Why it's a bad idea to buy tickets for the unreserved regionale trains much in advance

[GAC]

As international travel to Italy has skyrocketed after the passing of the Covid crisis, more and more travellers have chosen to buy train tickets in advance, in some cases months in advance. This makes perfect sense for the FAST RESERVED TRAINS (Trenitalia Freccia/Intercity and Italo trains), where you can potentially save up to 80% of the "full fare" ticket, but NOT for the unreserved Trenitalia regionale, regionale veloce and metropolitano trains. Indeed, there are more negative reasons than good reasons to do so, as this posting explains.

The Trenitalia regionale, regionale veloce and metropolitano trains are all unreserved and the fare (called "Ordinaria") remains the same whether you buy the ticket in advance or moments before your trip. THIS IS ALSO TRUE OF THE AIRPORT TRAINS. These trains don't sell out, and the ONLY advantage in buying the ticket online in advance is sheer CONVENIENCE: not needing to stand in line in front of an electronic ticket machine or staffed ticket sales counter at the rail station (this can be significant in very busy stations such as Milano Centrale and Roma Termini, although they have LOTS of ticket machines!).

But there are POTENTIAL DISADVANTAGES in buying the ticket in advance, particularly MUCH in advance:

If your travel plans change and you want to CANCEL the ticket, or if something happens which forces you to cancel the trip (e.g. illness, injury, family emergency, work situation, civil unrest/war/terrorism, etc.), there is a ticket CANCELLATION DEADLINE of 23:59 (Italy time) the day PRIOR to the train travel date. So if the emergency happens the morning of your trip (e.g. you wake up with the flu or some other illness), you're too late to cancel! Or if there is a sudden horrible rainstorm or snowstorm shortly before your trip, or a major strike or significant transportation issue, you may wish to cancel the trip. Moreover, even if you manage to cancel in time, you FORFEIT 20% of the cost paid, and you receive NOTHING if the ticket cost 10 Euros or less. So the potential downsides outweigh the meager benefits of buying much in advance.

Also, you need to familiarize yourself with the RULES for ONLINE CHECK-IN for these trains if you hold an ELECTRONIC (i.e. online) ticket:

Digital Regional Ticket - Trenitalia

www.trenitalia.com

(You do NOT need to check-in online for the Trenitalia Freccia/Intercity trains or the Italo trains).

If you don't have an electronic device with internet connection, or simply don't want to be bothered with these rules, just buy a traditional PAPER ticket at the rail station, either from a ticket machine or staffed ticket sales counter. Don't forget to VALIDATE the PAPER ticket in the validation machine at the head of the rail track, just before boarding the train. Validation of paper ticket is required ONLY FOR THE UNRESERVED REGIONALE/REGIONALE VELOCE/METROPOLITANO TRAINS, not for the fast reserved trains (Freccia/Intercity/Italo Treno).

Most Italian travelers don't buy tickets for these unreserved trains much in advance, or indeed prior to the day before the trip. In almost all cases, I suggest waiting to buy until the day beforehand, or even the morning of the trip, especially if there is a high train frequency on the route.

 

[GAC]

Here is an UPDATE to this posting:

A special note about tickets for the airport trains: since you never know how long it will take to get through passport control and to retrieve your checked luggage when arriving in Italy by plane, it's best to wait to buy the ticket for the airport train until such time as you're sure that you'll be able to board a specific airport train. Otherwise, you may need to change the electronic record to reflect a later (or possibly even an earlier) airport train, since you MAY ONLY BOARD THE SPECIFIC TRAIN NOTED ON THE ELECTRONIC RECORD.

YOU NO LONGER NEED TO "CHECK-IN" WHEN HOLDING AN ELECTRONIC (i.e. online) ticket.

Simply board the regionale train for which you hold the ticket, and the "validation" happens automatically at the scheduled departure time.

If you miss a CONNECTION to a regionale train due to the late arrival of a different Trenitalia train, just board the next scheduled Trenitalia regionale train to your destination. If your ticket is checked, just tell the inspector that you MISSED the connection not due to your own fault. (The inspector can easily verify this information online). (If you miss a connection to a Trenitalia Freccia or Intercity train, you must get the ticket changed by speaking to a Trenitalia customer service agent at the connecting station).

