Airline choices to Italy

lcolem that is a multi-city trip, aka open jaw, and you can get a fare that is like a round trip, instead of booking one-ways. So you can search on this using any of the travel websites such as Orbitz, Expedia, Kayak, etc. Are you familiar with doing that?

With code-sharing you have to look close to see which airline is actually serving that route. For example, a flight booked on Delta might actually be flown by Alitalia.

That is a round trip - search via the "multi city" feature on sights like kayak.com. You could do 2 one way tickets but that is likely to cost more and even if the price is the same - if you need to change it you will be hit with 2 change fees instead of one.

What you will find is that the American carriers you are familiar with will have these flights, often through "code share". So you might book on American Airlines but the actual flight will be run by its partner British Air.

Alitalia is the Italian airline. Service reviews are...mixed but they will have lots of flights. US Partner is Delta. I am in Chicago so can't speak to SFO specifically.

Search Kayak using the multi-city feature:

Going From: SFO To: VCE
Return: From: FCO To: SFO
Click to include nearby airports under SFO, as now Lufthansa flies out of San Jose (SJC), at cheaper price since they just launched the SJC-FRA flight.

My home airport is also SFO. I generally fly Lufthansa, since I'm a United mileage plus member (both are members of the Star Alliance). SFO is also a United/Lufthansa hub, therefore there are lots of flights via Germany (Frankfurt or Munich) with either Lufthansa or United (in code share). There are no direct flights to Italy from the Bay Area.

Another good alternative for your trip is via Paris CDG (Air France) or via Amsterdam AMS (KLM) or via Zurich ZRH (Swiss, which is part of Lufthansa).

Via Istanbul IST (Turkish Airlines) may be a cheaper alternative, however it's a bit longer going through Turkey and flying through IST hasn't been hassle free lately.

There is also the option to fly via JFK/ATL with Delta or via EWR with United or via PHL with AA (they all have flights to both VCE and FCO from their Eastern US hubs). However, my preference is the polar route directly from SFO to Europe, since it cuts down the trip by several hours.

Icolem,

My experience flying in/out of Venice (VCE) and In to Venice and out of Rome (FCO) has been on American Airlines. Going into Venice (both times) was through London Heathrow with a British Airways code share to VCE.

American Airlines has been acquired by US Air since my first trip to Venice. They have since combined their schedules and American now flies direct to Venice from Philly and (I think) Charlotte. However, they still have a ton of code-shares operated by British Airways (via London) and Iberia Airlines via Madrid. So if you can one-hop from SFO to LHR or MAD, you should be able to continue on to Venice easy enough.

American also flies direct from Rome to Chicago and New York or you can opt to fly a code-share to a European hub to get a direct flight back to home station.

I have not flown United or Delta to Europe, mostly due to their offerings in my local market. I do know that a lot of Delta flights into VCE involve a code-share operator with a change in either Paris or Amsterdam.

A couple things to consider if using a code-share (US flagged carrier flight operated by a foreign partner) itinerary, foreign carriers are often much more strict when it comes to carry-on baggage limits (their max size is often smaller than that of US airlines) and they are generally a lot more aggressive when it comes to fees for "optional" services. I know (from experience) that BA charges (a substantial amount) to choose your own seat assignment more than 24 hours out AND you'll probably be relegated to middle seats otherwise. They (BA) were also making EVERYBODY place their carry-ons in sizers at London and Rome last time I flew with them.

Looking at other European carriers, it looks like the BA experience (above) is pretty standard...

Good luck. I hope this long-winded ramble helps you make intelligent travel decisions regarding your upcoming trip.

I tried several search methods and found Google flights very useful. We ended up flying Oakland to Rome round trip on Norwegian. Oakland is closer for me than SFO and Norwegian had by far the best price when I was looking. We used trains to get to Florence and Venice. For us it meant more time on internal travel within Italy but a bit less travel time on the US end and a pretty big price savings. Also we booked one ticket all the way to and from Rome so it would be on the airline to help us if we missed connections. We could have saved a small amount of money by flying into some place like Gatwick on a big international carrier and then switching to one of the budget carriers like easy jet.

(Turkish Airlines was also pretty cheap, but we decided we were not comfortable flying through Istanbul. As it turned out the aiport attack there was the day before we flew home. Of course, just about anything can happen just about anywhere so it's just what you are comfortable with.)

Re codeshares, any partner's plane can be substituted for the one you book.

In my first comment above I did not include the British Airways option via London LHR for a reason.

