Air Travel To Venice, Italy?

[themnms]

we are flying into VCE and back from Bcn in june and got it for 750 pp incl tax on Tap...great deal!!

[Captain Carnival]

we are flying into VCE and back from Bcn in june and got it for 750 pp incl tax on Tap...great deal!!

 

What airline?

[Essiesmom]

They said Tap (TAP). Portuguese airline...EM

[chipmaster]

I'd consider open jaw from US Air or Delta, at least a few years ago both offer direct flights into Venice and Barcelona, not out of Tampa but thru Atlanta and Philly was the case when I traveled. You are lucky to be going in May which is cheaper than summer.

 

Look at some of the big web flight TAs and compare the various lines. I'd avoid doing a connect in Europe but that is my personal bias.

 

I'm not sure if this is the exact best place to post this question however let me ask away...

 

I am sailing on the Carnival LEGEND next May 4th 2013 on a 12-day cruise that sets sail from Venice, Italy and ends in Barcelona, Spain.

 

My question is: What is the best (least expensive) air travel option available such as is it better/cheaper/faster to travel directly to Venice (from Tampa, Fl) or to another larger city (such as Rome) and then travel to Venice? :confused:

 

Any helpful use info will be GREATLY appreciated!

 

Chow! :D

[Captain Carnival]

They said Tap (TAP). Portuguese airline...EM

 

Doh!

Thanks!

[ChefSusan]

I see, so an American Airlines / Iberia Air combo looks like a reliable choice then...

Shoto - that's the combination that we flew over. I have to warn you to watch the fares, AND call American to make sure your flights are still intact.

 

Last year we were scheduled to go Tampa/Miami/Barcelona on our outbound flight, and then Athens/Madrid/Miami/Tampa on our inbound flight. Got to TPA two hours before our flight left, and found out that there was a mechanical on our plane in Miami, which put the entire flight in danger. My husband went over to US Airways to see about getting us on their flight to PHL, where we could then connect to BCN, while I stayed with the woman at the ticket counter and waited for her to transfer our reservation over to US Airways. Long story short - the woman did not know what she was doing, and we missed that connection. Ended up taking BA from Tampa to Gatwick (and clearing customs there), jumping on a bus to transfer to Heathrow, then took another BA flight from Heathrow to Barcelona. Needless to say, we missed our first day in Barcelona, and what was going to take 15 hours ended up taking 24 hours.

 

Hopefully you will have better luck than we did!

[bookcreator]

I'd consider open jaw from US Air or Delta, at least a few years ago both offer direct flights into Venice and Barcelona, not out of Tampa but thru Atlanta and Philly was the case when I traveled. You are lucky to be going in May which is cheaper than summer.

 

Look at some of the big web flight TAs and compare the various lines. I'd avoid doing a connect in Europe but that is my personal bias.

 

Actually, that is experience, not bias. We pay more for our tickets for the control over our flights and we also pay extra for direct flights that do not have a change in Europe. AVOID PLANE CHANGES IN ITALY!!!

 

The France idea does work with long layovers. That is frequently done, especially on Delta/ Air France. They have one common layover that is 22 hours. It is easy to store you luggage, take a carry on, check into a hotel for the night and go back to the airport in the morning to catch your flight.

 

We are only familiar with this done on a France layover, although other people do it in other countries as well. In Italy it is not the connection that is the problem, it is whether you ever see your luggage again. Rome is notorious for losing luggage on layovers.

[Captain Carnival]

Shoto - that's the combination that we flew over. I have to warn you to watch the fares, AND call American to make sure your flights are still intact.

 

Last year we were scheduled to go Tampa/Miami/Barcelona on our outbound flight, and then Athens/Madrid/Miami/Tampa on our inbound flight. Got to TPA two hours before our flight left, and found out that there was a mechanical on our plane in Miami, which put the entire flight in danger. My husband went over to US Airways to see about getting us on their flight to PHL, where we could then connect to BCN, while I stayed with the woman at the ticket counter and waited for her to transfer our reservation over to US Airways. Long story short - the woman did not know what she was doing, and we missed that connection. Ended up taking BA from Tampa to Gatwick (and clearing customs there), jumping on a bus to transfer to Heathrow, then took another BA flight from Heathrow to Barcelona. Needless to say, we missed our first day in Barcelona, and what was going to take 15 hours ended up taking 24 hours.

