islandbeachangel

Hi! Since I'll be using ff mile points for our airline tickets to Italy next year I need to figure out my flight options in the next couple of days. Since it's our first trip to Italy (and Europe for that matter) I need to get some expert advice. Our plan is to fly to Rome on Oct. 2 and fly out of Venice on Oct. 19th.

Question #1: I have thousands of Continental FF miles which I can use on either Continental or Alitalia. I'm tempted to go with Alitalia because they use less points to fly Business/Upper Class than Continental but I'm concerned about whether they will still be flying next October (this from posts earlier this Fall). My question is should I take the safe route & book next year's trip with Continental or cross my fingers and go with Alitalia?

Question #2: We are going to be flying out of Venice and it seems that the flights are insanely early in the am (6:15 & 6:45 am -- too early for vacation!) or in the early afternoon with an extra night in another city. Since we crave sleep, we've decided to go with a 1 night layover. The next question is, which would be a better city to overnight in -- Amsterdam or Milan? It seems the options between Venice & Newark, NJ are Amsterdam, Milan, or head back to Rome. Since we've never been to Europe I'm tempted to go with Amsterdam, but not sure if we'd have enought time to enjoy it -- flight lands at 1:50 pm and then continues on at 2:55 pm the next day.

(of course, if I had my way, I'd win Lotto, take a year and city-hop around until making my way home...)

Thanks so much for any and all responses!

M&M

Kascha912

ttt for islandbeachangel

GAC

Doesn't Alitalia have a nonstop Malpensa to Newark flight mid-afternoon to which you could connect from Venice?

GAC

Doen't Alitalia have a nonstop Malpensa to Newark flight mid-afternoon to which you could connect from Venice?

ira

Hi island,

Would it be more convenient to fly into Venice and out of Rome?

suze

I'm not expert enough to evaluate your various flight options like some other posters who may be able to help.

But for the simple question of Milan vs. Amsterdam, I would definitely pick Amsterdam. The airport there is extremely organized and to get into town by train, bus or taxi is >30 mins.

From one afternoon to the next afternoon would definitely give you enough time to check into a hotel, have a stroll around the Leidseplein, a canal boat tour, and a nice dinner, plus a good night's sleep.

islandbeachangel

Hi - Kascha, thanks for topping this for me!

GAC - yes, Alitalia does have a 3:30 pm direct flight to Newark, but when I first checked it looked like the only flight from Venice to Milan was at 6:40 am. I just looked again and there is a later am flight to Milan. Thanks for pointing this out!

I am really leaning towards the Amsterdam route though - DH has been dying to go to Amsterdam. Suze makes it sound so easy that it would be a shame to miss it.

Ira - although it may be more convenient to fly to Venice first, we really would like to wrap up our first Italian experience with Venice. It's someplace we've been dreaming of and we felt it would be a really romantic way to wrap up the trip after Rome & Tuscany (it's our 10 year anniversary blow out). Of course, now Amsterdam may wrap up the vacation...

Decisions, decisions... (so much more fun than dealing w/ budget decisions at work )

M&M

Andre

Can't you use your Continental miles on Delta as well? They have a nonstop flight from Venice to JFK.

Hope this helps,
Andre

sprin2

Go for the layover in Amersterdam, even if you can get a direct flight. I agree with Suze you'll have plenty of time to get into Amsterdam and it is a great city.

jabez

Delta and Air France offer other options. I would much rather stay a night or 2 in Paris than Amsterdam.
However,I believe, unless CO is different than Delta, you will not be allowed an open jaw and a layover.

islandbeachangel

Thanks for your replies! For some reason, I didn't think I was allowed to use my miles on Delta so it never occured to me to check their flights. I tend to forget that Continental codeshares with Delta as well as Northwest. The Venice/Amsterdam/Newark flights are actually Northwest flights but are Continental codeshares and come up on the Continental website. The Delta flights do not come up on the Continental website.

I think we're going to go with the layover in Amsterdam. As much as I'd love to see Paris, I think I would want a full week there rather than just 1 night. Plus, it seems really, really convenient to get to & from the airport in Amsterdam.

Unfortunately, JFK isn't that convenient for us since we live 20 minutes from Newark. The annoyance and frustration of sitting in traffic down the Cross Bronx to the Van Wyck, etc outweighs any benefits of flying out of JFK for me. Last time I flew out of JFK I left my house 3 1/2 hours before the flight and I still missed it because of traffic. And I live about 45 minutes away with no traffic!!! I appreciate the suggestion tho.

Thanks for all your help!

M&M

jabez

If you do a layover,you can choose how long. We layed over in Paris 5 days last year. Because we were open-jawed this year, no layovers.
You might want to go to Flyertalk.com and ask questions on the continental forum.

suze

Personally I like Paris better, but definitely believe Amsterdam is easier logistically for a 1 night layover. I'm with the original poster, I'd want a week for Paris but you can get a taste of Amsterdam in a short visit.

Patty

jabez,
I believe CO rules allow both 1 open jaw + 1 stopover on an award. In addition, many airlines (including Delta) allow overnight connections of up to 24 hours duration which aren't considered stopovers but rather transfers. So on Delta you could have an open jaw itinerary and a one night layover as long as it doesn't exceed 24 hours.

jabez

Patty
For most international airlines, a stopover is when you do not depart from an intermediate point within 24 hours. If its less than 24 hours it is a connection.This is true for almost all airlines.

However, Delta seems to take a more restrictive interpretation by defining a connection as not departing within 12 hours.
Based on my experience, the stopover time limit for international AWARD tickets is 12 hours. The limit for international REVENUE tickets is 24 hours.Not all agents seem to be aware of the exact rules however.
One other "loophole" on the award tickets- you can do a last in, first out connection that does NOT count as a stopover.
That is, say you're flying from VIE to CDG in the evening, overnighting in Paris and flying out the next day. Although the connection is more than 12 hours apart, it is not considered a stop-over as you would be taking the earliest connection available after your arrival.

kfusto

Delta allowed us to spend three days in Paris on a stopover. We had Business Class award tickets.

Next trip was paid discount coach and we could not layover except for a few hours.

isabel

If you're still considering the Amsterdam option I'd go for it. The airport is wonderful, train station right there and you can be in the middle of Amsterdam in less than a half hour. With almost 24 hours you could get a really nice taste of the city and it would be very different from Italy. I think that sounds like a great end to the trip. I flew Continental from Amsterdam to Newark last year and it was one of the best flights I've had.

islandbeachangel

jabez - thank you so much for the tip about flyertalk.com!! What a great site -- a big help for all the business travel I do as well as planning for this trip. PLUS I got 2 great tips about how to make an extra 100 Continental ff points and how to get a 25% ff flyer bonus by transferring my Marriott points to miles. Thank you thank you!!

We've decided to go with the the Amsterdam connection. Now I have to wait patiently for 2 weeks for the award seats to open up....

jabez

You are welcome.
Stop by at the "Travel Bidding" forum if interested in priceline type travel I'm the moderator there.
Have a great trip and great fun planning it. We may be in Rome around the same time next Oct, but have not starting planning yet.

Patty

jabez,
The agent that I spoke with recently at Delta quoted the 24 hour rule for award travel also and made no differentiation between award and revenue. But now that you mention the other loophole (last in, first out), I wonder if that's the real reason I was allowed to go over 12 hours. Unfortunately, it seems they aren't giving out consistent answers.