kentrav Posted July 11, 2020 #1 Share Posted July 11, 2020 (edited) Hello All I have a Question About Flying to Europe sept 2021. I was wondering if anyone had a good recommendation on a Airline from Toronto to Venis Italy ,as far as price and comfort. This is our first flight to europe and we dont want to make the mistake of booking a subpar airline just to save a couple of bucks. Any info would be great . We plan to fly on a friday and come back on a thursday 13 Days ,we are doing a cruise 10days greek island basically fly in a couple days ahead a leave after the ship ia back in venis around 7am I would say.Any recommendations on flight times and operators would be good oh if you have a good place to stay in the venis area about 20 minutes from the port it would be nice to know that as well .Yes its allot to ask , I thought you dont know unless you ask those who have been there.. Thank you Edited July 11, 2020 by kentrav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumpster Posted July 12, 2020 #2 Share Posted July 12, 2020 We are n Canada and all our flights to Europe have been from Toronto (London, Rome, Barcelona) and have consistently gotten better pricing from Canada than the USA (Detroit Michigan is also the same distance as Toronto for us). We have used air Canada every time and I can not recommend the premium economy any higher than its fantastic!! We did one flight in regular economy and have always done air Canada premium economy to ensure we arrive rested and ready to go. The service and comfort in premium economy is worth every penny for us!! We monitor pricing in advance and I have consistently found the best price for premium economy at 6 months out from date. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d9704011 Posted July 12, 2020 #3 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I agree with gumpster on the Air Canada Premium Economy. If you’re willing to go through Montreal, check out Air Transat Club Class. It’s very good and quite a bit less expensive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phabric Posted July 13, 2020 #4 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Check out your cruise line air prices. I have found cruise line prices are cheaper than going direct with the airline PLUS you don’t pay until final payment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted July 13, 2020 #5 Share Posted July 13, 2020 52 minutes ago, phabric said: Check out your cruise line air prices. I have found cruise line prices are cheaper than going direct with the airline PLUS you don’t pay until final payment. However, you are buying consolidator tickets. (which is why they are cheaper) Now, there's nothing wrong with consolidator tickets as long as you're aware of the possible pitfalls and make your purchase with that knowledge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted July 13, 2020 #6 Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) We often select Air Transat. We prefer open jaw flights, ie fly in to one city and home from another. We travel to Europe most every years. Often we fly from Toronto to say, Athens, and home to Calgary from Paris or London. We find that Transat gives us the best pricing and good service on these types of tickets. Much better pricing and preferred service to AC. Not certain how this will chance since AC acquired Transat. From time to time we have had good pricing of cruise air however more often than not we can do as good, and often better, on our own,-including one way TA fares. Edited July 13, 2020 by iancal 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger88 Posted July 13, 2020 #7 Share Posted July 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, iancal said: We often select Air Transat. We prefer open jaw flights, ie fly in to one city and home from another. We travel to Europe most every years. Often we fly from Toronto to say, Athens, and home to Calgary from Paris or London. We find that Transat gives us the best pricing and good service on these types of tickets. Much better pricing and preferred service to AC. Not certain how this will chance since AC acquired Transat. Air transat is very nice. As an american I always choose to fly with this particular lines. I mean you can always rely on their time schedule, they have a nice support in case of emergencies and I never had an issue with refunds or adjusting my flight. Moreover, they give you a lot of options how to travel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d9704011 Posted July 13, 2020 #8 Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, iancal said: Not certain how this will chance since AC acquired Transat. Interesting to see how this moves along. When AC made its proposal to buy Transat they offered $18/share when the share price was pretty steady at about $16. Now that Transat is at $5.44, I think it’s safe to believe the acquisition may be somewhat prolonged. Me, I like Transat; we often take the bus from Ottawa to Dorval and back to use it (they don’t service Ottawa except for winter charters). BTW, I know I went OT but the OP doesn’t appear to be too engaged. Edited July 13, 2020 by d9704011 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted July 13, 2020 #9 Share Posted July 13, 2020 One thing to remember on Transat. If you want open jaw do NOT price them as two seperate one ways. Price them in the multi-destination window. It is typically several hundred dollars less that pricing two one way fares. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlyerTalker Posted July 13, 2020 #10 Share Posted July 13, 2020 And as a reminder to all...for open jaw pricing on all airlines (not just Transat), the "open" (unflown) leg of the triangle connecting the three cities must be the shortest distance. Otherwise, it's not an open jaw ticket, but rather two one-ways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Bob Posted July 17, 2020 #11 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) A lot can and probably will, change in a year, even without an AC/TS acquisition. The OP said clearly they want to return on Thursday, debarkation day. That rules out open-jaw and according to current information, that also rules out TS. It's RV that operates to VCE, not AC, also limited seasonal service, although who knows, next year. VCE is a small regional airport, checkin can be chaotic when thousands of cruise ship passengers arrive. I'm reluctant to recommend a same-day connection to North America for inexperienced travellers. My advice would be, how much do you need to return on Thursday? Nobody asked how tall the OP is. My last experience on TS, the seat pitch was so tight, I could barely fit. If they're no longer cramming so many people into the airplane, I stand corrected. If the OP is still interested in hotels, Mestre is the town on the mainland, hotels are 1/3 the price. The