Air Travel from Left Coast to Europe - Another Question

In your case, from PDX, the best (and only non stop option to Europe) would be to fly Delta from PDX to AMS, then from AMS to Milan (Linate or Malpensa) with KLM (Delta and KLM are partners in the Sky Team alliance).

If that is not available, or if it is too expensive on your dates of travel, then the next best option is, unfortunately, to fly via New York or some other hub back East.

Going to Seattle or San Francisco will force you to have an extra stop, because there are no non stop flights to Italy from the West Coast (except for Alitalia from LAX to Rome). So in that case it is better to fly through the East with one stop, than having two stops.

It's a good principle to make the long hop first, both in terms of time and risk of you or your bag missing a connection. More time to make it up in the air, and more flights between European hubs and your destination. If you miss your connection in the U.S. the next flight might be the following day. However if the two stop flight also goes through a U.S. airport, it's not worth it because as you point out there would still be delay risks. We fly out of SFO and a lot of flights were cancelled yesterday for heavy rain. Likewise, fog will cause them to slow things down. I usually avoid two stops when I can, and I avoid east coast connections - but on your route it sounds like one connection through the east coast is your best option.

All I found on Kayak with one stop was a route through JFK. We have the same problem flying to Athens this coming spring (SeaTac is our home airport). Guess this is the price of living in the beautiful, but remote, Pacific Northwest!

Coming home, try to find a nonstop from somewhere in Europe to PDX so you won't have to clear US immigration and customs at some busy east coast airport on a tight connection timetable. Better deal with all that, exhausted, in your home town.

IMHO the Delta flight from PDX-Amsterdam is worth the extra money to avoid the hassle of any East Coast one-stop. I personally get more exhausted with the landing, layover, potential delays, not so awesome airports. That said, I have flown through East Coast hubs on my way to Europe several times and survived just fine. I usually pick the route that takes the least amount of time, even if there is a stopover. I'd still shoot for a west coast stop over like Seattle - just leave plenty of time between flights, I almost missed my flight to Korea even with a one hour layover.

You mentioned you're flying in the "fall" of 2015 - there will be a new direct flight to Frankfurt (Condor airlines, starting June) and an Iceland Air flight connecting through Reykjavik (starting late May through September). I can't vouch for either airline but they might be options for you.

Hey Mary Sue.

It might be too early to check prices now, but I checked your options with Delta directly from PDX to AMS, then to Italy.
KLM (Delta partner) doesn't fly to Milan Malpensa, but they have 4 daily pairs in fall/winter from AMS to Milan Linate (LIN), which in much closer to Milan city center (just 5 miles from the central station vs. 30 miles from Malpensa). All 4 flights from/to Linate are in code share with Delta.
So be on the look out with Delta/KLM for the following itinerary:

Going: PDX > AMS > LIN
Return: LIN > AMS > PDX

So one stop only in Amsterdam both ways. And Amsterdam is one of the best airports in the world to connect.

The leg PDX-AMS (and viceversa) is operated by a Delta. The leg AMS-LIN (and viceversa) is operated by KLM. However the flight is a codeshare, therefore all legs will have both a Delta and a KLM flight number.

Keep an eye on Kayak, and also on the Delta and a KLM websites. It's hard to predict when prices are best. Some studies say 5 months ahead. Others say 2 months ahead. But a friend of mine who lives down here in California was able to purchase a super deal from San Francisco to Florence (on Delta via Portland and Amsterdam) just a week before going. She always buys last minute and she always finds great deals. Although her itineraries are often crazy with several stops. For your flight, which is certainly the best to Europe from Portland, you should look into it earlier (4 to 6 months prior)

Not that you need it, but confirming Roberto's flight recommendations. I did the similar LIN-AMS-SEA in Oct and it worked well altho the flight from LIN was an early departure so I could make the earlier AMS SEA flight for a SEA to small N Idaho airport for my final leg home. Next time I think I will fly in to AMS a day before my departure flight and come home in stages.

BTW, it took me forever to figure out that the flights from Milan to AMS on KLM left from Linate instead of Malpensa. A rookie mistake on my part but a learning experience.

Thanks for the input, everyone. Roberto, I was aware of the flight to Milan Linate, and we will be going home that way. However, we will be spending our first few nights of the trip on Lake Maggiore, and one of the appeals of the flight to MXP is that there's a bus from the airport that will make travel to the hotel easy for a pair of jet lagged travelers. I expect we could get there from LIN through some combination of cabs and trains, but I'm a little reluctant to sign on for that, particularly in an unfamiliar city after long flights.

Yes, I also like to spend the first few nights in Stresa when I land at MXP.
In that case you should fly PDX > JFK > MXP going, then LIN >AMS >PDX coming back home.
At least coming back via AMS directly to PDX you don't have to clear customs in NY which greatly prolongs your flight home.
Going there you'll get to Stresa early enough. Just stroll along the lake and relax the first day while you recover from the jet lag.

We use PDX and Delta also. However, flying to Italy a year ago September we went through JFK because, as you found, it was "simpler." Wanting to go via AMS on the return we had to use a very early flight from Rome to be there in time for the AMS>PDX return flight.

Another idea, though not necessarily convenient in your case, is to get to SLC from either Portland or Eugene and then fly non-stop to CDG. Not the greatest for going to Milan, but not bad for Paris and other nearby destinations.

Have a great trip.

If search engines are not turning up the direct PDX-AMS flight on Delta, then I'd give up using those search engines and go direct to the Delta web site. I can't promise that Delta is cheapest, but their combination of schedules and prices have been very popular with our Seattle-based staff flying to Europe.