We have just booked an Italian tour for next September. The tour begins in Padua and ends in Lake Orta. They recommend that we fly into Venice's Marco Polo Airport and fly out of Milan (Malpensa).

While I'm sure this would work, I'm just not sure how popular those airports are from North America (we will probably be flying out of Toronto or Buffalo (New York)).

Would it make more sense to fly into a larger airport like Rome or even Munich for more selection, better prices, etc. We are planning to spend a couple extra days in Venice before the tour starts if that makes any difference.

We are not adverse to take the train or fly within Europe to make this work. Just trying to make the trans-Atlantic flight as stress-free and short as possible. Thanks in advance for the help.

We flew direct out of Newark to Venice Marco Polo Airport in Jan 08. It was most convenient and priced fairly good.

oh I forgot to mention. We flew Continental Airlines.

I would definitely take their advice and fly into Venice, especially since you plan to spend a few days there before the tour. If the flight to Rome were slightly less expensive (not necessarily the case), you would then have to pay for the train to Venice, so you wouldn't be saving much, if anything. Much better to fly directly to your starting point.

We flew open jaw direct from Atlanta to Rome non stop and from Venice home to Atlanta also non stop direct last summer.Venice is a very nice airport and actually quite efficient.Lots of tourists coming and going.

Try searching on kayak.com and/or sidetrip.com and compare your various options. Venice and Milan are popular destinations and I think you're going to find there's not much difference in terms of costs.

A few years ago we had a direct flight on Alitalia from Toronto to Milan. You could take the train to Venice to begin your tour.

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like flying open jaw is the best option (arrive in Venice and leave from Milan). Unfortunately there are no affordable direct flights from Toronto but going through Munich or Frankfurt only seems to add as little as 90 minutes to a direct flight.

Just have to decide when to book for a Sept 2009 trip.

FWIW - transfering at FRA or MUC is very easy, although MUC is the much newer airport and very efficient, not as spread out as FRA. We've had several 90 min connections at both and have had no problems. [I probably just jinxed our connection in FRA next month!]

I just spend weeks researching this myself, one thing I noticed that raises prices quickly is the fact that most American Airlines are charging for checked luggage, which most foreign airlines are not. Watch out for this because it adds cost to the ticket, and is often hidden.

Make sure you also check Travelocity along with Kayak & Sidestep because I found some of the best rates there...and then I booked direct with the airline.

Amelia

Arrrrgggh. Can't type - as ahessoniam correctly said, I meant sidestep.com NOT sidetrip.com

I would fly into Milan and fly out of Milan it is a short train ride to Venice and Padua . The fares will better and it is a far less time consuming . I have been to italy 22 times and know the ropes well
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Fly from Toronto to JFK,Newark or Atlanta and then nonstop to either Venice or Milan. Its really nice to actually be in the city you want after flying all night across the pond.

We flew from Tucson, AZ to Milan and from Rome to Tucson not direct. We had to change in Atlanta. Open Jaw is definitely the way to go.

Which airlines have direct flights to Venice or Milan from JFK, Newark or Atlanta?

We recently flew from JFK to Venice with Delta - was surprised how efficient and pleasant the trip was each way. Service and food were great also. Delta is to be commended!

Flying into Venice can be magical, especially if you arrive near sunset. It is truly worth the almost $100 it costs to take a water taxi across the lagoon and into the city. Lufthansa is our favorite airlines and flies both into Venice and out of Milan (but I think from Linate not Malpensa). It sounds like a wonderful trip

I'm sure you're looking for a non-stop flight from the US to Italy rather than a direct flight.

If you can't find a non-stop I suggest Lufthansa (as the above poster recommended) connecting in Frankfort and then to Venice. If you fly to Newark and then take Lufthansa to Italy, connecting in Frankfort you'll have an easy flight. The connection in Frankfort is great as you arrive and leave from the same terminal (if you take Lufthansa the whole way) and you won't have a long layover time or long walks between gates. There's a big cafe in the Lufthansa terminal with good coffee and fast service.

If you do have to connect in Europe, Frankfort makes more sense than flying to Rome and then connecting to Venice. The total flight will be much longer if you fly via Rome.

Delta has nonstop flights from JFK and Atlanta to Milan,Venice, Rome and also JFK only to Pisa.
Continental flies nonstop from Newark to Italy-Rome,Venice and I think Milan.

Yes, CO flies from Newark to Milan.