kelliebellie

I'm thinking about Sicily in April (1-12), but now I need to know how to get there.

We will be using Northwest FF miles for the transatlantic portion. They have several partners.

I'm looking for the most direct route.

So far the best I can find is DTW to Frankfurt to Catania on TUIfly airlines. Anyone know anything about them?

J62

Have you tried KLM? They fly to Catania and Palermo.

Unfortunately you are trying to fly around (or on) Easter - flights / seats may already be booked full.

DalaiLlama

"We will be using Northwest FF miles" and
"looking for the most direct route." are probably not to be reconciled. When using FF miles you rarely get the direct route.

But use your miles not just for the transatlantic portion but all the way, no point in paying once you get to Europe.

Use www.nwa.com and call the WorldPerks nr 1-800-44PERKS since it probably involves a partner airline that you may have to book on thephone if the nwa website doesn't let you do it.

There are lots of partners now the Delta and Alitalia are in it - surely they can get you to Sicily?

See www.nwa.com/worldperks/redeemmiles/fltawards/

Or use www.kayak.com, click on "include nearby airports", then play with the controls on the left after it brings up flights - you can reduce your choice to just one airline etc., and see which partners of Northwest/KLM/Air France etc. can take over once you get to Europe and carry you to Sicily, all on the same FF-miles ticket.

caroline_edinburgh

TUIfly is the flight arm of the big European package tour company TUI, so theirs are basically charter flights. Are you sure that they a) fly from the US and b) are a partner to Northwest ??

kelliebellie

But the thing is that KLM and Northwest don't fly directly to Rome. So if we used KLM the whole way, our flights would look like this:

DTW
Amsterdam
Rome
Catania


vs. what I found
DTW
Frankfurt
Catania


We would have to pay for some of it this way, but skipping a whole leg might be worth it.

J62

Why do you need to go to Rome? Can't you fly KLM from Amsterdam to Sicily?

kelliebellie

Nope. The flights have a transfer in Rome.

kelliebellie

Caroline - I wasn't clear. We would use the FF miles on Northwest for the Detroit to Frankfurt part and they buy our own tickets on TUIfly. I do need to check the dates they fly to Sicily however.

DalaiLlama

If you pay extra for the European leg (which you could have for free...), you run the risk of forfeiting it in case you come in late from the US. You are a no-show, nobody owes you anything, and you pay for a new ticket at the last-minute exorbitant rate just to get there.

But if you are ticketed all the way through on Northwest and one of its alliance partners, the European partner has to put you on a later flight.

So if you pay extra, you have to guard against being stuck because of a delay, which means building in such a huge time cushion that you’ll be sitting around an airport (if you come in on time) for many hours wishing you were up in the air, never mind the two legs to get there.

Call NWA, have them put it together - Northwest flies from DTW to AMS nonstop, KLM flies from AMS to Palermo, nonstop. But you may not get the best route or the exact dates you want anyway, not with FF miles, and not around Easter, so stay flexible. The small fee they may charge for booking it on the phone will be better spent than on a separate European flight leg.

You have the right to an extended layover, so if the three legs bother you, stay in AMS for the arrival day and a night and carry on the next day.

kelliebellie

That is very true about missing the flights.

I haven't seen that KLM goes directly from Amsterdam to Palermo, but I will call and see what they say.

Thanks all!

kmp3007

I did not thoroughly read your postings, however, my wife and I went to Sicily in September. We used AA frequent miles. We flew into Milan and then connected on AirOne to Palermo. It was very inexpensive.

kelliebellie

Thanks for that info. I can get to Milan with our ff miles, we just have to go through Amsterdam so it is still two stops. I just can't seem to get that second stop out of there.

DalaiLlama

Most of all, hurry and talk to the agent, there may be no more seats even if you were prepared to pay for the entire trip, never mind the FFM and the number of stops!

I went to
www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/index_default.html
and input Amsterdam to Palermo, for April 2 and 10, and there are no seats available.
Probably booked out because of the holidays.

When I enter dates in March, at first it shows like a non-stop, but then, after progressing to the next screen, it turns out that it goes via FCO... So, you're right, there is no getting around that second stop unless the agent finds a way.

But you know what - even if there was a two-hopper (and there may yet be, you haven't exhausted all options with all partner airlines), I'll bet you couldn't get it with FF miles. That's just the way it usually is, especially around a big holiday like Easter break.

galaxygrrl200

There are two airlines that fly from Amsterdam to Sicily -- Catania not Palarmo though.

Transavia -- Amsterdam (AMS) to Catania (CTA)

Wind Jet - Amsterdam (AMS) to Catania (CTA)

I've flown Windjet and it was fine. That should get your second stop out. My guess is the only way you will get that second stop out is to get a local european airline

www.airninja.com is how I found this route.

Love Sicily.

Happy travels

kelliebellie

Ooh, thanks for the info on flights from Amsterdam. I have resigned myself to having to pay for the inter-europe flight, I just don't want to fork over the dough for the whole transatlantic thing.

So, I will be either doing the flight to Sicily from Frankfurt or Amsterdam. I just need to look at some times and prices and get it done ASAP!

dutyfree

Use NW FF miles on Delta to Rome nonstop out of either JFK or Atlanta and then Alitalia to Catania out of Rome.This is easy as Delta skymiles will be taking over NW miles once the merger is finalized.

Your routing would be DTW-(ATL or JFK)-FCO-CTA.My daughter lived in Sicily for a semester down south of Catania in Ortigia and we live in Chicago so we always flew to Atlanta,JFk or CVG (at the time) and then nonstop over the pond to Rome on to Catania.It was quite easy for connections.

You are picking a very high season period to go so keep that it mind.Too bad that you are not doing this trip later as I have heard that Northwest becoming Delta will have a nonstop out of DTW to FCO starting this next summer.