Airline Questions

Jon, I fly in and out of Detroit all the time. Delta seems to work out well, and they have a number of "sister" airlines (Alitalia, for example). Expect some long layover on the trip back (I fly out of Rome and end up in Amsterdam for 11 hours during the night). I've never had more than one stop. I try to make the stop in Europe or New York, rather than Toronto. There is usually a comfort-economy option on Delta that you might look into ("view seats" online). Be sure to move around a lot during the flight.

Have you priced upgrading to business class? Could be a couple thousand. If that is not the problem, that is the only way to go. If that doesn't work, then opt for the economy plus or upgrade. At least a $100 or a bit more each way for each seat. You gain 5" which does not sound like but is a BIG difference. For me at 6-2, it is more tolerable. Don't think there is much difference in airlines as they all are cutting back service. Our last two trips were on Delta including the flight between Detroit and Amsterdam. They are OK, no real complaints. Use to be a big fan of Lufthansa until a recent return to Chicago which was miserable. I swear they reduced the space between seats, again. We avoid US Air because of a couple marginal trips with them - Phil to Rome. I would think you could go direct from Detroit to Rome. Return from Florence will include a leg in Europe for your connecting flight home.

Jon-we are partial to delta because we are in Atlanta and it offers to best connections as well as we've committed to their frequent flyer program. With the program we started using our miles to upgrade to business elite (their equivalent of 1st class) about 10 years ago for our overseas flights and we've never looked back. My husband is tall and has a hard enough time sleeping at home, much less on a plane. Our first trips together (including one to Asia) were in coach and, for him, it was really hard. He would basically be sick a day or so at least on one and sometimes both legs. So for us, the business elite, combined with an Ambien for him, makes our first few days in Europe actually doable. On many trips I have purchased the coach ticket for anywhere from $500 up and then used the miles to upgrade. I would work it so I got the lowest amount of miles necessary, which sometimes meant flying into other cities-but we always added that on as part of our trip. I work the miles as much as I can but there have been times when I didn't have enough but we picked up a fare sale with Europe tickets at about 2500/each. This may sound like a lot to some people, but this was always during the summer (we traveled with our kids), when regular prices were over $1,000/each. For us, the additional 3000 on top of what we were already spending for a 3 week trip was, indeed very worth it. Anyway-that is our experience. A definite yes as to the "is it worth it to upgrade" question. Good luck with figuring out your alternatives!

you can use Expedia, Orbitz... to compare your options but overall you are usually best off booking with the airline directly if Delta has the best connections for you then that is probably your best bet if you can afford to upgrade or have miles to use than of course it's nice to have more room I usually try to do Italy with only one stop, the more stops the more time wasted
from LAX to Italy I usually go with British Airways, a little better quality service than United, AA and other domestic carriers.

I don't think many will argue that biz class is better- it just depends on your wallet and if you have miles. You can always go one way in economy plus and one way in biz and see what you think). I used economy plus on United in October from Rome and it was acceptable-( and I'm 5'5") It was so "merely ok" that I wondered about the even more limited legroom offered in regular economy on that plane. Business class on some flights will net you a flatbed seat- on others, only a reclining seat.
For upgrades, I like Continental as their front of the bus cabin is called "Biz class" but is really first- unlike United or Lufthansa where there are still 3 cabins. Also the Delta flights from Minn-StPaul are the old Northwest planes which are nice. I always look at the planes to see the seat configuration- if the transatlantic portion ( economy) has 3 seats on the aisle and 3, 4 or 5 seats in the middle, I go to the next plane or airline. I much prefer planes that has 2 seats on the aisles and then the 3 or 4 seats in the middle. I also look to see what the entertainment option is- oldfashioned flop down screens or seatback screens with individual controls? (Think it is seatguru.com that has seats rated.) Another advantage to booking directly with the airline is monitoring your seat ions and making sure you are on the aisle, away from the engines, with seats between you and other passengers, and as far forward as possible ( my preference anyway.) There have been complaints about BA not allowing seat ion without added fees- yuck. I look at my seats weekly until they are as good as they get.

"Another advantage to booking directly with the airline is monitoring your seat ions and making sure you are on the aisle, away from the engines, with seats between you and other passengers, and as far forward as possible ( my preference anyway.) There have been complaints about BA not allowing seat ion without added fees- yuck. I look at my seats weekly until they are as good as they get." Melissa - what do you mean by 'seat ions'? Who is BA? British Airways? Thanks!

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I'm going to be doing some reviewing of the airline sites..and see if I can't find a good deal on the business type seats. Sadly we can't do miles upgrades, cause the two of us travel by plane probably once a year, so we've never earned those. Still, good advice:)

By "seat ions" Melissa means seat selektions but with a c instead of the k. This bulletin board removes certain words as a security feature, and selekt is one of them, when it's spelled correctly.

Jon, my wife and I flew to Rome in early November from Los Angeles and flew on American Airlines to JFK and then on to London. We then flew on British Airways from Heathrow to Fiumicino Airport. The trip to Heathrow was a red eye, so we were able to sleep for most of the flight. The transfer/layover was pleasant at the airport so no issues there. The flight on British Airways to Rome was also pleasant and they served a real meal instead of the peanuts and sodas served on US domestic flights. When our trip was completed, we flew back from Rome to London via BA, and then caught an 11.5 hour flight back to Los Angeles on American Ailrlines, via a triple 7. (Boeing 777). Even in coach, the seats were fine, each equiped with a video screen where we had a our choice of 10 movies, music and and a handful TV shows. The flight attendants served two full meals, a snack and rolled out the drink cart five times. Hope this helps you out on what to expect....if you fly AA and BA...

Thanks all again :) We're actually leaning towards Air France because of two reasons. 1) They have Premium Econ seating which seems like it'd be rather helpful to someone like me. 2) I may surprise my wife and do a extra day of vacation in Paris (yeah, only one day, but still, she'd love it).

I haven't flown every airline, but I've flown most of them. Ten years ago, I saw advantages to certain airlines more than today. Now, I think United = British Airways = KLM = Lufthansa = American Airlines (and really not in a good way). I'm flying Aer Lingus for the first time in April so we'll see if they're essentially the same as the rest. With codesharing these days, you're just as likely to book with one airline and find yourself flying on another. My one caveat is I'll never, unless my life depends on it, book AlItalia. As far as I can tell it is, by far, the worst airline operating.

My wife and I were transferred to BA from NWA to fly from London back to Seattle. Well, BA put my wife and I on separate airplanes. NOT acceptable says both of us. It took several hours arguing with BA at Heathrow and finally a call to NWA in Minneapolis (who apparently called BA) to get us onto the same plane. Now we do not use BA or go thru Heathrow - personal preference. We have always tried to get a nonstop flight out of Seattle to Europe and most times in the last 10 years we have been successful, and a non-stop flight from Europe to Seattle so that we do not have to go thru any customs (or whatever) before landing in Seattle and claiming any luggage we may have checked (by accident?).
Happy traveling.

Thanks all. Our tickets have been booked, yaaay. We opted to go for Air France since they had the better seating and a direct flight from Detroit. Plus, our way back will have a layover in Paris which my wife thinks is just an overnight (I extended it an extra day as a surprise for her). A couple of their flight suggestions would have put me on Altalia so I'm glad folks mentioned their issues with them here. More questions to come as we get more into the nitty gritty details :) Jon