Although you can fly non stop from SFO to LHR with BA (actually I think they may have two daily pairs in summer), however there are only two daily flights from LHR to VCE on British Air (1 only in winter). One leaves LHR at 9:00am, the other leaves LHR at 8:15pm.
Since the flight from SFO arrives at 11am and will not get you to London in time for the 9am departure, it's a very long wait until the next one at 8:15pm.

With Delta you can go to Atlanta then direct to Paris then short jog to Venice then return from Rome directly to US. It's considered a round trip.

I've traveled to/from Venice, Rome and Milan using Delta. Delta is very nice to travel overseas. I "upgraded" to the more legroom seats and it made a difference. Some of the flights were codeshare with AirFrance and Alitalia. I found AirFrance's plane from Paris to Venice was outdated and in rough shape. Alitalia's plane was nice but their carry on rules and weight allowances were strict (compared to Delta).

Once again I recommend you to look at my advice above.

I also live near SFO and have flown from SFO to Italy and viceversa well nearly 40 times. What is good for someone living in the Midwest or the south is not necessarily good for someone departing from the West Coast.

SFO (and now also OAK and SJC) offers many choices directly to Europe without having to stop in an Eastern US hub. You should avoid going thru the Eastern US (like NY area, Chicago, or even ATL) unless the price is hugely less. Going thru the East will greatly increase your travel time. Also on the way back, if you flight straight to SFO as your first port of entry, you will clear Customs and immigration when you are already home. If you return via any other airport in the East, you need to clear customs there and still have another 6.5 hours before you get home. But the biggest risk is missing the connection to Europe due to weather events in the NY or Chicago area, which tend to be common. If you miss your connection in NY, you will have to wait a day in NY for the next flight to Europe, and according to US regulations the airline is not liable for your hotel costs if the delay was due to factors beyond the airline's control (like weather). Instead, if you fly directly to Europe, even If you miss your connection in Paris or Frankfurt, there will be many flights later that will get you to Italy on the same day. Also in Europe the airline will cover your hotel costs, if you happen to miss your connection back to the US, let's say in Paris. I also do not agree that European airlines are worse. The opposite is true in my experience. For one, alcohol is free on nearly all EU airlines across the Atlantic. On US based airlines you will be charged.

One more warning regarding flying Norwegian out of OAK. It's a low cost airline. Therefore be aware of their restrictions regarding refundable tickets.

At one time I used to have preference for carriers thinking some were better than others. IMO, those days are gone given the mergers, code sharing, etc., all the service is pretty much the same. One of my recent better experiences was actually with Alitalia, an airline with a terrible reputation. So who knows??? Go with price and schedule recognizing that better schedules tend to cost more.

Roberto, what is the difference in Norwegian's refund policies from other airlines? With the exception of Southwest, my experience and impression has been that unless you buy very expensive refundable tickets to start with, no airline will refund your money. At least not without dire circumstances and a big fee, which substantialy reduces that refund.

Roberto has given you very sound advice, based on lots of experience from your airport.

Pay particular attention to his comments about British Airways flights into Venice. Most flights from the US west coast do not arrive in time for a good connection to VCE at LHR. Avoid at all costs the flights that have you transfer from Heathrow to Gatwick for a flight to Venice. We always fly British Airways to Europe, but when going to Venice we fly into some other city, spend a night or two, and then take the train to Venice. On the way home, rather than catch a very early flight from Italy that connects with a US -bound flight, we spend a few days in London, which we always enjoy. But this extra is not possible for everyone.

Also give heed to Roberto's comments about flights that connect through a US airport. We avoid those as well, for the reasons stated.

We flew that same route with Delta/KLM. I did the initial search via Kayak, but then I always book on the airlines' site, just booked it through Delta since KLM is a partner (Delta was to/from Amsterdam with KLM to/from Venice/Rome). We had a pleasant experience and are flying with them again in Sept.

I have a preference for delta/airfrance. I flew earlier this month lax to venice returning from rome to lax on Delta. I searched the flights through google (round trip multi city) and then booked direct through delta. While I've flown direct once or twice in the past, this year it was LAX > JFK > VCE returning FCO > MSP > LAX
When flying through JFK i always make sure to have a 3-4 hour layover to have a buffer for delays. although it makes for a longer day, so far i have not yet missed a connection. I imagine you should be able to find similar flights from SFO if you opt for a stop.
With delta I've had issues with my luggage being delayed (not in the last two years!), but in all cases, delta has delivered it to me within 24 hours, free of charge.
One thing i noticed this year - while alcoholic beverages are normally free on the way to Europe, i was surprised they were free on the way back this time around.

I've flown Alitalia in the past, 2001 and 2007 (direct at least once). It wasn't the best experience, but from what i understand their service has/is improving.