 

Hopefully you will have better luck than we did!

 

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info and I'm hoping that your less than excellent adventure was an isolated incident.

I concur with the "avoid" the European stop factor as I would certainly prefer a more direct route to Venice keeping in mind that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line that should also avoid stop overs.

[chipmaster]

Ah, the bias is like you experience based, had connect out of Paris twice, horrible... :eek:

 

On international I always travel with carryon that has what I can survive with on any trip assume luggage never arrives. With a few international that has actually happened where the luggage shows up a day late, for a ship that would be a bummer.

 

Actually, that is experience, not bias. We pay more for our tickets for the control over our flights and we also pay extra for direct flights that do not have a change in Europe. AVOID PLANE CHANGES IN ITALY!!!

 

The France idea does work with long layovers. That is frequently done, especially on Delta/ Air France. They have one common layover that is 22 hours. It is easy to store you luggage, take a carry on, check into a hotel for the night and go back to the airport in the morning to catch your flight.

 

We are only familiar with this done on a France layover, although other people do it in other countries as well. In Italy it is not the connection that is the problem, it is whether you ever see your luggage again. Rome is notorious for losing luggage on layovers.

[richstowe]

We did a Ruby Princess transatlantic last November from Venice to FLL.

OP, I don't know your situation but you should check out the repositioning/transatlantic cruises.

A bunch leaving around your date from Florida.

On a per day basis they are cheap!! They may not start cheap but they will be. Look at this years repositioning prices.

 

Good luck. Sounds like a great cruise. Crazy but very possible you will pay more for air then your cruise. Perhaps a lot more.:mad:

[bookcreator]

Ah, the bias is like you experience based, had connect out of Paris twice, horrible... :eek:

 

On international I always travel with carryon that has what I can survive with on any trip assume luggage never arrives. With a few international that has actually happened where the luggage shows up a day late, for a ship that would be a bummer.

 

 

I was giving other posters a diplomatic type of answer, considering that we did this once and made out OK. It is not our preference at all, and we just paid $5,300 for a multi city round trips on Delta that is one way tickets from JFK to Barcelona direct for our Brezze TA, and a one way from Venice to JFK for the Destiny 18 day TA that ends in Venice. That is $1325 each for a one way direct ticket with no plane changes. It does cover 2 TA cruises 3 months apart, but it is still pricey.

 

Yes, there are cheaper ways with consolidators but we want simplicity and ease of travel. We avoid changing planes in Europe pretty much at all costs. Yes we have quite a few horror stories that led us to this path, so the cost become less of a factor.

 

Have people done this without any problems on previous cruises, probably. The problem is, the more you do it, the more chances to run into problems like we have in the past. I am lucky, I am reimbursed for much of my airfare and cruise fare due to linking it to the work I do, but while the cruise fare is usually pretty low for a TA, sometimes, you make it up in airfares issues.

[Sargent_Schultz]

I've changed flights in Rome and Milan and damn if my luggage hasn't made it every time.

 

What I would avoid doing is stopping over somewhere if you pack like most cruisers. If you don't like the US luggage charges, you'll go ballistic over what they get for luggage for flights within Europe.

[Buddysmom10]

We did a Transatlantic last May from Florida to Rome. We spent a few days in Rome, then took a train to Venice and flew out of Venice.

 

We took Air Berlin one-way from the main airport in Venice to Miami. There is another smaller, further away airport so make sure you are booking the one that you want. Venice has a very nice, up-to-date nice airport. We left around 6 pm and stopped in Berlin (not a pretty airport but I think they are building a new one) for the night. The next leg left around 10 am the next morning and got us into Miami mid afternoon.

 

Our tickets were only about 450 each one way which I think was a very good price. We were pretty flexible on the return date. We left on a Friday which I would think would be more costly but Wed,Thurs,Sat and Sun were all more than double the price so we jumped on it.

 

The prices into Tampa, Orlando and all the other FL cities were much more expensive. It appears that Miami is the place in FL to go to/from Europe at the best price.

