Flying US to Italy, what are your thoughts on airline?

[cruiseron36]

Yes, cruiseron, I have flown many times since 9/11. Just for example, last summer, we flew from SFO to Frankfurt to Rome. In Frankfurt we did not see our bags, but we did go thru passport control and security. We collected our bags in Rome.

 

On the way home, we flew Rome-Frankfurt-SFO. We did not see our bags at Frankfurt, and we didn't have to go thru passport control- except at the gate before we boarded our SFO bound flight, as our Rome-Frankfurt flight is a "domestic" flight in the European view. We collected our bags in SFO, and went thru Immigation and Customs.

 

Sounds like Canada uses the same policy ast the US. You go thru customs and immigration at your first touch in Canada. Europe doesn't do that- they only look at your passport at your first stop.

 

In my situation above, we flew United and Lufthansa.

 

Interesting. I thought that you had to clear immigration with your bags on the first stop outside the US. Do you kbow if it works the wy you state if you are changing airlines??

 

We will be flying Lufthansa from Detroit to Frankfurt to Florence in October.

[euro cruiser]

Interesting. I thought that you had to clear immigration with your bags on the first stop outside the US. Do you kbow if it works the wy you state if you are changing airlines??

 

We will be flying Lufthansa from Detroit to Frankfurt to Florence in October.

You won't see your bags until Florence, unless you are on two different airlines that do not have a baggage handling agreement.

[CruiserBruce]

Interesting. I thought that you had to clear immigration with your bags on the first stop outside the US. Do you kbow if it works the wy you state if you are changing airlines??

 

We will be flying Lufthansa from Detroit to Frankfurt to Florence in October.

 

As mentioned by euro cruiser, myself and several others earlier in this thread, it all depends on the agreements between the airlines, whether you will see your bags at a connecting airport. You can bet if you are flying on allied airlines, like the Star Alliance, they will move to your final destination. In our case, United (between SFO and Frankfurt) and Lufthansa (within Europe) are both members of the Star Alliance, and will move your bag thru to it's destination.

[riffatsea]

I stand corrected about the rating on Turkish Air. IF you look through all the rating categories the ones about interacting with passengers are only 3***.

I won't end up with them anyway since they don't fly from San Diego!!

You cannot blame airlines for turbulence since it affects every plane.

In addition every airline has delays and probs with equipment.

It is better that they delay and fix things rather than having accidents in the air!

Only the USA, and perhaps Canada, have the rule that you go through immigration at your first touchdown point. IF the European country is part of the Shengen Agreement then you are in transit until your final destination and may only need to show passport but not get luggage and certainly not have to go through security twice like here in the USA. It all depends on which country and where you are ending up. So check individual itineraries for the rules.

[Kelmn07]

How is the Madrid airport? The flight I would like to select has a 1 h 10m layover in Madrid at 8 am. I hope to just use a backpack for the cruise and not have checked baggage so for the moment I'm not concerned about my luggage being lost-but it's the same airline for both flights as well.

[cruisemom42]

How is the Madrid airport? The flight I would like to select has a 1 h 10m layover in Madrid at 8 am. I hope to just use a backpack for the cruise and not have checked baggage so for the moment I'm not concerned about my luggage being lost-but it's the same airline for both flights as well.

 

You indicated in another post that others in your party would have luggage. Or are they not flying with you? Madrid is notorious for luggage going astray.

 

IMO, 70 minutes is a pretty slim margin and I wouldn't choose to do it.

[CruiserBruce]

And, if you are first touching Europe here, you need to go thru Passport check and security. Might be a little tight.

[latebloomer56]

We are going to Venice for the TA in Oct. I am glad to hear AerLingus is not bad. It is our first time on this airline. We are leaving from Boston to Dublin to Venice. Have been to Dublin but never Shannon Airport. Going a day early just in case we have delays.

Thanks, Laura E.

[candydane]

We plan to leave Portland to Rome at least 1 day (maybe 2 days) early just in case -- plus that'll give us time to recover from our flight and see a little of Rome.

 

We plan to book roundtrip flights on Delta from Portland OR (PDX) non-stop to Amsterdam (AMS) with a 1hr 10mn layover then Delta (operated by KLM) from AMS to Rome (FCC). We'll have the same (1h 10mn) Amsterdam layover on the way home. That's the shortest and most direct flights I've found.

 

Is 1h 10mn enough of a layover in Amsterdam? Our luggage should go straight through since we'll book the entire flight through Delta.

[candydane]

We plan to leave Portland to Rome at least 1 day (maybe 2 days) early just in case -- plus that'll give us time to recover from our flight and see a little of Rome.

 

We plan to book roundtrip flights on Delta from Portland OR (PDX) non-stop to Amsterdam (AMS) with a 1hr 10mn layover then Delta (operated by KLM) from AMS to Rome (FCC). We'll have the same (1h 10mn) Amsterdam layover on the way home. That's the shortest and most direct flights I've found.

