When to reserve train tickets?

We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our site a
while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you were looking
to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was available for purchase.
Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our site a
while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you were
looking to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was available
for purchase. Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the
price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe


Get your tickets in Italy from one of the larger train stations. Have some
idea of the dates and times you want to travel. You will find that this is
simple, and probably much cheaper than buying from Rail Europe.

Browse the Italian train site for timetables, etc -
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...80 a3e90aRCRD .

Am Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:23:39 +1000 schrieb Epsilon:

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our site a
while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you were
looking to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was available
for purchase. Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the
price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe


Get your tickets in Italy from one of the larger train stations. Have some
idea of the dates and times you want to travel. You will find that this is
simple, and probably much cheaper than buying from Rail Europe.

Yes, I can only second that. Done that in Pisa on the way to Florence.
Simply went to the counter and bought the ticket there, and went on the
next train a few minutes later. They did understand enough english to know
what I did want.

Unless you look for something very special (like sleeper coach or something
like that) I would just buy the tickets there on the spot. Italy is a
tourist-country, you won't have no problems to find someone who understands
enough english. At least in the cities and touristy-places.

Regards,

Frank

Frank Hucklenbroich wrote:
Am Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:23:39 +1000 schrieb Epsilon:

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our
site a while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you
were looking to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was
available for purchase. Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the
price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe


Get your tickets in Italy from one of the larger train stations.
Have some idea of the dates and times you want to travel. You will
find that this is simple, and probably much cheaper than buying from
Rail Europe.

Yes, I can only second that. Done that in Pisa on the way to Florence.
Simply went to the counter and bought the ticket there, and went on
the next train a few minutes later. They did understand enough
english to know what I did want.

Unless you look for something very special (like sleeper coach or
something like that) I would just buy the tickets there on the spot.
Italy is a tourist-country, you won't have no problems to find
someone who understands enough english. At least in the cities and
touristy-places.

Given tickets from Rome to Florence on 6/7/11, there are several trains, so
pick your preferred departure time. Get the tickets at Termini, the main
station in Rome, a few days before, if possible. Ask for any discounts that
might be available - you won't get any with Rail Europe. It really is quite
easy.

On 04/13/2011 11:58 AM, Giovanni Drogo wrote:
On Wed, 13 Apr 2011, Justin wrote:

We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days. Should we reserve our train
tickets now?

Try to avoid reservation as far as possible, unless you plan to travel
in peak season or hours. You gain much flexibility in that.

However that is not always possible, due to the policy of Trenitalia
which made a number of trains as "compulsory reservation".


It's an interesting question whether complusory seat reservation is good
or not. Seat reservation on the Deutsche Bahn Intercity Express trains
is optional. meaning that if you have a ticket then you can get on the
train, whether you get a seat or not is pot luck. Some stretches are
hopelessly overloaded. I am familiar with the Munich-Cologne route. On
Fridays it is standing room only. It's a real battle trying to get on
and off the trains, and a nightmare for passengers with small children
or large amounts of luggage. You even have first class passengers
standing.


In general consider what follows:

- long distance, high speed trains are now almost all compulsory
reservation (this applies to ES AV, ES, IC plus - it won't apply
to IC if there are any left)

- local trains (nowadays all R "Regional" except a few RV, and the
S services, which are anyhow classified as regional) do not
require and usually do not allow reservation

Reservation IN ADVANCE is appropriate only for services with limited
accomodation. E.g. for night trains (sleepers or couchette) or for busy
trains (peak season in August, Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon on
some stretches). Otherwise you can buy a ticket (which implies
reservation) at any time just before departure. Usually trains are not
full.

You can buy them at the station ticket office, at a travel agent (some
of them have offices in major stations with less queue than the ticket
office), at a vending machine or online.

The queue at a ticket office is random. In some renovated stations (like
Roma Termini) they made nice ticket offices with lots of counters. In
other (like Milano Centrale) they made an utterly insufficient ticket
office, supplemented by usually not working vending machines.

At a manned ticket office they will know about special offers.

Note that for trains with compulsory reservation the ticket is valid for
a specific train. As such it has not to be stamped. If you want to
change train, you have to change the ticket. Depending on the kind of
ticket (offers are more limited) change may be subject to limitations.

For trains without compulsory reservation including all local services
tickets can be bought in advance (2 months or even more). As such they
MUST be stamped when commencing the trip, then you must complete the
trip within a given time depending on distance.

If the stamping machine does not work (not unusual) you must apply to
the trainmaster as soon as you board the train. Do not expect to be
checked or you wll be fined.

For trips inside a given Region, each region has its own fares. Usually
there are two sorts of tickets. The normal ones (for a trip from named
place A to named place B) can be bought at ticket offices, travel
agents, vending machines and some other places (newstands,
tobacconists), up to 2 months in advance.

Kilometric tickets are like bus or metro tickets. They are valid for any
trip within e.g. 10,20, 30 ... km, they are not bound to named
destinations. Usually bought at newstands, tobacconists and alike. One
can get them at any time, and just stamp them before travel.

