We're looking to fly from Seattle to Italy for two weeks in late November. We'll likely fly into Rome or Venice and out from the other. Our plan is to have a week based in and around Rome with the other week being spent in the area between Rome and Venice (Tuscany, Florence, Venice and surrounding islands). Our previous trip to Bath, London, and Paris had us flying both in and out of Heathrow (for only $400/pp total round trip which couldn't be beat) with the final day including a BMI flight from Paris to Heathrow and then home. For our Italy trip, flying open jaw appears to be the way to go. Which airlines would be good choices to check for this kind of itinerary?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
4 posts
kayak.com shows Air France (as a Delta codeshare) Seattle Paris Rome and Delta Venice Newy York Seattle for 832 from a third party web site. I picked Midweek Nov 7 outbound and Nov 23 return (probably Thanksgiving). The price quoted includes taxes. Good Luck
Posted by
gaston, oregon, usa
842 posts
Steve,
My wife loves the Lufthansa direct flight from Portland to Frankfurt, then we book one of the cheapo European airlines for our next leg. Currently we have a June trip planned, and we found $480 R/T tickets. We open up a search on Orbitz, and pick three destinations,(ie. London, Frankfurt, Munich) and watch to see which comes in with the lowest cost. Then we book a destination on the cheapo airline. We have also done the PDX to London flights, and then found cheap flights out to one town in Italy, and flew back to London from another. If I remember correctly, there some great prices into and out of Venice to London, and many other places. Leave your options open, and let Orbitz (or one of the other travel sites) notify you when a low cost flight is found into one of your chosen destinations on the continent, then book a cheap fight from there. Have fun!
Steve
Posted by
OP
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
Thanks Steve and, um... steve :)
If we were able to get the same deal direct to Heathrow that we had in March of '06, then we may consider something like you mentioned. When we flew direct from Paris to Heathrow on (baby)BMI, the price was half that of taking the train back and it dropped us off right at the airport instead of taking a couple of tube runs to get there.
So that's something that I still have in the back of my mind. I just can't imagine getting air for two to LHR for $810 combined again - but I won't balk if it comes up!
Steve
Posted by
irvine
112 posts
You are packing an awful lot into 2wks. Rome,
Florence and Venice can be overwhelming in itself,
then throw Tuscany in???? We have been to Italy
3 times and still have a lot to see.
I know this is unsolicited advice, just something
to think about.
Posted by
OP
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
Thanks Juli,
That is some of what we're still deciding. We've already resigned ourself to the fact that we will have to come back in the future (likely as parts of larger trips). Our thought is that we'd start in either Rome or Venice and work towards the other with a couple of stops in between.
From some of the other postings, it looks like five days in and around Rome may be closer to what we will do. We'll likely only get a "taste" along the way towards Venice where we'd like to base our last few days.
I thought I read elsewhere on the site that the newest R.S. Italy book would be out towards the end of the summer, so I'll also be waiting on it along with other research to fine tune the trip.
At this point though, the fly-in/fly-out part can be the primary focus. What happens in between likely will be adjusted even after we land. Being late November, and out of the tourist season, I think we may have a little more flexibility in our choices too.
Posted by
OP
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
I was just looking at Air France itineraries. Although they're a small amount more than the cheapest, they have an intriguing itinerary.
They fly direct from Seattle to deGaulle. The questionable part is the 1 hour layover in CDG before heading to Rome. Is that reasonably doable? Flying from SEA-ROM in 13 hours would be great, although I'm a little afraid of missing the connecting flight. There's a later option with a 2.5 hour layover that I'd feel more comfortable with.