Recommendations for airlines from Seattle to Venice&#59; Rome to Seattle

You can have a good or a not-so-good experience with any airline, and I've probably been on all of them that fly US-Europe. Just go with the airline that best fits your itinerary and has the best price. There are no mom-and-pop airlines flying across the Atlantic. And if you're going in mid-May, I'd suggest you book pretty darn soon.

I usually use kayak.com for research as they have all of the best sorting options, such as departure/arrival times, airports, multi city trips, stops, price, pretty much anything you can think of. Global fuel prices have really been climbing the last few weeks. Ideally, I'd book as soon as possible.

Ruth, we often take the SEA-AMS Delta/KLM flight and connecting often with KLM to wherever. I've even met Rick on this flight (AMS-SEA in '07) and his camera crew in '10. Air France also has a direct flight, SEA-CDG but be careful with the connections in CDG! I prefer a 2 hour connection there.....and actually prefer AMSit's a much easier airport to get around!
From the Helpline I learned of itasoftware.com which I've found extremely helpful. I then go directly to the airline site to actually purchase. I start looking about 11 months before our trip and usually purchase 8-9 before the trip. It really seems in the last 3 years that prices only go up...except maybe the last 2 weeks. Since I am particular about where we sit on the plane (I like having choices as well as sitting with my family or friends), I don't like waiting!

Ruth, I mentioned on your other thread that we like British Airways, but not to go to Venice. That is because you have to transfer airports, from Heathrow to Gatwick, which we did not like. Next time we will stop over in London and take a morning flight to Venice. That United flight for $1290 that shows up on Kayak is on Lufthansa going from Seattle to Frankfurt, and then to Venice, so that is good. The return from Rome is on Continental through Newark. But that combination is about $350 less than going on Lufthansa both ways. The May 15 flight from SEA is almost filled. From Seattle, if you want a flight with one stop in each direction and good flight times with least hassle, your best choice is a flight directly to Europe, with a change there. From Seattle to Italy, your options for that are British, Lufthansa, Delta, and Air France. Those flights land in London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris respectively.

Ruth, your name rings a bell. :-) I bet airline prices will just continue to climb, so grab something soon. We've done various combinations into and out of Rome and Venice to/from Seattle. The one we've enjoyed the most so far was a return from Venice through Paris with a 23 hour layover in Paris. But AirFrance has been having problems lately (strikes), so I'm not sure I'd pick them. Previously we did an overnight layover on our return, through Copenhagen, but that was through SAS and they no longer do the nonstop Copenhagen/Seattle flights. We've done the KLM Amsterdam thing and that worked fine. We've done Lufthansa Frankfurt and that was okay as well. The problem with doing the London thing is that you have to switch airports in London. Crazy. The flight we've enjoyed the most was when we did New York to Rome nonstop on Alitalia. As soon as we got on the plane, it was as if we were already in Italy. But the hassle to get to New York first wasn't so great. The one drawback of the flight to Rome from New York was, ironically, that it was too short to get enough sleep. It's about 8 hours, and you can only get about 4 hours sleep between dinner and breakfast. One option that I play around with in my head is to fly to LAX then nonstop to Rome on Alitalia from there. I'm thinking we might be more likely to get a good amount of sleep on that flight, arriving relatively refreshed in Rome in the morning.

agree fuel prices are going up i would book soon for may. give the dates

My dates are: Leaving Seattle on May 12 for Venice Leaving Rome on May 25th or 26th back to Seattle (I would like to leave from Naples if possible, but we are staying in Sorrento and the bus might not connect for the flight, and we do not want to spend the night in Naples.) Thanks!
Ruth

Ruth: If you want to go directly into Venice Marco Polo Airport from the U.S., you'll have to schedule a flight on Delta through JFK or Atlanta. JFK has more available flights. You should avoid the big German airline, as their reputation for quality is very, very poor. Check on Kayak.com to see the alternatives for Multi City flying. I'm booked on U.S. Air next month, but wish I had paid the $20 more to go on Deltaagain by reputation. An alternative would be to see if there's any non-stop flights out of SEATAC into any of the big European airports, where you'd have to transfer to get to Venice.
I'd rather transfer in Europe than go through JFK. There again Delta's new JFK terminal is absolutely incredible. Good luck!

Ruth, I checked out the Expedia. KLM 5/12 SEA- VCE 1:40PM - 4:55PM(Plus one day)(one stop) 5/26 FCO-SEA 12:55PM -11:34PM(two stop) $1137 per ticket.
The lowest prcie from Kayak is $1177 Delta. I would check it out again Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. You might get a better price. I suggest you to book three months before the flight. Have a good trip!

Ruth, there is some bad advice here about flying " directly" to Italy from the US. There are such flights from the East coast but that is not a good option from Seattle. The last choice is US Air which has a terrible record for delayed flights. Also you want to avoid changes at JFK. The first choice for flights from Seattle is one of the flights that goes straight to Europe. I have not flown Lufthansa and have no idea why that guy would say to avoid the " big German airline" but given that he chooses to fly US Air you should question his opinions. The Delta flight to Amsterdam is a good option for you. Lufthansa and BA are both more expensive. Basically you need to view with caution advice from anyone who is not from Seattle and claims they can find good flights for $ 1000 or so. In high season that isn't going to happen for Italy. Not unless it is a crazy route with 2 stops on the way and long layovers.

There are also direct flights from SEA to Europe via Iceland Air (to Reykjavik), and from there to Milan. For your dates above the price comes to $1,118. I think you have to book via http://www.icelandair.us You then take the train to Venice from Milan (around 2.5 hours).

I'll be flying the SEA-AMS-FCO next weekend, so I'll let you know how it goes!

I recently did extensive research for my trip to Rome in May and found prices all over the board. The best rates I found were on Orbitz where I managed to get a Seattle-Rome roundtrip on Delta, Alitalia and KLM for about $1100. Orbitz also has the advantage of their price watch service where you get a refund if anyone else later books the same routing for a lower price than you did. My advice when flying out of Seattle is to avoid American because most of their flights involve a 6-hour layover at JFK in what is pretty much an empty terminal. I would also avoid Expedia as their flight information is usually old so you get caught by "your price has changed" messages half the time.

That flight Rick mentioned on KLM/Delta is $1204 on Kayak today. That is still pretty good for May. This is a good flight combination with one stop in each direction, and reasonable departure and arrival times. You might watch for a couple of days, or book now if you have decided. I prefer to book directly on the airline's website rather than with Orbitz, Expedia, etc.

I would check Travelocity.com first, to see what airlines fly to your cities, pick an airline, then I go to that airline's website. I always buy on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. They seem to have the best prices on those days.

Some of those IcelandAir flights seem to give you less than an hour to change planes. Waaay to close for my comfort.

It looks like the Icelandair flights to Milan on Saturday May 12 all involve two stops. Also, does that airline serve Rome or would she have to add a flight from Rome to Milan or Paris?