[Froufie]

Try 1800flyeurope.com Prices are really good - esp for one ways - several cruisers on my TA roll call have booked their flights with them!

[Captain Carnival]

OP, I don't know your situation but you should check out the repositioning/transatlantic cruises.

A bunch leaving around your date from Florida.

On a per day basis they are cheap!! They may not start cheap but they will be. Look at this years repositioning prices.

 

Good luck. Sounds like a great cruise. Crazy but very possible you will pay more for air then your cruise. Perhaps a lot more.:mad:

 

Is there a link somewhere?

[bookcreator]

Is there a link somewhere?

 

Go right to Carnival website.

 

Breeze TA is 11/6/12 Barcelona to Miami 15 days

Destiny TA is 2/4/13 (very cheap) 18 days Miami to Venice

Miracle Panama canal NY to Long Beach (not cheap) 16 days 3/16/13

Legend TA Tampa to Barcelona I believe (middle of April 2013)

Sunshine TA Barcelona to New Orleans 11/1/2013

Legend TA Barcelona to Tampa 11/?10?/13

 

The Splendor is also doing 3 linked cruises around South America from Long Beach to New York Feb-March 2013

[hattack]

Venice is one of the cities in Europe that has higher airfares because of limited service...you can find cheaper fares thru connections or combinations of airlines, but the challenge becomes what happens if your Air Berlin (for example) flight cancels. They may not have an IATA reciprocal agreement where a major US carrier will honor your ticket.

 

For mental piece of mind and less stress, I would suggest booking a major US carrier (that you have membership in their frequent flyer club with several foreign international carrier alliances,), make your connection in a US hub that flies non stop to Venice (at all cost avoid JFK, EWR, due to ATC delays) and make sure you have the longest connection time that your ticket allows and make sure your international connection is not the last flight of the day (very true if you have checked baggage) If you book early, you will probably secure the lowest fare. Airlines have a different inventory pricing strategy when dealing with international seats then on domestic flights so you won't find last minute sales open to the general public. Based on travel patterns US carriers will have "spring/fall" seat sales and by timing your cruise in early spring, late fall you can get the best deal on both

[richstowe]

Is there a link somewhere?

Sure. Although I have not used them to book Vacations To Go has the very best search engine.

For this search I entered cruises leaving any Florida port April 13th to transatlantic or repositioning.

This is what I got

 

13Apr 3,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSilversea / Silver Spirit6.0$9,198$4,29953%Suite!#10444 Info

13Apr 62013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyHolland America / Eurodam5.0$2,399$1,19950% #10308 Info

13Apr 7,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Independence of the Seas5.0-$799InfoOn#14055 Info

14Apr 7,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainOceania Cruises / Riviera5.5$9,598$2,59973%Balcony!#18390 Info

15Apr 7,2013Tampa, FLBarcelona, SpainCarnival / Carnival Legend4.5$3,849$64983%83% Off!#14027 Info

13Apr 17,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Vision of the Seas4.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#16486 Info

13Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandCelebrity / Celebrity Eclipse5.5-$899InfoOnboard Credit!#20550 Info

17Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLKiel, GermanyMSC Cruises / MSC Poesia4.0$3,070$99867% #18371 Info

11Apr 20,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainNorwegian / Norwegian Epic5.0$899$60932%Exclusive Offer!#26597 Info

27Apr 26,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLCopenhagen, DenmarkPrincess / Emerald Princess5.0$3,049$3,0490% #26610 Info

15Apr 27,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandPrincess / Caribbean Princess5.0$1,199$1,1990% #26630 Info

27Apr 27,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandPrincess / Caribbean Princess5.0$3,049$3,0490% #10378 Info

14Apr 28,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyPrincess / Ruby Princess5.0$1,099$1,0990% #12095 Info

26Apr 28,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLVenice, ItalyPrincess / Ruby Princess5.0$2,949$2,9490% #11498 Info

15Apr 30,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLBarcelona, SpainHolland America / Nieuw Amsterdam5.0$2,799$1,39950%Onboard Credit!#25217 Info

#20307 Info

13Apr 3,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSilversea / Silver Spirit6.0$9,198$4,29953%Suite!#10444 Info

13Apr 6,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyHolland America / Eurodam5.0$2,399$1,19950% #10308 Info

