dutyfree

Miz-I cannot tell you what airline to take as I am a "skygoddess" and work the flights to Rome.........hope to have you on one of my flights?

miz

dutyfree...ok gottcha!

JenV

Neo, we did not get our luggage back for one week. Landed in Rome on Tuesday night, luggage sat in London until the following Sunday and then was transferred to Rome airport, where we confirmed it was available for pick up on Monday and we drove there on Tuesday. At that point they had confirmed only one bag found but we had heard so many stories about having to go to the airport regardless of what they tell you on the phone that we did and all bags were there. It was not only us but about 25 people on our London to Rome flight that did not have bags for a week. As I said above, all airlines lose luggage, the problem for me was how they dealt with it. And yes, they did lose it coming home as well, we flew Alitalia to JFK and had to pick up our luggage go through customs and then handed it to the Alitalia agent at the connecting flight desk. The difference this time was that American operated the flight from JFK to LA and the situation was handled efficiently; we got our bags the next morning. Sorry for the long winded reply, guess I just need to vent.
JenV

Neopolitan

JenV, the venting is well deserved. That's a horrible story. I've had luggage come up missing -- and since I almost always travel with American -- I'm used to their service. They've always delivered it to me within half a day -- right to my hotel or my home. British Airways lost all the luggage for four of us traveling from London to Amsterdam, even though they had several hours between our flight from the US. They delivered it to us in Amsterdam at our hotel within a few hours (lots of London to Amsterdam flights). And even disorganized Olympic airways who forgot to put ALL the luggage on the plane from Athens to Crete, managed to get it there within 6 hours.
But your experiences are simply awful!!
Yes, all airlines lose luggage (although I laughed when BA kept saying "it isn't lost at all, we know right where it is&quot.
The real issue is the customer service followup when they do lose it.

miz

These lost luggage stories are just what I fear. I am seriously willing to pay a little more and try and get a direct flight even it means travelling to another major city to do it to avoid losing my luggage.

Do you think I would still be dealing with a luggage issue on Alitalia on a direct flight? Or should I prob stay away from them altogether.

Generally on all the airlines the coach prices seem to have gone up in the past month. I have found these last few days they seem to be in the $600+ - $800+ range (economy coach). I have been checking USAir, Delta, American, Continental (direct fligths).
I think I need to book soon because as "dutyfree" pointed out I am competing with the spring break crowd on my dates.

JenV

Miz, I think the direct flights have a much lower incidence of lost luggage. The close connections are partly to blame for the lost luggage situation (not in London however, as we were bumped to a flight 3.5 hours later than our original flight). Alitalia is actually nice once you get in the air and I have no problems with them in that regard.
JenV

kalai

Avoid going through London.Last month I went to Rome from Toronto by Air Canada,non stop.I was going on a cruise frome Rome.Several people on the cruise lost their luggage in transit at London. There is always a long delay and the risk of missing a connection is high.Try Air Canada

miz

Checked last night and USAir prices have risen. Air France has a sale that ends Oct 4th

shelroam

miz,
Not sure if this will help as I am travelling this November, but I was able to book 2 R/T from Chicago O'hare to Rome for $1236 including tax and everything. I booked this through Expedia and the airline is Swiss Air. We have only 1 stop in Zurich. We actually live about 4 hours away from Chicago and it saved us like $500 so it is worth it. Not sure about March though. Good luck.

miz

thanks for the info shelroam. I really prefer a direct flight. Hoping for a price drop.

miz

will the prices drop soon for March travel?

massagediva

Noone has a crystal ball and can tell you when to buy.You need to use a little common sense here.Watch the fares,do some comparison shopping then make a decision.

miz

Have decided to focus on DCA-EWR-FCO on Continental. March 11-18/07

(EWR direct to FCO..which+hopefully no less of a chance for luggage woes).

I have seen some good reviews on Continetal's flights to FCO.
That will now be my focus.

With this combo the last few weeks I have seen Continental's website fare go from $821 to $728. All other sites for the same DCA-EWR-FCO are higher.

Any comments on this fare.