Loretta

I am using frequent flyer miles to get to Rome from L.A. Doesn't it seem a little odd that I have two layovers? First one in Detroit and the second one in Amsterdam? On the return flight out of Paris I have a layover in Amsterdam and then in Seattle. Have others had this experience?

A regular here

Loretta, is that with Northwest and their partner KLM? There are many airlines who fly directly from LA to London, Paris, or other major European hubs, and then you only need one more leg to get you to Rome. I believe Alitalia has discontinued their nonstop from LAX to Milan, but still many better options exist.<BR><BR>We are booked to fly Northwest/KLM to Paris and have a layover in Amsterdam both ways, but that is it. We're going from San Francisco. I think two layovers is a bit much, considering you are coming from a major airport and going to a major city.

Leslie

I'm guessing that you are flying Northwest/KLM, as Amsterdam is KLM's hub. From what I understand a European airline flying into Europe must fly through its hub airport. I know that all British Airway flights departing the US must fly into London, and then passengers have to change flights to get to their final destination point. If you had flown Alitalia (if it flies out of Detroit) you would have flown direct, non-stop to Rome.<BR><BR>As an example, I am flying from Boston to Budapest on Swissair (soon to be known as Swiss) in March. I must fly to Zurich and change planes to get to Budapest. However, had I departed from New York, I could have flown Malev (the Hungarian national airline) and flown direct, non-stop New York to Budapest.<BR><BR>

Sjoerd

KLM have daily non-stop flights LA to Amsterdam. So the layover in Detroit is not really necessary. Check with NW/KL if they can book you on the non-stop LAX to AMS.

Joanne

Loretta: Some time ago we used ff miles on UAL from SFO to Rome (well sort of). UAL only flies to Milan in Italy and we were told no seats were available for the dates we requested. They instead flew us to Zurich, where we spent the night and flew Swissair to Rome the next morning on our own dollar. So much for freebies. Perhaps we were just not travel savvy and could have done better, so check out all your options! Some good advice above. <BR><BR>I must admit we did enjoy our day in Zurich. We took a city tour and very much enjoyed what we were able to see.<BR><BR>j

Loretta

thanks everyone for the advice. I think part of my problem was I should have tried to get a FF ticket sooner than I did. Although I did it 8 months in advance, by reading these boards, I have found out the smart travelers do it 11 months in advance. I guess we all learn by trial and error. I will try calling back and see if there are any changes, but I cannot complain too much. The ticket was free.<BR>

Vita

Hi, Loretta. I was initially scheduled on a Northwest flight from Washington, DC, to Detroit to JFK to Rome. Then from Florence to Milan to Detroit to Washington, or something like that. It was the best price I could find at the time. I had to reschedule due to 9/11 and ended up on Alitalia with one stopover each way.<BR>

KT

Loretta, you're right about the routing being a result of booking a frequent flyer trip. I've flown a couple of FF trips from SFO to Europe on KLM/NW, and it's extremely difficult to get a seat on the nonstop to Amsterdam. Everybody who is going to Europe on KLM/NW has to get funneled through AMS, so there is high demand for the nonstop, and who knows how many (if any) FF tickets are available on those flights.