Airfare to Milan so much cheaper

Brandt, I'm flying out of Atlanta, Ga lay over for 2 hrs in NYC. I thinks it's JFK. This price I just got today from Delta.

Someplace I read that Emirates is offering great prices for flights into Milan to increase their business. Other airlines have to follow suit to remain competitive.

I would absolutely fly into Milan to save $2800!!! The train from Milan to Venice takes only 2 3/4 hours. You can use this time to rest after your overseas flight. the main trick is timing the train trip if you want to benefit frommthe low fares for advance purchase on your train tickets. The Super Economy fare can be as low as 9 euros but is non-refundable if you miss your train. You might look into family fares, depending on the ages of your children you may qualify. Make sure your tickets are to Venice Santa Lucia, not Meatre.

Flying into Venice has its own issues in getting to your hotel frommthe Irport. The Alilaguna takes about an hour and tickets are now 17 euros ( more than the train from Milan to Venice. But plus vaporetto is cheaper ( I think a combined ticket is around 12 euro) but you have to change from the bus to the vaporetto, a hassle with luggage.

If your return flight from Milan is early enough that you need to spend a night there, don't disparity. Milan is actually quite enjoyable, especially around the Duomo and Galleria, and the pedestrian zone on Via Dante.

I was in the same situation. I was planning on flying into Rome and out of Milan until I found I could save $800 for the two of us if we made it a roundtrip out of Milan. The trip from Milan to Venice ia not a hassle and is about 2 1/2 hours by train. By the time you make the trip from the airport into Milan (40 minutes) and change trains you will lose most of that day. So, it is a time vs money decision. In my case, being retired, an extra day on the trip was no problem. The $800 more than covered the extra day's costs.

Can you take a cab from the airport to the train station? My first time traveling to Europe so I don't know if it's like the USA where you can just catch a cab at airport.

A cab to the train station in Milan? You can but it will be expensive. The Milan airport is some distance from Milan. It would be about an hour drive to the Central Train station. You also have the option of a bus or the train. Personally I would do the train.

Have you priced an open jaw ticket? Say into Venice and home from Rome. I have always found that open jaw are the same price and often cheaper when you factor in the time and cost to return to the original airport.

@Does anyone know why? Trying to figure out the "why" of air fares is surely an exercise in futility, but it might have something to do with the airlines knowing that more travelers from N. America want to go to Rome than to Milan. Anyway, I would absolutely opt for saving $2800, especially since two of your destinations are in northern Italy. Do check out the open-jaw suggestion, and be sure to try it both ways; i.e., into Milan and out from Milan. Some airports have significantly bigger taxes on departures than on arrivals.

You may also find a big price difference based on the day of the week that you travel. Fridays and Sundays are typically the busiest, and therefore most expensive. Tuesday thru Thursday is usually the cheapest.

Anyway, don't forget that your time is worth something, as well. An "open jaw" or multi-city itinerary is great in that you don't have to waste time and money to get back to your original destination. Fly into or out of Milan to save some money and to enjoy some of the wonderful things that city has to offer, but use Rome as the other city. You'll be glad you did!

It is all about the amount of competition flying into that airport. If someone such as the previously mentioned Emirates, decides to enter the market and under cut the established carriers, they have to follow suit or lose business. By the same token, when someone exits a market, all the remaining carriers will immediately raise prices. US Air recently exited Venice, so guess what. As Salomon Brothers, (The Vampire Squid) recently told their clients, the whole benefit of mergers is to reduce competition and raise prices. They must have been involved in the American-US Air merger.

Flying to Milan MXP instead of VCE won't add much time to your travel. It's a 4 hour train trip from the airport to Venice Santa Lucia (with one change at Milan Central). The cost is approximately €50 max ($70) per person, all inclusive. So it's still a big savings for your family. There are no flights from Milan MXP to Venice, besides, it would take you longer than the train once you include boarding procedures and the transfer from Venice airport to the city. The train takes you across the bridge in the middle of the lagoon, inside the historical center of Venice. Venice Santa Lucia station is in fact on the Grand Canal, whereas the airport is quite a distance on the mainland.
Remember that for the trip back home you need to spend the last night in Milan (preferably near the Cadorna station). Flights to NorthAmerica depart in the morning and the airport is not close. From the Cadorna station you can take the faster Malpensa Express that takes you to the airport in 36 min. (Faster than the train from Centrale station). The taxi is an option, but it's expensive and takes longer than the train.

It's impossible to check your prices with any accuracy without knowing your travel dates, which affect trans-Atlantic prices substantially depending on the season. So this is a guess. I chose September dates, going and return, using the Delta website. Open-jaws Milan and Rome can back at about $50 less expensive than Milan round trip. Maybe it's the time of year. However, in January I did extensive research for my own trans-Atlantic trip in June, examining several northern Italian cities, and found little to choose between the destinations. To be clear, my trip is from the midwest and I ended up with an Air Canada - Lufthansa combination so it is not exactly the same situation.