 

Is 1h 10mn enough of a layover in Amsterdam? Our luggage should go straight through since we'll book the entire flight through Delta.

[4774Papa]

We plan to leave Portland to Rome at least 1 day (maybe 2 days) early just in case -- plus that'll give us time to recover from our flight and see a little of Rome.

 

We plan to book roundtrip flights on Delta from Portland OR (PDX) non-stop to Amsterdam (AMS) with a 1hr 10mn layover then Delta (operated by KLM) from AMS to Rome (FCC). We'll have the same (1h 10mn) Amsterdam layover on the way home. That's the shortest and most direct flights I've found.

 

Is 1h 10mn enough of a layover in Amsterdam? Our luggage should go straight through since we'll book the entire flight through Delta.

 

1h 10mn is cutting it close. I haven't been through Amsterdam airport, but it has a much better reputation than DeGauile or Heathrow. I usually look for about two hours for a transfer. I suppose the worst thing that could happen if you missed your flight to Rome, that you would spend more time in Amsterdam. Can you check on how many flights KLM has from Amsterdam to Rome on that day?

[financialgrl]

Here's last year's experience getting to Europe. Planned to fly from Dulles AP to Heathrow, spend night in AP hotel and next morning board a British Airways flight nonstop to Barcelona. That was all nonstop flights, all during daytime hours and easier on the body. Avoided 8 hour layovers in NY or elsewhere with overnight flights.

 

First - Icelandic volcano - will we fly, won't we? Overnight British Airways went on strike, it was deemed illegal so back to work for them, they appealed and won so they strike at last minute. That pushes us onto an Iberia flight thru Madrid first. Then, we are on tarmac, next in line to takeoff at Heathrow AP and they stop flights for 1.5 hours. The pilot comes on and says it has nothing to do with the volcano ash and not to worry, we will take off. :eek:

 

There had been a 2.5 hour layover scheduled at Madrid before boarding the flight to Barcelona. Luckily the London to Madrid plane was pretty much filled with all diverted people from BA flights so the awaiting connection would have been empty had they not held up that flight. The trip home was absolutely flawless - no holdups, no problems whatsoever. So, my mantra is expect the unexpected and not much one can do about it if it does occur except go with the flow and good luck on whatever you choose.

[scottbee]

euro cruiser- I wasn't clear. I was only talking about Europe. Baggage is forwarded both ways if the airlines have the agreement. You are correct as to when you first touch US soil.

 

Excepting flights from DUB/Dublin or SNN/Shannon, where the USCBP have a full pre-clearance facility.

[wcook]

Schiphol (AMS) is one of the best, most passenger friendly airports. Great place for a transfer. I wouldn't stress over making connections with 1h 10m. But you won't have a chance to explore the airport. You need to be at your gate earlier than you are used to, as there are secuirty checks at the gate itself.

[KCcruisin07]

We flew American from Rome, and everything was perfect.

We flew BA a few years ago, and I was impressed.

We flew BA last year, and we had too many problems to list, partially caused by the strike, but unrelated factors too. Haven't checked lately, but there was talk of another strike this summer. If you book a few months ahead, you won't know that this is a factor. BA is at the bottom of my list.

[cruisemom42]

Just out yesterday, ratings for all US Airlines. US Airways remains at the bottom of the heap.....

 

http://www.independenttraveler.com/blog/?p=2136

 

But then again it appears all the "major" carriers are pretty low on the list!

[riffatsea]

I wish the ratings included the categories that I think are most important:

on time and safety

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

i'm taking my chances w/ Delta & Alitalia from JFk>Rome>Barcelona.. there's only an hour & 10 minutes in between planes, but at least i won't have to collect luggage. the airlines are always a gamble it seems.

[KCcruisin07]

i'm taking my chances w/ Delta & Alitalia from JFk>Rome>Barcelona.. there's only an hour & 10 minutes in between planes, but at least i won't have to collect luggage. the airlines are always a gamble it seems.

 

We allow at least two hours minimum on overseas flights in case the first one is delayed. Are you flying in at least a day before your cruise?

[riffatsea]

I am not sure where you are changing planes?

R U going to Rome and then changing for a plane to Barcelona??? That seems a very roundabout route.

I also like to leave 2-3hours to make a connection going overseas.

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

i'm not able to fly in earlier because i have to attend my cousin's wedding the night before..i'm flying first to Rome> then changing planes to Bcn. that's just how Alitalia scheduled the flights,, it's my first time to Europe so i'm quite inexperienced when it comes to booking flights.. i might just learn a very hard lesson! i'm just hoping the terminals aren't too far apart from each other.. If i miss the ship altogether i'll have to make my way to Monaco some how:confused:

 

sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack your thread, it just seems we're in the same situation!

[KCcruisin07]

I think there are two problems with your booking: flying in the day of your cruise and not having enough time between flights. I would suggest you take this question to the Cruise Air column under Cruise Discussion topics and see what people suggest. There are some people there who are extremely knowledgeable and who know how the international airports work.

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

thanks for your suggestions