jryan

We are celebrating our 50th this year and hope to go to Rome in late September. Thought we got a great deal with BA as the carrier until we found they charged $2,070. in fees and taxes. Any ideas welcomed.

gail

Have you considered flying into another city in Italy. We found the train service to be wonderful. When daughter and I went on short notice a year ago June (on USAir and United miles that turned into Lufthansa) by being flexible about city, we could make it work.

WWK

Take the train or the shuttle to New York, then fly on AA miles out of JFK to FCO.

Gardyloo

What class of service?

AA no longer flies transatlantic from BOS - they've codeshared everything with BA, hence the huge fuel surcharge (not taxes.)

If you're flying coach, look for itineraries via JFK or Chicago, on American-operated flights. If you're in business class (which is the best use of miles) try the same, or else phone AA and look for nonstop flights from Boston to Madrid on Iberia, connecting at MAD to Rome. There will be a fuel surcharge on the IB flights, but nowhere as ridiculous as BA's.

Also look for itineraries out of Philly using US Airways, now available for booking using AA miles.

jryan

Thanks,
That info is helpful. We will keep trying.

P_M

I did a check on AA from Boston in late Sept and I found quite a bit of non-BA award availability from Boston so I see no reason to travel from another city. When you go to AA.com to search award availability please un-check British Airways so you can search flights on AA, US Airways, and Air Berlin only.

You mentioned late Sept but no particular dates. I un-checked BA flights and I found availability on Sept 21, 23, 24, 25 and 26, all excluding BA. On the return I found availability almost every day starting Oct. 1, again this excludes BA flights.

As long as you keep BA out of the mix the award flights are all cheap.

jryan

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.