Alice I hope you see this posting. I am travelling with 13 people and am wondering about a group rate on tickets from Rome to Venice and Venice to Rome. Is there such a thing?
Judie

I'm not Alice, but we were 6 traveling by train from Rome to Florence and received a group rate
(Oct. 7)

Thanks Nancy. How did you do that - from USA or in Rome? What was the discount? Where you on intercity or Eurostar? Thanks, Judie

Hi, just returned from tuscany...Yes there are group discounts...we were a group of 9 and the lady at the Eurostar gave us a group discount..? how much but it was cheaper than I had thought...53 euros apeice from Florence to Rome 2nd class, which was fine...assigned seats...just ask at the window..have fun...Denise

p.s..that was roundtrip....forgot to add that

Afaik, reduced group fares are available up to 2 weeks prior to departure on buying the ticket from a station's ticket office. I don't know if they are available also from abroad: you should contact the Trenitalia offices.

Rail Europe in North America definitely offers group rates on Trenitalia fares. Compare the Rail Europe fares with those you can get online with Trenitalia and weigh the convenience of having everything done in advance vs. cost savings of buying in Italy.
- Marie

Remeber that Rail Europe fares are always much highier than the Trenitalia fares. Basically I think that Rail Europe buys tickets at full price from Trenitalia than adds its own surcharges (in cases up to 50% more). So, work your comparison also between Rail Europe reduced group fares and Trenitalia full fares, because you are probably likely that even if you can't get a reduce group fare from trenitalia, the group fares of Rail Europe are probably stil highier than the Trenitalia full fares.

quote:

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Originally posted by nanub44:
we were a group of 9 and the lady at the Eurostar gave us a group discount..? how much but it was cheaper than I had thought...53 euros apeice from Florence to Rome 2nd class,

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Denise,
Are you sure that was the fare per person?? I just looked at my Eurostar ticket from January of this year - 1st class from Florence to Rome was €42,35!

There is a group discount on groups of 6 or more of 20% available in first or second class,however it is not available on Eurostar Services where a 10% discount applies.There are restrictions as to when the discounts apply,such as weekends and at peak holiday times

The Current First Class Eurostar fare from Florence to Rome is €42.35 and the Second Class fare is €29.45

quote:

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Originally posted by Walkamalfi:
[...] the Second Class fare is €29.45

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Which makes about 59 euro for a round trip, now deduct a 10% for the group fare and you have 53 euro ^___^ I have checked the maths before writing my first answer.

If you went by the Inter City Service the cost in First Class is €29,80 and in second class it is €21,95

Hmmm...
Sorry - I didn't see anywhere in Denise's post where she said that was a round trip fare Florence->Rome->Florence.

That's in her second message ^____^

Ha - serves me right for just skimming!
Never mind.

WOW! Thanks everyone. So Rail Europe has this to offer. Rome to Venice (one way) $37.00 US but they tack on a $17.00 US per ticket seat reservation. We are also going from Venice to Florence and that ticket through Rail Europe is $20.00 US with another $17.00 per person seat reservation. The seat reservation seem VERY high to me. But it looks like that is still cheaper that only a 10% discount if I buy then in Italy. Also I know that intercity would be cheaper, but they stop outside Venice. Any more thoughts and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Judie

Judie,
Are the fares you are quoting for first or second class? According to the Trenitalia website www.trenitalia.com the regular full fare Rome-venice via Eurostar is 67.14 euro 1st class or 44.93 2nd class. (It is my understanding that there is no additional fee for a seat reservation on Trenitalia since they quote the higher Eurostar fare which includes them - someone will correct me if that's wrong.) At 1.25 euro to the dollar this is about $84US 1st cl/$56US 2nd. So your group fare of $54 US looks pretty good if that's first class. ALSO, Judie, on a rail ticket from Rome to Venice you can break your journey in Florence for no extra cost in fare, just the extra seat reservation fee (i.e. you pay for the reservation for Venice-Florence and for Florence-Rome). Ask the Rail Europe agent about that.
- Marie

Marie,
Sorry that is for a 2nd class ticket. So if I do the math and it is 44.93 Euros and I get a 10% discount that makes it 40.44 Euros at 1.30 because that is what it is today (can you believe that?) or $52.57 compared to $54.00 US plus $7.50 US handling or $.58 per person for a total of $54.58 or only $2.00 US more to get them delivered to me in the US. Sounds like a wash to me unless someone knows if the discount is better than 10%. Thanks, Judie

One of us bought 6 tickets at the American Express office, Piazza de Spagna, one-way Rome to Florence, 1st class Eurostar for 38 Euro per ticket (for Thursday departure). This was to get the group discount. I also saw on the Trenitalia website that you can travel anywhere in Italy on a Saturday for 30 Euro (not sure when this offer expires).

quote:

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Originally posted by Judie:
Also I know that intercity would be cheaper, but they stop outside Venice.

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Most intercities stop both in Venezia Mestre and in Venezia Santa Lucia. The main difference is that they can take much longer (almost six hours instead of four hurs and a half).

Thanks everyone. Given the schedule we want (leaving Rome at 6:55 AM on Saturday June 4th), I think I'll go with Rail Europe, but wait a bit and see if the 30 Euro Saturdays continue until next year.
When I went in May last year I used Alice's excellent advice about Intercity's 1st class buy one/get one free when I went from Rome to Florence. So Alice and everyone who gave me advice, I thank you.
Judie
Judie

June 4th? OUCH! That's pretty far away in the future! Check again prices and offers one month prior to departure because things may change a lot by than, and remeber that Trenitalia starts selling tickets only 59 days in advance, so you will not be able to buy them anyhow before April.