Need Guidance Please - DC to Cinque Terre' ~ 3-10 May 2013

If you fly out of IAD, United (UA)/Lufthansa (LH) (Star Alliance) will probably offer the best and most plentiful options since IAD is a United hub. Air France (AF) is a good option as well (via Paris CDG) The only non stop flight to Italy from IAD is to Rome (FCO), with UA. Therefore unless you fly to FCO, all other airport options, including MXP, will require a stopover somewhere (maybe CDG if you fly AirFrance, or FRA/MUC if you fly Lufthansa/United or a lot more via JFK). AF flies to both Pisa (PSA) and Genoa (GOA) from CDG. Those are the absolutely closest airports to the Cinque Terre. LH flies to both PSA and GOA from Munich (MUC) (FRA is only seasonal). Both UA and LH fly from IAD to MUC. So the best options from IAD to the Cinque Terre, IMO, are either AF via CDG or LH/UA via MUC. That way you can land to PSA or GOA, less than 90 min. from the Cinque Terre via train. Another option is the NON stop with UA from IAD to FCO and then take the train from Rome to the Cinque Terre. The exact same options would work from LAX as well. The only non stop to Italy is with Alitalia (AZ) to FCO. Alitalia is part of SkyTeam, like Delta and AirFrance. AF via CDG (to PSA or GOA) or LH via MUC (to PSA or CDG), are also available in LAX. Given the above, I wouldn't bother with MXP unless you plan to visit the Milan area or surrounding. I would fly to either PSA or GOA (via CDG with AF or via MUC with LH/UA) or non stop to FCO (with UA from IAD or with AZ from LAX) then take the train. These are the 3 fastest options, IMO (I bet the fastest is to fly to Rome FCO non stop).

Wut's #2 got to do with anything?

Sorry - I ask this because my daughter lives in LA and I live near DC! I'm trying to determine which is the better option to fly out of. We want to fly to Italy together. Dori

Okay. The way to do the flights: I'm going to assume Rome is the best destination, probably is, but may not be. Do some test runs on kayak from both LAX and IAD and see what it looks like. I'm also assuming that you two want to fly home together. She buys a mult-city ticket that runs LAX, IAD, FCO, IAD, LAX. She does it far enough ahead that there are plenty of seats available. She does her seat pick where there are adjacent vacancies on the chart. You're on the computer with a phone in your ear at the same time. When she annnounces the carrier for the Virginia-Italy segments, you start booking the same flight as a round trip. When she picks seat 27A because B is vacant, you pick B. Do the same for coming back. You can also get on the horn with the airline or have a travel agent do it. There's not way it's going to be cheaper for you to fly out to California and then turn around and head east. Somebody else will have to do the trains.

Thank you for your information. I'm going to clarify my 2nd question ... We will fly out of one airport together (either she travels to DC first or I go to LAX first). We will stay together the entire time ... arrival and departure. I take on more costs but I do not want us to fly separately at all. Make sense?

What I described will do just that. With a multi-city it's just a chain of one-ways booked all at once that's only a tad more than a round-trip. Just as she can pause in Rome for a couple of weeks, she can pause in Alexandria for as long as she wishes each way. For future reference, a multi-city doesn't even have to return to its starting point. You can book Dulles, Cape Town, Singapore and still be way ahead of three one-ways. I know in my heart there's come kind of time limit, but I've never bumped up against it.

Also, it might work out better if she flies into National and out of Dulles heading to Italy and the reverse heading home. It would just add a couple more segments to the multi-city chain. You just have to fiddle with her long chain and them match it with your simple round trip.

Another also, you don't even have to use the same airport coming and going to the most distant point. You could fly into Rome, walk to Paris, and fly home from there, or even fly all the way around the world. Mult-city only requires that all the stops be booked at once. It's a very powerful tool.

Dorothea, I can't offer much specific information on the flights, but Ed seems to have that well covered. Regarding your questions..... 1.) IMO, your best best for flight availability is Milan / MXP or Pisa / PSA as the inbound airport (availability will be less for PSA, since it's a relatively small airport compared to MXP). 2.) I'd suggest that your daughter fly to DC the day before you'll be travelling, and then both of you can travel together. I wouldn't recommend travel from LAX on the same day as the flight to MXP, as if her flight is delayed for any reason, that will mess up the whole trip. 3.) I wouldn't use a Railpass, especially in the Cinque Terre as the trains are relatively cheap there. It's not difficult to see "all of the Cinque Terre" using either the local trains or boats (AFAIK, the Railpass WON'T work on the boats). BE SURE to validate tickets when riding the local trains, or you may face hefty fines. Also, if travelling at any point on the "premium" trains such as the Freccia high speed trains, you MUST have a valid reservation specific to that train and departure time or again, hefty fines (which start at €50 per person). If you decide to fly into MXP, you'll need to take the train or Bus from the airport to Milano Centrale, where you'll transfer to the train to the Cinque Terre. In order to provide more specific information, it would help to know which town you'll be staying in and what time your flight arrives. For travel in early May, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting accommodations booked SOON!!! Happy travels!