On May 6 I will take the train from Venice - Verona. I would prefer to be flexible because I'm hoping to meet someone in Venice that afternoon. Is there any real cost advantage to purchase the tickets in advance?
For some trains there is a cost difference. I'm doing that route on April 14th and I'm not sure exactly which train I'm going to take. I've been looking at the fares and I've decided the easiest thing is to aim for the 8:12am departure. It's a pretty fast train and the prices seem to stay the same no matter what day I check. Likewise, I'm aiming to come back on the 4:12 or 5:12 train as that is pretty fast and low cost as well. I do usually purchase my train tickets in advance - but I am not for this simple trip.
There are direct Regional Veloce trains hourly from Venice to Verona. They take 1h27m and, at 8,70€, are the cheapest trains on that route. Even with advance purchase, the express trains, which take about 1h10m, are still a little more expensive, and are non-refundable and usable only on the specified train.
That's what I was thinking. I'd rather take the only slightly slower train and have some flexibility.
Andrea, I think you are making a good choice. For a longer trip (and bigger savings), I would probably commit to a super-economy fare, but for a few minutes and a few euro, flexibility would be more important.
I'm counting the days, Andrea!
Darcy, so am I! In 2014 we met up in Paris. In 2016 we get to meet up twice, in Venice and the much more exotic Sacramento!!