Trenitalia definitely won’t let you have tickets delivered to the U.S. and you almost certainly won’t be able to buy them regardless of what pickup option you select because they’ve made it virtually impossible to buy with a non-European credit card. Have you tried the German site?

Augustin is wrong (Partially)

You can’t buy it anywhere online, for one simple reason…it’s an international Train ticket. You need to be there in person so they can verify your ID/Passport etc.

Ads

Augustin: Yes, I did try and Bahn site first but they only have day couch seats in a 1 person compartment for 98,90 Euros available. I was trying to buy from Trenitalia to get the better rate and also a couchette.

Ads: Are there any other options you recommend in trying to purchase these tickets?

If you can’t buy it on-line from trenitalia, the best option is to buy it on-line from bahn.de or buy it at the station as soon as you arrive in Munich. Since this is a weekend during Oktoberfest you could have a problem with the train selling out — so buying from bahn.de in advance is probably the better choice.

You could buy it from raileurope.com railpass.com or any of the other travel agency websites, but you’ll end up paying 35 to 50% more than buying at the station. However, if this turns out to be your only option for advance purchase, I’d seriously consider it.

Actually, Ads, you’re completely wrong. You can buy international tickets from plenty of rail service websites.

Augustin, are you referring to raileurope.com and railpass.com?
Do you know of any other sites that may not charge so much?
I think raileurope was charging $719 for a deluxe sleeper cabin for two, when bahn is charging 149 Euros.

No, I was specifically referring to Ads’ assertion that you can only buy international tickets in person. You can buy them for at least some routes from most national railservice sites, no in-person, passport in hand purchase required. I had a problem similar to yours for my trip back in June. I wanted to buy tickets from Florence to Zurich, and wanted a discounted fare and to be on specific trains, but Trenitalia wouldn’t let me buy. I tried 4 different credit/debit cards, my brother tried three (including a virtual credit card that had worked for some people over on another forum) but no luck. I wasn’t able to get the whole trip at a discounted fare, but I ended up buying my tickets as two legs on the French national railservice site. I was able to get the Milan-Zurich ticket at a discount and get guaranteed seats on the specific Florence-Milan train I wanted, and I picked up the tickets in Paris a few days before we went to Florence. Unfortunately, it looks like the D-bahn and Trenitalia sites are the only options for the discounted fare in your case.

Since I don’t think that trip will work out too well, I am now considering just traveling this route during the day on Friday, September 24.
I have heard the train ride is nice during the day, because of the scenery going through the Alps. Has anyone taking this route before or know anything about it?

Munchen hbf 09:31 —> Verona Porta Nuova 15:01 39 Euros + 2,50 seat reservation (DB Bahn)
Verona Porta Nuova 15:59 —> Venezia Santa Lucia 17:10 13 Euros (Trenitalia)

I was able to select meno30 from Trenitalia for the 2nd leg and also ticketless with payment receipt via email. I have not tried to fully purchase the tickets yet, but I’m hoping it will allow me to this way. How does the ticketless payment work via email?

Trenitalia is perhaps the most inept web site there is for buying tickets. I think a part of your initial problem is that your ride starts in Germany and ends in Italy. Trenitalia bought tickets have to be picked up in Italy; a German station is not equipped to handle that.

Its been a few years, but my recollection is that a trenitalia email purchase gives you a piece of paper that you have to present to an Italian ticket agent to get the actual ticket. So you would need enough time at the station at Verona to stand in line and get the ticket, as well as find the next train.

You might consider looking at the Austrian web site. You can get a Bayern ticket in Munich, good for groups up to five, on trains after 0900 in second class, for 28 euro which will get you to either Innsbruck or Salzburg (and possibly other destinations), and then connect to Venezia from there, if the price is right.

Also, DB Bahn advertises a Europa-special that seems to take you to some major, and distant, destinations, for 39 Euro. I couldn’t get their site to work for this, but it might be worth a call to them.

In 2004, you used the automated kiosks to print out your ticket. You just typed in the confirmation number and it spit out the tickets — very fast and slick and much more user-friendly in English than the trenitalia website. However, I believe Cleveland is correct that you would have to pick the tickets up at a kiosk in Italy.