Consider that the policy of Trenitalia has caused the closure of tickets
offices in many minor stations. Even in relatively large towns they may
be open only for a few hours. If you do not have the tickets, and could
not find an alternative place selling them, apply to the trainmaster as
soon as you board and explain the situation. He will issue a ticket,

On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:23:39 +1000, "Epsilon"
wrote:

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our site a
while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you were
looking to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was available
for purchase. Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the
price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe


Get your tickets in Italy from one of the larger train stations.


Or you can usually buy them from a travel agent. If the travel agency
is closer to where you are than the station, it's more convenient.


Have some
idea of the dates and times you want to travel. You will find that this is
simple, and probably much cheaper than buying from Rail Europe.

Browse the Italian train site for timetables, etc -
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...80 a3e90aRCRD .

--
Ken Blake

Ken Blake wrote:
On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:23:39 +1000, "Epsilon"
wrote:

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

Dear Traveler,
This is a one-time reminder from Rail Europe. When visiting our
site a while back, you asked us to let you know when the train you
were looking to travel on from rome to florence, on 6/7/11 was
available for purchase. Well, the day has come.
Please click *here* to purchase your tickets and confirm your
reservations today. Remember, the earlier you book, the better the
price.

Hoping you have a wonderful trip,
Rail Europe


Get your tickets in Italy from one of the larger train stations.


Or you can usually buy them from a travel agent. If the travel agency
is closer to where you are than the station, it's more convenient.


Justin and his family (5 of them) are planning a trip through Italy. At a
guess, they are flying into Rome, taking a train to Florence, and a train to
Venice. Assuming that, they can easily pick up all the tickets at Termini
shortly after arrival. How convenient is that? And almost certainly much
cheaper and with broader travel-time options than any travel agent.

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days.
Should we reserve our train tickets now?
I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had experience
with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

I don't know about Italy, but on my last few trips to Germany(and beyond),
I've bought my tickets (and railpass when appropriate) for all German
travel at the airport on arrival


--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist with iPad

On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:23:39 +1000, Epsilon wrote:

Justin wrote:
We're leaving for Italy in about 50 days. Should we reserve our train
tickets now? I got this email reminder a few days ago. Has anyone had
experience with Rail Europe?
I'm a US citizen, just FYI... not EU. In case that matters.

First, clear your mind on this reservation business. Trains are not like
airplanes.

A reservation is only for a seat reservation and unless the train is
likely to be crowded not really necessary. The other reason you might get
seat reservations is if there are several of you and you might want to
assure sitting together. Seat reservations are cheap. Last time I got any
they were US $5-$10. Even after you've got your ticket you can go back
and get a seat reservation later.

Then there is the ticket. That's the one you might want thttp://
www.trenitalia.com/o get from America, but almost anyone who has traveled
by train in Europe will advise against it. American-purchased tickets,
whoever you purchase them from, ultimately come from Raileurope and that
outfit charges way too much for them and then adds on delivery costs.
Furthermore, they do not give the option of purchasing any of the almost
bewildering number of discount tickets available.

All that being said, some special trains do require you to buy the ticket
and reservation together so they're more like airlines. These are usually
the likes of high speed trains.

Raileurope only offers selected trains, as well. There are a lot of
regional trains that are cheaper than the trains offered by Raileurope
(duh).

Go to a county's rail site and check out the fares and trains on offer.
There will almost certainly be a train to meet your needs available. Then
you can usually order your tickets on line from the railway itself and
pick them up when you get there. Although there ought not be any problem
getting tickets when you arrive in Italy. There may even be a Trenitalia
ticket office at the airport.

http://www.trenitalia.com/ and click on "English".

The click on "Our trains" for an overview of what's available.

If you're an American you're probably not used to train travel, and using
Amtrak tends to be something of a big deal. In Europe trains are everyday
transport and I expect you'll get the hang of it very quickly.

--
Dave Hatunen, Tucson, Arizona, out where the cacti grow

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:43:46 +0200, Giovanni Drogo wrote:

On Wed, 13 Apr 2011, David Hatunen wrote:

In Europe trains are everyday transport and I expect you'll get the
hang of it very quickly.

OK, and as native European I second all the rest Hatunen said.

First, clear your mind on this reservation business. Trains are not
like airplanes.

Except that some train companies are unfortunately trying to make them
resemble planes :-( Luckily they haven't introduced check in yet :-)

Which reminds me of something else I should have added for neophytes: You
don't check luggage on European trains. Instead you have to schlep your
bags. There are generally fairly large overhead racks at the seats (I
have had to hoist some pretty heavy bags up there), and some trains have
luggage racks at the ends near the doors. If you're nervous about leaving
your bags where you can't keep an eye on them, do as we sometimes do, and
carry a bicycle cable lock. Just pass the cable through all your baggage
handles (and the rack if you like). Sure, someone determined with a pair
of heavy-duty wire snips can take your bags, but stealing bags is a grab-
and-run operation and no one's going to wast time trying to cut your
cable in view of everyone else.

I haven't ridden the Channel tunnel Eurostar since the London station
moved to St Pancras Station, but they did have a check-in. It was a
ticket check-in, no luggage business at all, and it meant they didn't
have to check tickets on the train. Once through check-in you went to a
holding area until they opened the gates and then you just found your car
and boarded.
--
Dave Hatunen, Tucson, Arizona, out where the cacti grow