Pre--purchase train ticket - what if I'm delayed?

I never buy tickets in advance because I cant always anticipate delays. You can buy a ticket almost any day for the train you want. Why take the risk when it is not necessary.

If you purchase an open, full fare ticket from Trenitalia, one that has to be stamped before boarding the train, it should be valid on any train that day, but why bother. Just buy it for the same price when you arrive. And, any reservation would not be transferable or refundable.

If you purchase a "promo" fare, they are usually train specific, non-refundable. It looks like, for the Amica fare (20% discount), you can take a train up to 3 hours later by paying back the 20% discount plus €8.

If you purchase a ticket from Rail Europe, their rules are stated on the page. I believe a ticket from Rome to Naples is non-refundable, non-exchangeable after 3 days before the date of validity.

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. I'll just get them when I get there.

Here's the scoop on Trentitalia. If you miss your ES or ICP category train, and you have a standard fare ticket, you can change once up to three hours after the train departs. After that, the ticket is worthless. For the flexi-fare ticket, which costs 20% more, you have up to 24 hours after the train departs. After that, the ticket is worthless. The above changes after departure are free of charge. If you simply hop on the next similar category train, there is an 8Euro charge. If the train is of a superior category, you pay the difference in standard fares plus the 8Euro.

There are 35 high-speed trains a day going from Rome to Naples. Don't worry about having to have advance tickets. You can buy them when you get there.

I had wondered about this on our trip as we had a couple of close calls because the train was late. We had purchased dauer spezial tickets in Germany and barely made one connection. What if it's the rail line's fault that you miss the connection because your train is late? Do they accommodate you then? Thankfully, I never had to explore that issue, but if anyone has input that would be appreciated!

JED, I will try to find the reference for you, but I know I read that, if you miss a Dauer-Spezial connection because of the Bahn, you can take the next available train. If you miss it because of your own fault, the original connection (which you just missed) is still the only valid connection.

Jed, yes, that question is answered under FAQ - Dauer-Spezial (in German).

It says, basically:

What happens if I have missed my connection?

Because of Bahn caused trouble: if, on the day of travel, the train assignment cannot be kept, for example because of train delay, you can of course continue your travel on the next possible train without extra charge. Should the connection be missed because of personal reasons, the original train assignment is still binding.

Thanks Lee! That's good info to have as there were times I was a bit worried we'd make a connection because the train was a bit late and we had 5-10 minutes between connections. Probably a bit extreme, but I wonder how Bahn would handle it if you had a 3-4 minute connection (that they allowed you to purchase) and your connecting train was on the far side of the station and you missed it because of the distance involved getting there. That would be a bit stickier and depend on the graciousness of the person at the ticket counter? Just wondering more than anything.....

Jed, I wondered about that exact question when I printed the Bahn answer. Having never used a Dauer-Spezial ticket, let alone missed a Dauer-Spezial connection, I can't answer that. I can, however, say, from experience, based on almost 200 connections in 8 years, that only once have I missed a connection because of a train being late, and that was by a mile (½ hour, actually). I was on a train from Stuttgart to Ulm on a Friday afternoon, and the train was late into Stuttgart and consequently late into Ulm. As we approached Ulm, the conductor came on the PA system and started reading off a list of connecting trains that were being held and their track. (When he got to my train, he said that it, "unfortunately could not wait". But the following train was only a half hour behind it.)

My point is that DB is very aware of connecting trains and makes every effort to make sure you make the connection, holding the connecting train a few minutes, if necessary. If you have a close connection, and your train is late, you should notify your conductor. It's kind of like on an air connection.

Thanks for the good advice on talking to the conductor. Our last train trip was from Cochem to Berlin with a change in Koln. From Koln it was an ICE train and we left on time. Somewhere along the way we ended up being about 30 minutes late. You should have heard all the grumbling from people as they kept announcing all the upcoming departures for people that had to be pushed back because we were so late! Didn't know why we were so late as we only had a couple stops. I guessed it was other train traffic on the rails in front of us that were a lot slower than our train? We figured we were lucky as Berlin was our final destination, so we didn't have to deal with our Dauer Spezial and a missed connection!