Flying Los Angeles to Venice

The Avro RJ100 is a British built regional jet with about 100 seats, 4 engines (very reliable) high wing design.
It has 5 across 2-3 seating. Out here in the boonies of Wisconsin, we used to fly them all the time to Chicago, a short hop but a lot of traffic. Zurich to Venice is a short hop over the Alps, so it is an ideal plane for this route. Most of the Avros here were replaced 15 years ago by Canadair Regional jets with 50 to 70 seats. Looks kinda like a miniature 747.

Avros are a funky little jet. As mentioned, 4 engines. And with a high wing. But typically, they only use all four for takeoff. Once they get up, they use two engines. Always wanted to fly one one. Really, though, no better or worse than any typical regional jet. (Canadair, Jungle Jets, etc.)

Thanks for the reply Sam and Jeff. So you think it's not much different then the A320 that I am used to taking from Zurich to Rome?

Sorry if I sound like a total wimp but I get anxious enough flying as it is and just want to double check aircraft size.

It's smaller than an A320. But for a regional jet, it's kind of "fat". (wide). Seating 2-3 instead of 1-2 or 2-2. Makes it a tad wider than a typical regional jet. But not quite as big as a main line jet like an A320 or Boeing 737.

Really, I think you are fine. Don't worry. It's perfectly safe.

Re your Mum and and changing flights - why not make arrangements for assistance to get you from gate to gate - you can do it through your airline They will meet you with one of those golf cart things and drive you to your next gate. Its been years since I have been through Zurich but I imagine it works with typical Swiss efficiency.

Thanks Jeff. I know that I have no experience with any other airline but given the positive experiences we had with Swiss made me think of them first. It sounds like this aircraft is just like any other aircraft and that we'll be fine.
Thanks again.
Donna

I did an Expedia search picking a date later this year (Sept) and found your Swiss Air flight and others. The other options seem to be US Airways/The New American via Philly then direct to Venice. Return from Rome via North Carolina then to LAX. Or Delta/KLM LAX to Amsterdam on a KLM 747 then a KLM 737 to Venice with a 2 hour layover in AMS. Return on Delta via Detroit (767's) or non stop Rome to LAX on Alitalia (777). (That Alitalia flight has had some bad reviews on this helpline. Do a search.) All have about the same price.

I assume a long flight time is not be a concern as the LAX to Zurich is very long flight.
The US Airways flights break up the flying time the best.
The Philly Airport has gotten bad reviews on this helpline for being hard to make transfers.
Amsterdam is a big airport but considered to be a very good airport to make a transfer to elsewhere in Europe.
Generally it is felts on this helpline that the European/foreign airlines offer a better in flight experience except for Alitalia.

So my pick (opinion) would be the Delta/KLM via Amsterdam return from Rome via Detroit. I can't say that the Delta experience would be as good as the Swiss as I have not been on Swiss. Delta and KLM do offer economy comfort for some extra leg room for a little more money.

Others Helpliners may have opinions on this suggestion.

Other factors I consider are a good departure time, a good arrival time at the final destination and total travel time. It is going to be a long travel day no matter. So pick the flights/airline that has the best and most of what is important for you and offers the least stressful situations. Just my opinion.

There is nothing wrong with the AVRO RJ 100. I've flown it many time both in the US (ORD to MKE and back on numerous business trips) and Paris to Florence. Just smaller overhead compartments, if you have a big carry on.

Robert - you are correct in that the long flight time in the beginning isn't a problem. Both times we slept just about the entire way. This flight leaves LAX at 7PM so going to sleep shortly after takeoff is easy to do. We are tired by the time we land in Zurich ( and at our final destination) but we expect to be. It is a long day but very we'll worth it in the end.

I considered KLM after reading about AMS being an easy airport to connect to other parts of Europe and will look at it again just to be sure I have all the information I need to make a good decision. I looked at AF through CDG but a lot of the connecting times appeared to be either just under 2 hours or more than 3 and a half. I did see Delta through ATL but that airport is so big I wouldn't even consider that. I would love to do nonstop from Rome but very board I read has awful posts about Alitalia. Now I do think that for the most part people are more inclined to post negative reviews vs positive and that there have to have been some positive experiences for Alitalia or they wouldn't still be in business. Even having said this I do hesitate to fly them.

I started my search by looking at flight times as I would rather get to Venice early (Swiss gets you in at 7PM) but realized that while I could do that with another airline there was some other negative (total travel time, connecting airport, connection time, etc.). Cost is always a consideration but I don't mind spending a bit more to get more. As it is now Swiss is more expensive that AF or even US airways.

Thank you Lesley for the idea about requesting Assistance for my Mom. I'll explore that to see what it involves.

Atlanta is big and busy, but also pretty efficient. I'd rather change planes there than Charles de Gaulle. Amsterdam is also well run, and a single (though large) terminal building. You are wise to study the time for transfers as your most important consideration, wherever you make the transfer.

Thank you to everyone who answered this post.

Because of your suggestions I looked at flights again and found that KLM has two nice flights (via Amsterdam) that arrive in Venice at either 1:30 PM or 4:15 PM. This is a much nicer arrival time then what Swiss had (7PM). Depending on the flight there is either a 2 or 2 1/2 hour connection time in Amsterdam (which sounds doable given everyone's opinion on that airport).

The return flight from Rome can be with KLM, Air France, or Alitalia. I know that there have been some negative comments for Alitalia (more than some I guess) but I do dislike taking off and landing so much that doing it once sounds pretty attractive to me and when my vacation is over I do so want to just go HOME! I honestly could care less how the Crew treats me as long as I can be transported from point A to point B safely.

The other option is KLM (through Amsterdam again) but the connection times concern me. There are three separate scenarios - one with a 1 hour layover, another with 1 hour 10 minutes, and the last with 3 hours and 50 minutes. The first two sound too short even for Amsterdam and the last sounds too long.

My question would be if I do decide to use the combo of KLM/Alitalia whose website do I make the reservations with? I normally book one airline all the way through and don't know if there are advantages or disadvantages to using one airline over the other to do this.

My biggest concern would be securing seats at the time of the reservation (if able to). I honestly can't remember on my past flights if I secured seats at the time of booking or x amount of days prior to the flight.

Thanks to all of you,
Donna

AirFrance-KLM and Alitalia are partners and members of SkyTeam alliance (actually the AirFrance-KLM corporation owns a big chunk of Alitalia shares as well). So if you buy the ticket with whichever airline part of the SkyTeam, they'll accommodate all your needs even for the portions operated by the partner airline.

One hour layover in Amsterdam should be actually enough to make the transfer.

Air France/KLM, owned by the same company, and Delta in the US sell each other's trans-Atlantic tickets almost as if they were one airline. Oddly, the prices can vary a small amount from site to site, but you can buy your tickets on whichever one is more comfortable. The only drawback is that seat assignment is not always available for all legs of the itinerary at the time of purchase. It might help to use the airline operating the longest flights. Later on you may be able to wangle advance seats out of the operators of the other legs.