik, It looks like you are really trying hard to get on some type of night train from Bern to Venice. In reality, this is a 6.0hr train trip during the day or evening with one train change in Milan. Thus, the only thing you are saving is daylight and not time or money. Still, it's completely your choice.

I'm looking at the Trenitalia website for pricing (I put in Venice to Bern and I can see the pricing. I know that you are going in the opposite direction). It's 42.60Euro on the day and evening train. The night train run via Bologna is 123Euro in a 4 cabin couchette. Why spend 3 times more and take 4 hours more to get to Venice. The night train portion from Bern to Bologna takes 7.0hrs. During the day runs, it takes 3.5hrs. These trains all go on much the same tracks (except that the Swiss run goes through Visp).

Hi Larry,
As you guessed, I am trying to save on the daylight :-) I have planned to be in Venice for two days before going to Florence. By traveling over the day, it takes about 7 hours to get to Venice and I would reach there around 2pm. With all the hotel check-in, etc..it would have eaten a major part of that day.

Also, the standard fare that I saw in trenitalia from Bern to Venice is about 120 euros on night train and 84 euros in the day train. But the non-refundable smart fare is pretty much the same for both night and day runs, close to 54 euros.
(has anyone tried these?)
That is why I was trying to see if there was a way to purchase that trenitalia ticket. But it doesnt look like you can do it from here for the international trains.

Do you know how early you need to book for these night trains or international trains? I get to Paris about 5 days before my Italy trip, but the smart trenitalia fares are available only till 14 days prior to the trip. If nothing works, I will have to take the day train and shorten my stay in Venice.