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How to avoid those early departures times from Venice, Milan,Rome etc

Posted by (Hiawatha, KS, USA Now Liberty Missouri) on

This forum gets a lot of "I have a 6 AM flight from "x" airport ... what can I do?" questions every week.

Here is a suggestion of how avoid the early, early departure problem.

Research the non stop, direct to the USA flight options first. It has been my observation that a majority of the american carrier flight's back to the USA from many if not most European cities leave between 10 am and 2 PM. They have flown in from the USA with an early morning arrival 6 AM to 10 AM. The airlines service the plane and are ready to return to the US in 2 - 4 hours after their arrival in Europe. So none of these flights are going to give you a 6 am departure and the problem of getting to the airport at that time of the morning.
A low hassle trip to the airport after a somewhat normal night's sleep should allow you a lower stress return flight and could make a better end to your vacation.

After viewing the return flight options then you can choose the US departure that has the best time and price for you. This works for open jaw flight plans also.

It doesn't always work out price wise but at some point better flights and more convience can be worth a little more cost.

P.S. Has anyone else been enjoying the scenic aerial shots during the TV coverage of the Tour de France on the Versus Cable channel. It can get your travelin' fever up!

Posted by
1167 posts

This is a good suggestion but the problem with places like Venice and Milan is that there are no direct flights to the US so they have to leave early to make the connections you are recommending. This is something to consider when planning an open-jaw itinerary. It would be better to fly into the farther east point and return from a US gateway at the more reasonable hour.

Posted by
63 posts

Before I wrote my original post I checked Expedia and found Delta has a direct flight to Atlanta and JFK from Milan. US Airways has flights direct to Philly from Venice. However I think US Airways flight is seasonal and also not every day of the week. And of course depending where you live in the US Atlanta and JFK may not be close to home and create more difficult connections than getting up early to get the long overseas flight that gets you closer to home. For me located in the Midwest Atlanta and Philly are okay. Each person's situation will be different and no matter what it is a long day getting home. So pick the method that works for you the best. But there are direct flights from Milan and Venice back to the US most of the time.

Posted by
423 posts

Robert, very good points. I have learned to consider this before booking anything. My last trip to Italy, I flew from Venice to JFK and then on to my home city. The flight left around 11:30am, which gave me plenty of time to take Alilaguna to the airport. Staying near an airport to be able to catch a very early flight isn't what I call interesting, and getting up at o-dark-thirty to catch an expensive ride from a city to its airport isn't fun either.

It's all about optimizing your time and savoring every last second before returning home.

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