13Apr 7,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Independence of the Seas5.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#18390 Info

15Apr 7,2013Tampa, FLBarcelona, SpainCarnival / Carnival Legend4.5$3,849$64983%83% Off!#36441 Info

12Apr 9,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSeabourn / Seabourn Sojourn6.0$7,400$2,96060%Suite!#14027 Info

13Apr 17,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Vision of the Seas4.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#16486 Info

13Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandCelebrity / Celebrity Eclipse5.5-$899InfoOnboard Credit!#20550 Info

17Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLKiel, GermanyMSC Cruises / MSC Poesia4.0$3,070$99867% #18371 Info

11Apr 20,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainNorwegian / Norwegian Epic5.0$899$60932%Exclusive Offer!#14188 Info

14Apr 21,2013Miami, FLLos Angeles, CANorwegian / Norwegian Pearl4.5$2,759$1,22955%

 

 

Sorry if it is hard to read. Go to their site and play.

BTW,they make you enter your info but you can make it up.

[Froufie]

For mental piece of mind and less stress, I would suggest booking a major US carrier (that you have membership in their frequent flyer club with several foreign international carrier alliances,), make your connection in a US hub that flies non stop to Venice (at all cost avoid JFK, EWR, due to ATC delays) and make sure you have the longest connection time that your ticket allows and make sure your international connection is not the last flight of the day (very true if you have checked baggage)

 

I was looking at flying out of EWR or LGA or JFK - can you please explain regarding "ATC delays'?

 

Thanks,

[bookcreator]

Sure. Although I have not used them to book Vacations To Go has the very best search engine.

For this search I entered cruises leaving any Florida port April 13th to transatlantic or repositioning.

This is what I got

 

13Apr 3,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSilversea / Silver Spirit6.0$9,198$4,29953%Suite!#10444 Info

13Apr 62013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyHolland America / Eurodam5.0$2,399$1,19950% #10308 Info

13Apr 7,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Independence of the Seas5.0-$799InfoOn#14055 Info

14Apr 7,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainOceania Cruises / Riviera5.5$9,598$2,59973%Balcony!#18390 Info

15Apr 7,2013Tampa, FLBarcelona, SpainCarnival / Carnival Legend4.5$3,849$64983%83% Off!#14027 Info

13Apr 17,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Vision of the Seas4.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#16486 Info

13Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandCelebrity / Celebrity Eclipse5.5-$899InfoOnboard Credit!#20550 Info

17Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLKiel, GermanyMSC Cruises / MSC Poesia4.0$3,070$99867% #18371 Info

11Apr 20,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainNorwegian / Norwegian Epic5.0$899$60932%Exclusive Offer!#26597 Info

27Apr 26,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLCopenhagen, DenmarkPrincess / Emerald Princess5.0$3,049$3,0490% #26610 Info

15Apr 27,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandPrincess / Caribbean Princess5.0$1,199$1,1990% #26630 Info

27Apr 27,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandPrincess / Caribbean Princess5.0$3,049$3,0490% #10378 Info

14Apr 28,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyPrincess / Ruby Princess5.0$1,099$1,0990% #12095 Info

26Apr 28,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLVenice, ItalyPrincess / Ruby Princess5.0$2,949$2,9490% #11498 Info

15Apr 30,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLBarcelona, SpainHolland America / Nieuw Amsterdam5.0$2,799$1,39950%Onboard Credit!#25217 Info

#20307 Info

13Apr 3,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSilversea / Silver Spirit6.0$9,198$4,29953%Suite!#10444 Info

13Apr 6,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLRome (Civitavecchia), ItalyHolland America / Eurodam5.0$2,399$1,19950% #10308 Info

13Apr 7,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Independence of the Seas5.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#18390 Info

15Apr 7,2013Tampa, FLBarcelona, SpainCarnival / Carnival Legend4.5$3,849$64983%83% Off!#36441 Info

12Apr 9,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLisbon, PortugalSeabourn / Seabourn Sojourn6.0$7,400$2,96060%Suite!#14027 Info

13Apr 17,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandRoyal Caribbean / Vision of the Seas4.0-$799InfoOnboard Credit!#16486 Info

13Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLLondon (Southampton), EnglandCelebrity / Celebrity Eclipse5.5-$899InfoOnboard Credit!#20550 Info

17Apr 20,2013Fort Lauderdale, FLKiel, GermanyMSC Cruises / MSC Poesia4.0$3,070$99867% #18371 Info

11Apr 20,2013Miami, FLBarcelona, SpainNorwegian / Norwegian Epic5.0$899$60932%Exclusive Offer!#14188 Info

14Apr 21,2013Miami, FLLos Angeles, CANorwegian / Norwegian Pearl4.5$2,759$1,22955%

 

 

Sorry if it is hard to read. Go to their site and play.

BTW,they make you enter your info but you can make it up.

 

My problem with using these are they are practically fraud on the original prices. The TA on the Legend is NO WAY $3800 ever, in fact we changed to the Destiny from the Legend and our fare was $629 for the TA on the Legend, which is lower than their claimed low price. I laugh when I see these website with Carnival cruises listed. NO WAY are those true prices per person. The prey on people who believe a carnival cruise costs $3000+ dollars. In the 21 Carnival cruises we have gone on, the price person is always lower than any discount website when we just call Carnival direct.

[hattack]

Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays happen when the FAA wants to slow down arrival/departures to avoid congestion and for safety reasons. The NYC area airports are especially vulnerable to these types of delays and consistently rank very low in ontime performances and connection performance.

 

Most major domestic carriers have developed other international connection hubs to take the pressure off JFK and EWR. JFK is still the major hub for international base carriers

 

If you have extra time, you might consider flying to a major international hub and taking the high speed train to Venice.

[bookcreator]

Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays happen when the FAA wants to slow down arrival/departures to avoid congestion and for safety reasons. The NYC area airports are especially vulnerable to these types of delays and consistently rank very low in ontime performances and connection performance.

 

Most major domestic carriers have developed other international connection hubs to take the pressure off JFK and EWR. JFK is still the major hub for international base carriers

 

If you have extra time, you might consider flying to a major international hub and taking the high speed train to Venice.

 

We find that traveling between place in Europe, the discount air shuttles between countries and cities within a country are usually cheaper than the train. You can get to many places for 49 Euros a person, when the high speed trains will cost over 100 Euros per person. The great high speed trains are often more expensive than air. Even the "slow trains" are pricey.

[Captain Carnival]

...

If you have extra time, you might consider flying to a major international hub and taking the high speed train to Venice.

 

Such as?

[Froufie]

Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays happen when the FAA wants to slow down arrival/departures to avoid congestion and for safety reasons. The NYC area airports are especially vulnerable to these types of delays and consistently rank very low in ontime performances and connection performance.

 

Most major domestic carriers have developed other international connection hubs to take the pressure off JFK and EWR. JFK is still the major hub for international base carriers

 

If you have extra time, you might consider flying to a major international hub and taking the high speed train to Venice.

 

Thanks so much for the explanation - I am actually considering a direct flight from EWR or JFK to Barcelona so it sounds like it may be delayed - but as I am flying in a couple days early I would presume it will eventually take off (and get me to Barcelona? :))

[hattack]

if you are starting your trip at JFK or EWR and flying the same carrier all the way thru on a connection to Venice you should be ok

You can fly most of the low cost inter European carriers for very cheap, but you have to be very careful because many of them leave from different airports then what the major US carriers fly into so the $$$ you save on air fare may be offset by the cost of ground transportation between terminals. Also most don't have baggage interline agreements with the major carriers so you have to claim your bag and then recheck it and be charged a fee..I have used Europe By Air twice and had no problems but I also travel with a small carry on roller so I never check a bag. My last cruise in Europe, I found a great deal on Europe by Rail for 2 first class seats from Paris to Lyon and Venice back to Paris on the overnighter and it worked great because the train stations are right inside the airport

My experience in flying and cruising to Europe several times is do it in early spring or late fall,where you will find the best deals, keep it simple in terms of connections, don't book on the last flight of the day and build in plenty of connection time and on your way home make plans to volunteer to give up your seats (if your work schedule permits you to schedule an extra day or two buffer), because the compensation is much better then in the US. Also be prepared for greater security scrutiny