How find low SuperEconomy fares? From Rome to Venice

Mary, i cant answer your questions, but this i just my opinion and how i see my travel and how i make my decisions.
Also, if one could predict if fares drop/rise after ones buys it, then people would be doing it all the time. I monitored my fares from PDX to AMS this year and it didnt change much - at least not worth worrying about. If i have paid reservations to be somewhere i try to buy my tickets in advance. I will look at how the fairs are BEFORE i travel and if possible 6 months out and not close to any holiday/vaction...ect. Its just an ESTIMATE. So far ive only done reservations and havent "winged it" travel. im trying to make the most of my $$$ and time so thats why. on my train trip from COlogne, Gremany to Remagen, Germany and back, it was winging it. I did it cuz there wasnt going to be a ton of people going there and back and i had scheduled all day to do what i wanted. also the way i figure it, id rather pay what i know now and know i have a ticket/reservations. so, for the others that have "been there, done that" you may want to give more details so a more informed answer could be given. happy trails.

Ray's advice (about not knowing how fares will go) applies to trans-Atlantic flights. But you seem to be asking about domestic Italian high speed trains, which are not at all the same as international flights. For these trains, the answer is simple. Trenitalia has three fare tiers, and the cheapest ones sell out first. When they're gone, they're gone. Fares never go down. So, buy your tickets as soon as you're ready to commit (the cheapest tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable). Italo also has discount fares that sell out. Compare Italo and Trenitalia to see who has the best price for your dates, remembering that Trenitalo uses Roma Termini and Italo uses Roma Tiburtina.

As far as train fares go, they only go up. Each train has an allotted number of super Economy fares. When they are sold out, only Economy fares are available. When they sell out, only full fare is available. So buy now!

mary, i should have added, i took the train on half my trip this year. Copenhagen to Hamburg to Cologne to Brussels to Libramont to Luxembour city. All of the tickets were purchased at the earliest i could and that was mostly around 3 months out. If i remember correctly a couple was 1 month out. i didnt check any of the ticket purchase places for less expensive fares since most of them were that much $$ to me. I was informed on my trip from Brussels to Libramont by the ticket inspector that they had reduced fares that week. i informed him that i purchased them 1 month ago and wasnt sure how full the trains were. i guess i would have saved about 10 euros or about $ 13.00. most of the trains were less than full, but i was expecting that due to the time of the year, but i still bought them ahead of time especially the one from Copenhagen to Hamburg since it crossed the baltic via train ferry and it was the one reason i choose to go that way. happy trails.

Yes, all the Super Economy fares are gone for Nov 13 Rome to Venice. Only Economy fares are available at 49 euro. Look at www.italotreno.it/en/ and there are 45 euro fares available. Those trains leave from Rome Ostiense and Tiburtina stations, are just as fast, and some say nicer than Trenitalia's Frecca trains.

I'm afraid that you have waited too long and now will suffer higher prices. Check the remaining trains, be flexible on time if there is any choice. The fares will never go down again, and if you miss the remaining ones at the middle price then only the full fares will remain. It is not hard to print the tickets at home, although .Italo requires you to jump through fewer hoops than Trenitalia and provides a pretty nice experience. Just remember to hop over to the secondary stations of Ostiense or Tiburtina because Trenitalia's station management arm won't let .Italo use Termini because they don't like competition.

Thank you all, it's Mary again. After reading your advice I hopped right in this morning and bought my ticket. THANK YOU, I now know I should have done this even earlier than 4 weeks out! Unfortunately, now my order is pending with some problem using my American VISA card, which I understand is typical. They say they'll contact me, so I'll sit and wait awhile. Or is there a better action to take?

If purchases don't go through right away, I call my cc and put the order through while they're on the line. Last time I had to get a supervisor in the fraud department to authorize it. My only concern in your situation, Mary, is that your original purchase is "pending" although maybe it's "pending" because the bank won't let it go through.

What Darcy said. It should go through immediately. There is not some person there dealing with it, there is a computer. I hope that you contacted your credit card issuer immediately before attempting the purchase and told them that you would be immediately making a purchase in Italy?

My trust locally owned bank fixed me up and the purchase went through. Thank you!

Mary, Although you now have your ticket, a few comments and questions..... I'm assuming you bought tickets with Trenitalia? Did you buy first or second class? Hopefully you specified Roma Termini as departure and Venezia S. Lucia as arrival stations? They still appear to have some "Economy" tickets left for 13 November, so you still may have saved a bit. One other important point to note is that reservations are compulsory on the Freccia trains (provided with your ticket), so you MUST only use the train specified on your ticket. Your ticket will specify your Car (Carrozza) No. and your Seat (Posti) No. Happy travels!

Ken from Vernonthank you, too. Actually, I ended up buying from ItaliaRail. The price was a couple more Euros, but at least I could navigate their website! And yes, I'm going from Roma Termini to San Lucia and I appreciate your asking me this! Now that I look at my e-Ticket, I realize that yes, the Car # and Seat # is on it, too. I'm sure this is covered elsewhere on Rick's page, but is it true that I will NOT have to activate my ticket in one those yellow machines, since it's an e-Ticket? Can just bring my printout with me onto the train, and show that when asked? Or will I get in big trouble for missing something?

You only have to validate tickets on regional trains, the tickets for which are good on any train, like bus tokens. Validating them before you board insures that you can't use the ticket again for another journey. The Freccia high speed trains are like airline tickets, good for a specific train and a specific seat. The conductor may or may not be by to inspect your ticket, but you can't use it again, so you don't have to validate it.

Mary, As Sam mentioned in the previous reply, you don't have to validate tickets for the Freccia trains, since they're specific to a particular train, date and departure time. There should be a PNR code somewhere on the ticket, and that's what you'll need to show the Conductor. You may find it helpful to watch this short video..... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n8rITO1Eek Buon Viaggio!

Have you checked Trenitalia's competitor, Italo Treno?