Crazy? To fly into London on AA miles then take another flight to Rome?

No, it is pretty easy. I've done this before, but I've always stayed the night of arrival and the night before departure in London. I've never attempted to fly to another city in Europe on a separate ticket on the same day as my transatlantic flight. I've generally chosen BA when traveling to Italy from London. If you fly one of the budget carriers like Ryanair, make sure you add all the fees in (admin, credit card, luggage) plus the cost of getting to the airport and compare. I often find BA costs about the same once all the extras are added. Be aware of the different London airports. Most transatlantic flights come into LHR but many flights to Italy are out of Gatwick or other airports. One thing to keep in mind ... London has no public transportation on Christmas Day so you probably want to avoid arriving or departing that day.

Thanks does it have public transport on Boxing day? The day after Christmas? We would need to leave that day for Rome.
Guess I should post on the England site. I can use AA miles on BA but they have what seems to be a large fuel charge to use them in addition to taxes. Thanks for the reply.

There is transit on Boxing Day, but on a reduced schedule.

BA and Alitalia do direct flights from Heathrow (ca. 25 hrs). KLM and Air France do flights with a stopover - making it a 4-6 hour flight. Eastjet does not fly from Heathrow but from Luton, Gatwick or Stanstead so you have to figure in the costs of traveling to an out of London location to their fares. Ditto Ryanair. Personally I would swallow the fuel surcharge and go BA. If you stay at one of the many hotels near Heathrow you should be able to get a Hoppa bus which serves the hotels and airport on either Christmas Day or Boxing day with no problem. I can recommend the Premier Inn Bath Road. It is reasonable by London and airport standards (about CDN$135 for the Christmas period). Stayed there overnight between a flight from Canada and one to Athens.

I earned miles on a British Airways credit card. My free tickets cost me $750 each last year. I read other Euro carriers do the same. I am back to my United credit card. I would not want to pay those taxes plus a second flight and perhaps an airport hotel. I wonder how much money you would save versus the lost day, hassle and using points versus earning them? We arrived in London at noon and had great fun before taking the chunnel the next morning. It was summer though and we had great walking weather and no holiday to work around. I have flown Ryanair twice and it was fine for short distances. They are upfront about their fees and send you reminders to checkin online or pay a penalty. I sent my daughter over to Florence once on Christmas day and as no one likes to travel that day we got a good fare. Good luck

I am using American Air miles to fly in and out of Milan in August/ September.
I have found that you have to start looking for "free flights" about 330 days before your departure if you can. The seats go quickly.

I left out a decimal point - should have said London to Rome - 2.5 hrs.

Thank you for the great replies. What is Alitalia like? Looks like you get to take a bag at no charge but have never flown on them. The plan if we go with it would be to go to London first spend a few days and then go to Rome. So we would not be losing any days just seeing another city on our trip. Since this is low season to fly to Europe from the US as of yesterday they still have free flights. Thanks for all the helpful info.

does it have public transport on Boxing day? In England? On a limited schedule is an understatement. No trains, very limited Underground, I wouldn't bet on a Hoppa Bus without checking.

Adding to Nigel's comment, there is usually transit between Paddington and Heathrow and between Victoria and Gatwick on Boxing Day; sometimes they run the Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express and some years they have had a substitute bus. But regardless, the service is not as frequent as on regular days. I would not book an early morning flight out of either airport on Boxing Day. I think BA service is better than Alitalia.

If you fly Alitalia, don't check any luggage. Just Google Alitalia...:-( I'd fly some other airline if possible. Of course, many people here on the Helpline like Alitalia just fine. Others fly Aeroflot, too, but not this puppy. A few days in London would be fabulous! It breaks up that long flight to Rome, and getting to be in London would be a bonus! Just for funsies - I don't know your schedule nor time restraints, but you could take EuroStar from London to Paris, then train from Paris to Rome via Milan - either a day train, or a night train. It's non-stop to Milan, then a 3-ish hour train to Rome. Just a thought...that you might find repulsive LOL!

We did exactly what you are talking about last year. We used United miles for a free flight to London, transferred to Gatwick using the transfer bus, and then flew RyanAir out of Gatwick. I didn't mind RyanAir, they are very strict in size and weight, but you know that ahead of time and should plan accordingly. In retrospect, I would have bit the bullet and paid an extra $100 to fly out of Heathrow on another airline, just to save time. We were exhausted by the time we reached Rome (we started in CA).