I'll add another recommendation to take Roberto's advice above to heart - his points are spot-on. I'll reiterate, and add that...Flying to Europe from the US west coast is very different than flying there from the US east coast. I have a very, very strong preference (and highly recommend) getting a flight from the US west coast non-stop to somewhere in Europe - even if you have to start off by making a connection to some other west coast city (eg, go from SFO to LAX first, then the long flight to Europe). Why? Because...what do you want to do on that long flight? You want to at least TRY to get some sleep. If you fly 4-5 hours east, then have some layover (a few more hours), then connect to your trans-Atlantic flight to Europe (another 5 hours or so), odds are you are not going to get much (maybe any) sleep on those relatively shorter flights. Get a nonstop from the US west coast to somewhere in Europe, and that's a 10+ hour flight. That gives you at least a fighting chance to get some decent sleep. That may or may not get you to your destination in less time (probably will) but at least your body has a chance to unwind and recover from all the travel stress for a good solid chunk of time en route.

Avoid connecting at Heathrow if you can - its one of the world's most hated airport for lots of reasons.

Finally, consider more than just price when choosing a flight: yes, of course everyone wants to watch their budget, but all airline seats (and the overall experience) are not equal. Some planes have seats that are noticeably more (or less) comfortable than others. The exact dimensions of the seat you are about to rent (along with details of other amenities) are readily available if you simply take a moment to look (seatguru.com is your friend). Sure, consider ticket price, but also consider the degree of comfort (or misery) you get with that ticket. Also factor in departure and arrival times, stops and layovers, which can have a huge impact on how you feel when you get there. Yes, there are a lot of different things to weigh, but if the only thing you consider is the cheapest price, don't complain if the flight turns out to be a miserable ordeal. It doesn't have to be that way.

I agree with all of David's (and therefore Roberto's) points, except one:

your trans-Atlantic flight to Europe (another 5 hours or so)

I wish. New York to London is now about 7 hours, and New York to Rome is over 8 hours. And since I sleep very poorly on flights, it feels far longer.

Harold - imagine starting your day on the US west coast, with one or two legs (plus layovers) just to get to your departure point of NYC. Then, after spending the better part of a day schlepping across the continent, then get on that trans-Atlantic flight (that already seems long) for another 7-8 hours. Personally, I'd rather do one 10-hour flight rather then 1 or 2 flights of 3 to 5 hours each, plus that 7 hour TATL on top of it (plus many hours lost in between on connections at America's lovely hub airports). Sure, 7-8 hours in a cramped Economy seat may be no fun, but it's even less fun after doing more than that already before you even get outta the country.

Now, as much as I may say that you east coast folks have it competitively easy getting to Europe, I can sympathize with your plight when trying to fly to, say, Bangkok or Sydney. That's when starting from the west coast works in our favor (although I'd argue that east coasters have a lot more trans-oceanic options). Heck, getting to Tokyo is about as quick and easy for me as it is to get to Boston - and Japan is a much easier flight for me than anywhere in Europe.

The point being that where you are starting from matters. The OP is starting in San Francisco. There were suggestions to route through Atlanta and other US east coast hubs. IMHO not a good choice for someone starting in SFO. The world is big. That has its advantages and disadvantages.

David - I think you missed the first part of my post - I AGREE with you!!!

I was just pointing out that the flights from New York are longer than you posted. EVERYTHING else you said is quite correct. From the North American west coast, it's definitely better to go nonstop to Europe than to change on the east coast.

I have just printed all your wonderful responses.

One of my problems has been to get all three of us together to read and discuss your suggestions. That has been about as
difficult as arranging our trip itself.

Those responses have been excellent, and I am sure that we will experience a much better trip because of your help. I will bet
that we are not the only ones to read and benefit from those responses.

Thank you so much.

I have only flown from the Rast coast of USA but I flew Alitalia both times. I booked through Delta both times, as it saved me a few hundred dollars - they code share. It's worth looking up both airlines if you are going with a company who code shares with another.

I'm flying Delta (issued tickets) from Montreal to Genoa in October with Air France and KLM flights. After buying tickets, the seat choices I made on Air France for the return disappeared and I was told I never paid for the seats. It took five phone calls to straighten it out. Then when I looked at my reservation yesterday to make sure the seats were still there, they were, but then my wife's seat on the flight from Montreal to Amsterdam disappeared. I called and spent an hour on the phone. Finally the rep said her manager as a courtesy put us back in the two seats. Some courtesy considering I paid for the seats. Checked today and sure enough, my wife doesn't have her seat and the seat I paid for is once again available to the public. Looking forward to the next phone call, I believe it will be number 7.