Milan to Dallas

[jelayne]

We would like to visit Milan after a cruise that ends in Rome next May.  My searches are turning up extremely high fares $2500 economy $4500+ for business with 1 or 2 stops.  Are there other carriers than the traditional US and partners I should look at or a interim stop that would open up the available airlines.  Living in Dallas with AA being the predominant carrier I not terribly familiar with a lot of the other  carriers.

 

We currently have tickets on hold on British Air in business using 57 500 AA miles each and a combined taxes and fees of $785.  

 

Suggestions?

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

We would like to visit Milan after a cruise that ends in Rome next May.  My searches are turning up extremely high fares $2500 economy $4500+ for business with 1 or 2 stops.  Are there other carriers than the traditional US and partners I should look at or a interim stop that would open up the available airlines.  Living in Dallas with AA being the predominant carrier I not terribly familiar with a lot of the other  carriers.

 

We currently have tickets on hold on British Air in business using 57 500 AA miles each and a combined taxes and fees of $785.  

 

Suggestions?

 

One way to evaluate the "value" of the AA miles/points travel is to consider that you can *purchase* them for approximately 2 cents each (often just slightly less).

 

GC

[jelayne]

I don’t really care about the miles, to “buy” them would be $2350. The high BA fees & taxes are irksome. 

What I’m wondering are there less expensive ways to get from Milan to DFW in business class?  2 years ago we were flying to Europe, booked a flight with miles on BA  with their high fees.   Then a month or so later someone on the Roll Call posted they were flying from their home town to Boston and taking TAP to Europe.  I had never heard of TAP and since all my searches  were from DFW TAP  never came up. I didn’t know to check from Boston or to search for TAP flights.   They flew  over in business class for what we paid in fees.  

What other cities or airlines could I try and then do a domestic flight from there to DFW.

thanks

[FionaMG]

TAP have recently expanded their US operations. They now fly from New York, Boston, Washington, Miami and San Francisco. Chicago is also planned; I'm not sure if it's started yet. They have also upgraded their fleet with new Airbus neo aircraft. 

Note that for Milan, you would have to connect in Lisbon but that is not a big deal as Lisbon is a very easy airport to connect in.

TAP is Star Alliance, in case you have miles with any of those airlines.

It's a fairly decent airline, although they tend to shoot themselves in the foot a bit with their customer service, which is not up to scratch in dealing with problems. Flight crews are invariably helpful and friendly. 

Another thing worth bearing in mind is that with it being an EU airline, you're covered under EU regulations for things like delays and cancellations.

Hope this helps.

Edited June 17, 2019 by FionaMG
Added additional information.

[Globaliser]

7 hours ago, jelayne said:

We would like to visit Milan after a cruise that ends in Rome next May.

 

Are you on a one-way cruise? Is that why you're looking for one-way fares?

 

If so, then this is a situation in which the cruise line's air fares may be worth considering, for all their disadvantages. They can often sell one-way tickets fared on a half round-trip basis, when an individual purchaser going to the airline will only be able to get a very expensive fully-flexible one-way fare.

[waterbug123]

7 hours ago, jelayne said:

What other cities or airlines could I try and then do a domestic flight from there to DFW.

thanks

 

Relatively easy itineraries that could still possibly be booked on one ticket include any city that is a hub for a US airline that flies internationally, or that partners with airlines that fly internationally.  You could also book as two separate tickets if it's cheaper, just understand the caveats of connecting on flights that are on separate tickets.  Common choices would include:

Atlanta, New York and Detroit for Delta/Sky Team partners

Charlotte, Philadelphia, DC and Miami for American/One World partners

Houston, Newark, Chicago, and DC for United/Star Alliance partners

 

Your transatlantic flight might be on a Delta/AA/US or any of that particular airline's alliance partners, into the US arrival cities listed above and then you could typically get a nonstop from the international arrival point back to DFW on DL/AA/UA.   There are more international arrival cities in the US if you go further west, but that means longer flights and backtracking so I didn't list those.

[jelayne]

6 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Are you on a one-way cruise? Is that why you're looking for one-way fares?

 

If so, then this is a situation in which the cruise line's air fares may be worth considering, for all their disadvantages. They can often sell one-way tickets fared on a half round-trip basis, when an individual purchaser going to the airline will only be able to get a very expensive fully-flexible one-way fare.

 

Yes we are doing a TA.  We have used the cruise lines air in the past for all our 1 way to from Europe but lately their fares haven’t been any better than booking direct.

[jelayne]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I check on the major hubs.

[waterbug123]

21 hours ago, jelayne said:

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I check on the major hubs.

 

I meant to note for Delta options that there may also be options that include Boston.  It's not a Delta hub but Delta often adds additional service in and out of Boston on a seasonal basis.  I think you mentioned Boston originally so meant to include that option.

[tvmovielover]

Right now, AA has a nonstop from Milan that gets in about 2 in the afternoon (do not know if there is another one).  It is pretty easy to get a flight on AA or another to DFW from there.

[ducklite]

I think Emirates has a fifth freedom flight Milan to JFK, might be worth checking into and then connecting to another carrier back to Chicago.  It could save significant dollars.

[FlyerTalker]

35 minutes ago, ducklite said:

I think Emirates has a fifth freedom flight Milan to JFK, might be worth checking into and then connecting to another carrier back to Chicago.  It could save significant dollars.

 

Emirates and JetBlue codeshare, so you could book through JetBlue for through service from MXP-JFK-ORD.  Also, check the Emirates website for their pricing on that combination.

[waterbug123]

13 hours ago, ducklite said:

I think Emirates has a fifth freedom flight Milan to JFK, might be worth checking into and then connecting to another carrier back to Chicago.  It could save significant dollars.

 

They do.  Friends of ours booked Emirates JFK-MXP and back for this October.  I want to say they paid around $500 each.

[CruiseDigits]

On 6/18/2019 at 5:12 PM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Emirates and JetBlue codeshare, so you could book through JetBlue for through service from MXP-JFK-ORD.  Also, check the Emirates website for their pricing on that combination.

 

Definitely check both carriers.  For example, I recently saw airfare for the exact same Iceland Air flight that was cheaper booking through JetBlue than it was on Iceland Air.