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Purchased Italia Rail Tickets

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Imodica
  7/19/2016 11:35 EST

We are finally headed to Italy but on our US passports as the Italian consulate is so far behind, they still have not issued our Italian passports. We are tired of waiting so we will have to return to the US the beginning of November to get them. Meanwhile....

We purchased our rail tickets last night from Malapensa Airport to Parma. Here's my question: One of the emails says under Ticket Pickup & Valadation: "You are traveling on an eTicket, no paper ticket is needed prior to boarding the train. You will simply provide the ticket number (PNR) above to the Conductor for validation.

The second confirmation email says: "Go to a Trenitalia kiosk at the station at least 1 hour before departure to print your paper tickets. Enter ticket number and the lead passenger..... and under "Validation Required" "Your printed tickets require validation at one of the machines located on the train platforms. Insert tickets into machine for validation prior to boarding train.

So.. which is it? Both emails are from ItaliaRail. How do I know which to do??

rsetzer99
  7/19/2016 11:59 EST

The E Tickets for train travel are pretty common now. I've traveled on them several times. Just in case I don't have a cell connection, I always download the PDF attachment directly to my phone. When the conductor comes by, just them that receipt. They will take a quick look and that will be that.

I vaguely recall that you used to have to go print out paper tickets, and you probably still can if you want. But you really don't need them. Having the Adobe reader on your phone makes for a quick shortcut to your e-ticket receipt.

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Jergirl
  7/19/2016 12:08 EST

The safest is just to go to the ticket office before you board, with the printout, they will give you a normal ticket and yes you need to validate. The one time I'd reserved on the website they could not find my resevation/ticket number on the train.

guestuser
  7/19/2016 13:56 EST

I always buy my tickets online and print a copy; I've never had issues.

Imodica
  7/19/2016 13:58 EST

Thank you for your quick reply. So you just take your paper with confirmation and don't stop to print a ticket? So basically, the first directions we were given?

guestuser
  7/19/2016 14:17 EST

I've always been sent an order confirmation with an attachment of the printed form of the e-ticket in .pdf format. I print that and take it with me. As another commenter posted, you can also download it to an electronic device as long as it is able to correctly display the pdf file. I prefer to have the paper copy in hand.

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guestuser
  7/19/2016 14:27 EST

I don't really know what the second email was about as I've never received one like it.

rsetzer99
  7/19/2016 15:30 EST

I went back and looked at all my mail from Italiarail as well cause I was curious if they had sent me the same thing. I did not find one. That said, Did you book directly through Italiarail? Or did you book through one of the sites like Raileurope?

Imodica
  7/19/2016 16:36 EST

Yes, we did indeed purchase direct from italiarail.com.

Again, first email confirmation says:
1. PICK UP TICKETS
Go to a Trenitalia kiosk at the station at least 1 hour before departure to print your paper tickets. Enter ticket number and the lead passenger first and last name into the kiosk. Repeat for each ticket number.

2. VALIDATION REQUIRED
Your printed tickets require validation at one of the machines (see photos below) located on the train platforms. Insert tickets into machine for validation prior to boarding train.

3. BOARD YOUR TRAIN!
Show your ticket to the Conductor.

Second email:
You are travelling on an eTicket, no paper ticket is needed prior to boarding the train. You will simply provide the ticket number (PNR) above to the Conductor for validation. Please note your train car(carriage) and seat number(s) below...

None of the emails have a PDF.

Imodica
  7/19/2016 16:36 EST

Yes, we did indeed purchase direct from italiarail.com.

Again, first email confirmation says:
1. PICK UP TICKETS
Go to a Trenitalia kiosk at the station at least 1 hour before departure to print your paper tickets. Enter ticket number and the lead passenger first and last name into the kiosk. Repeat for each ticket number.

2. VALIDATION REQUIRED
Your printed tickets require validation at one of the machines (see photos below) located on the train platforms. Insert tickets into machine for validation prior to boarding train.

3. BOARD YOUR TRAIN!
Show your ticket to the Conductor.

Second email:
You are travelling on an eTicket, no paper ticket is needed prior to boarding the train. You will simply provide the ticket number (PNR) above to the Conductor for validation. Please note your train car(carriage) and seat number(s) below...

None of the emails have a PDF.

rsetzer99
  7/19/2016 17:01 EST

Well, that is curious. Absent the expected receipt, it would seem best to print out the hard copies as instructed.

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Imodica
  7/19/2016 18:39 EST

We did get a receipt in another email. Three emails in total.

At this point I think I am printing and taking to the ticket counter for a printed ticket. Thanks everyone!!

guestuser
  7/19/2016 19:15 EST

I've never used the ItaliaRail website; I've always used the Trenitalia website. Perhaps that is one of the differences. http://www.trenitalia.com

Jergirl
  7/20/2016 01:09 EST

When you have the eticket you see seat reservations. Tickets that include reserved seats do NOT need to be validated. You can check on that, but I did get that info at one point.

If/when you extract the printed ticket from the machine, or from the ticket counter, it longer prints the seat reservation. At least when I did it did not, The train inspector called me on it (non-validation) and was not so nice.

When I tried to use the e-ticket, they searched for the number on their handheld device and could not find it. They were very nice about it.

The first incident was on the return trip of the same ticket of the second incident.

Also, you should always search on 2-3 sites and compare before buying any kind of ticket.

Jergirl
  7/20/2016 01:10 EST

correction: "it NO longer prints the seat reservations"

guestuser
  7/20/2016 01:22 EST

Are you using the "official" train website or another? I have always used the official website and I've never had problems with e-tickets with or without seat reservations, and I travel by train all the time. Their website is available in several languages.

I'd be curious to know whether, if you've used the official site, you've encountered these problems. I always refer my visitors to it and would like to give them a "head's up" if problems are occurring, although none have had any thus far.

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