Non-stop Delta flights to Europe

www.skyteam.com

Thank you. Sorry for my ignorance...........but does "Major Hub" mean it is usually non-stop?

Hi Peggy,
A major hub for Delta would be Atlanta and it does not usually mean nonstop. What is means is that wherever you are leaving from you may most likely connect through that hub. Last year I went to Prague on Delta via Atlanta and returned from Vienna via the same. Another example of a hub would be DFW for AA. These frequent flyer tickets are very hard to get and I understand that this year the airline has cut down even further on the availability. It took me 9 months to get my seats to Europe last year.
You should check the availability through Atlanta or JFK. You could fly into Zurich and take the train to Milan from there -I see that Delta does that route nonstop from Atlanta - and leave out of one the cities in Italy (open-jaw). It might be easier getting the flight back. Good luck!!

From Atlanta there are direct flights to Stuttgart and Munich. Also, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. Amsterdam and Brussels. The summer months are a little more difficult to get the skysaver miles but not impossible. The best time is to try 331 days out which is the earliest you can try. Skychoice is easier but twice the miles needed. You may want to check some of the cities mentioned above and take what is available even if it is not what you prefer. You can then call (and often) and see if anything becomes available for your preferred destination. I did that and originally booked a fight to Brussels and and outbound from Dusseldorf using skysaver miles going business class. I wanted to fly in and out of Stuttgart. I kept calling back and something came open to fly into Stuttgart so I changed. They did charge me some for that but it was worth it. I continued to call trying to change the outbound from Dusseldorf to Stuttgart and after numerous attempts over the course of weeks two seats became available from Stuttgart which I took. They did not charge me anything for the second change. From Stuttgart we went on to Italy. We went in May which is easier to use miles than it would be in June but if you are not trying to go business class you should have an easier time finding something as opposed to B/C. You may even get lucky and find something back from Italy. Also, check on flights to Zurich although I never found anything going there for skysaver on B/C. Munich is also tough to use miles. Keep checking and keep calling.

Peggy, I am assuming you are from Roswell, Georgia and not New Mexico. Much easier for direct flights from Atlanta since it is the home for Delta. If you find something on one of their partner airlines such as Northwest then you would have connecting flights to Memphis, Detroit and/or Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Peggy, you mentioned Italy above. Delta has flights from JFK in New York to Pisa, Italy. Pisa is a smaller international airport but is located well for train transportation in Italy.

The flight does not go through Atlanta. In fact, if you put Atlanta in the departure field, it will route you to New York.

Yes, I am in Georgia, so I am looking for flights from Atlanta. Thank you all for your help! After speaking with the Delta for the umpteenth time, I have deciced to wait it out a little longer in hopes of Delta releasing more SkySaver tickets. This frequent flyer game gets more complicated all the time. I will keep the Germany connections options as a backup plan.

If you do have to fly into Germany or other countries you could check the discount airlines from those countries to Italy. Germanwings has flights from Cologne-Bonn airport which would be convenient to the Dusseldorf airport into Rome. Ryanair has flights from Brussels, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt going to Italy. You could check these for connection flights as a possibility. Of course you could always take the train depending on your schedule. Those European discount airlines usually fly in and out of small out of the way airports but lots of folks travel with them.

We fly non-stop from Greater Cincinnati to Paris on Delta. Very nice.

Peggy - we used to live in the Atlanta area and fly out of ATL often - so often I was a Platinum with Delta. Thus we booked multiple "skymiles rewards" tickets through Delta. We came to Italy often and flew primarily into Rome and Milan.

We booked far in advance. Seats are available 330 days in advance, and thus were able to score nonstop tickets. At other times, we booked flights with legs, and due to our status, were able to change these without charge. (Realize that the airline business is changing in the States... so not sure what, if any these charges, these charges would be now!).

If we booked a multi-leg flight (and some were 3 flights from ATL!!!!!) I would always continually call back Delta and ask what had opened up. The reps have better info and can connect flights much easier - especially if you ALREADY have a reservation! Having status will help you to - if anyone has such, book the flights in their name as the principal ticket holder!

We often flew open jaw - into Milan or Rome, and out of Venice - so you can easily do that with Delta. We also often flew on their partner airlines - Air France, Continental, NWA, and .... ugh... Alitalia!

If you need more info, send me a PM and I'll try and answer any specific questions you might have!!!

Good Luck - and book early!

Ciao,
Ron

I just booked two tickets for May 09. I actually found the most options flying into CDG from ATL. The Delta website has the "calendar" feature which lets you play around with dates.

We are on AirFrance for both flights.