If you want or need to change the regionale train (to one leaving later or sooner), you must do so prior to the SCHEDULED departure time of the train originally selected.

Here are the complete rules:

https://www.trenitalia.com/en/purchase/digital-regional-ticket.html

If you don't have an electronic device with internet connection just buy a traditional PAPER ticket at the rail station, either from a ticket machine or staffed ticket sales counter. Make sure you have enough time to make the purchase, considering the possibility of long lines to buy tickets. Don't forget to VALIDATE the PAPER ticket in the validation machine at the head of the rail track, just before boarding the train. Validation of paper tickets is required ONLY FOR THE UNRESERVED REGIONALE/REGIONALE VELOCE/METROPOLITANO TRAINS, not for the fast reserved trains (Freccia/Intercity/Italo Treno).

Most Italian travelers don't buy tickets for these unreserved trains in advance more than a day or two. In almost all cases, I suggest waiting to buy until the morning of the trip or at most the day beforehand. If you're concerned about the (rare) possibility that the train could be sold out, just take note of the departure times of the two next scheduled regionale trains to your destination.

A VERY USEFUL TIDBIT:

The Trenitalia App tells you how many seats are available for purchase ("posti acquistabili") on regionale trains which are "contingentati" (capacity controlled). You can glean this information at any time simply by checking regionale train schedules on the Trenitalia App. By checking online, there will be no nasty surprises!

 

[Cda]

All good info

I was initially kind of first time March /April

Pre bought tickets, glad I did. No delays!!

I signed up for the senior fare, when I tried to book,,, I could not see it or use it?? Anyway had a great trip!!!!

 

[JMichael]

I believe you need to have a CartaFreccia in order to be eligible for the senior discount. You can apply for it online.

 

[JMichael]

I was just on the trenitalia website and noticed the banner for X-Go which appears to be a points program for regional and intercity trains. I was already logged in and when I clicked on the banner, it took me to an application that was pre-filled with my data. Simple.

 

[Cda]

I filled it out, sent it, got approved

Just could not figure how to use it.

A note I bought all my train tickets before I left the U.S. I was in five cities and rode the train five different times.

 

[FedericoBoston]

Thank you GAC for the extensive notes on regional trains. May I describe our experience in Friuli-V-G last May. I believe that paper Treni Regionali tickets:

1. have a four-hour window of validity
2. do not need to be validated in the yellow machines on the platforms

We would pick a particular departure when buying the ticket, but staff at the biglietteria told me that such tickets would be valid for a later train up to 4 hours after the selected train. Not requiring validation makes sense to me, as they expire quickly.

Now I should say that, on the handful of trains we took, I don't remember any encounter with an inspector, so possibly your mileage may vary.

 

[GAC]

The information given to you at the biglietteria with regards to PAPER tickets for the unreserved Trenitalia regionale trains WHICH HAVE A SPECIFIC TRAIN DEPARTURE TIME NOTED is correct. These tickets have a 4-hour validity from the departure time of the regionale train noted on the ticket. There is no need to manually validate them. You can board any regionale train to the noted destination departing within the 4-hour validity. This also means that you could break the journey at an intermediate stop (for a short period of time).

HOWEVER, if the PAPER ticket does NOT indicate a specific train departure time (in other words, is an "open" ticket), it can be used on ANY regionale train departing that same day for the destination noted and has a 4-hour validity from the moment it is VALIDATED (which is a requirement).

Recently when in Italy, I had occasion to question more than half a dozen Trenitalia customer service agents on this precise issue and was sometimes given an INCORRECT answer, because they did not distinguish between "open" and "closed" paper regionale tickets. (Regionale train tickets purchased in ELECTRONIC format through the Trenitalia website or app always specify a train departure time and can be used ONLY on that specific train (unless one has MISSED the connection to that train)). Intermediate stops are not allowed here.

In my own postings, I advise people to validate all PAPER regionale tickets, even though technically this is only required for those paper tickets which are "open" in terms of NOT noting the specific regionale train departure time.

If you care to remember the distinction noted above, then you can forget about manually validating PAPER regionale tickets which are "closed."

Too much to remember? Just validate them all if in PAPER format!