I booked LeoBook Directly Instead – Avoid the Extra Hasslenardo Express train tickets…
I booked Leonardo Express train tickets through Trip.com because the price was the same as booking directly with Trenitalia. Unfortunately, I later discovered there are significant disadvantages to booking through Trip.com instead of booking directly with the train operator. On my outbound journey, my flight was delayed, so I took a later Leonardo Express train. Trenitalia's published terms clearly state that Leonardo Express tickets are valid for any train departing within four hours of the original booked departure time. Despite this, the onboard staff charged me an additional €5 per ticket (€10 in total for two passengers). I have since had to submit a complaint directly to Trenitalia to recover this money. On my return journey, I wanted to change to an earlier train. The station staff informed me that this change could be made free of charge. However, when I tried to change my ticket in the Trip.com app, I was asked to pay a change fee that was effectively the same as the price of a new ticket. Had I booked directly with Trenitalia, this change would have been free of charge. Instead, Trip.com appeared to charge for a service that the train operator provides free of charge. Trip.com was unable to assist with my complaint and simply referred me to Trenitalia. While I understand they are a third-party platform, this experience made the booking much more complicated than it needed to be. In the future, I will book directly with the service provider, even if the price is slightly higher. Based on my experience, booking through Trip.com only caused unnecessary inconvenience and reduced the flexibility I would have had by booking directly with the train operator. Unfortunately, this experience has left me disappointed, and I cannot recommend using Trip.com for train bookings.