Ports of Call board is the best place for other pros and cons. Edited July 17, 2020 by Dancer Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted July 18, 2020 #12 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) We have not found any noticeable difference between the standard seat pitch on AC vs. Transat. There is an alternative to flying in and out of Venice. One of our cruises ended in Venice. Our next destination was South Africa. It was considerably less expensive to fly one way from Milan than it was from Venice or from Rome. Short train ride to Milan....stop in Verona or Como, etc on the way as an added bonus. Flight prices can vary on Transat. Moving your departure day by a few days can not only reduce your fare but pay for those added two or three days. Last year we saved $250 each on our Athens and London by moving our dates slightly. The $500 saving we enjoyed more than covered the costs of our extra touring days. Transat's web site is really well laid out for this. You can move the curser back and forward to see fares and scheds on either side of you inputted dates. Edited July 18, 2020 by iancal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlyerTalker Posted July 18, 2020 #13 Share Posted July 18, 2020 As I frequently recommend, try using the ITA Matrix search tool. matrix.itasoftware.com 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted July 18, 2020 #14 Share Posted July 18, 2020 The few times that we have flown home to Canada from Venice on an AC routing we have always been routed through Frankfurt with a Lufthansa connection. That meant a 6:30 AM flight from Venice to Frankfurt to make our flight connection home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickT Posted August 18, 2020 #15 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Keep in mind that the Toronto Venice route on Air Canada will most likely be serviced by their Rouge brand. Rouge is definitely a few steps below Air Canada however the benefits of a direct flight are worth considering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
em-sk Posted August 23, 2020 #16 Share Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) On 8/18/2020 at 5:06 AM, RickT said: Keep in mind that the Toronto Venice route on Air Canada will most likely be serviced by their Rouge brand. Rouge is definitely a few steps below Air Canada however the benefits of a direct flight are worth considering. Rouge had the more junior staff. The more junior pilots at Air Canada have been let go. The few remaining pilots at Rouge have been moved back to mainline. The 767 fleet is being retired. The same has happened to the Rouge cabin crew. AC has A330 wide-body that use be TAP Air Portugal or Singapore aircraft join the fleet this spring and summer. They have configured them as mainline. It is unlikely Toronto Venice will operate as Rouge. I would expect any Rouge flight of that distance to be operated by mainline in the future. WestJet is also doing the same thing. they have been sold their 767 and has new 787 join the fleet. I think the OP is left connecting in Europe. Air Canada partners with Lufthansa in Europe. WestJet partners with Air France/KLM in Europe. I would avoid any connection in London. Air Canada does London-Heartthrow can be complex as well WestJet does London-Gatwick that has limited options. I would stick to hubs like Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Frankfort, Paris, for your connection. Edited August 23, 2020 by em-sk typo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybear Posted August 24, 2020 #17 Share Posted August 24, 2020 We connect often through London Heathrow without issue on British aIrways. Precovid it worked very well to just stay in Terminal 5 If we overnighted and then on to Italy. In the Covid world who knows what airlines and connections will be best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
em-sk Posted August 28, 2020 #18 Share Posted August 28, 2020 On 8/24/2020 at 9:54 AM, bennybear said: We connect often through London Heathrow without issue on British aIrways. Precovid it worked very well to just stay in Terminal 5 If we overnighted and then on to Italy. In the Covid world who knows what airlines and connections will be best. Heathrow is only operating Terminal 2 and 5 just now. I find the problem at heathrow is the length of time to do a transfer especially when you also need to transfer terminals. In the case of AC at Terminal 2 I have usually ended up in the satellite terminal, you need to go back to the main terminal t do security the back to the satellite for the connecting flight. Not a fan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybear Posted August 28, 2020 #19 Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, em-sk said: Heathrow is only operating Terminal 2 and 5 just now. I find the problem at heathrow is the length of time to do a transfer especially when you also need to transfer terminals. In the case of AC at Terminal 2 I have usually ended up in the satellite terminal, you need to go back to the main terminal t do security the back to the satellite for the connecting flight. Not a fan. Yes have encountered this with AC. This is why I specified BA. You fly in and out of terminal 5 most times if it is international. But who knows how this will all unfold? Edited August 28, 2020 by bennybear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
em-sk Posted August 31, 2020 #20 Share Posted August 31, 2020 On 8/28/2020 at 8:15 AM, bennybear said: Yes have encountered this with AC. This is why I specified BA. You fly in and out of terminal 5 most times if it is international. But who knows how this will all unfold? No guarantee with BA either. They were split between Terminal 3 and 5. That said just now with COVID it is all Terminal 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted September 1, 2020 #21 Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) We avoid LHR as much as possible. Flying from Canada we always prefer a change in Frankfurt to a change in London...unless it is London Gatwick. Edited September 1, 2020 by iancal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybear Posted September 1, 2020 #22 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Interesting, we find Frankfurt massive and dingy. We also prefer LHR terminal 5 to,LGW. but depends who you are flying with and where you are going. If you want a really nice experience try Zurich! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbgd Posted September 3, 2020 #23 Share Posted September 3, 2020 On 9/1/2020 at 12:53 PM, iancal said: We avoid LHR as much as possible. Flying from Canada we always prefer a change in Frankfurt to a change in London...unless it is London Gatwick. Bizarre...FRA is widely considered a pretty awful place to connect through. The exceptions being when flying Lufthansa in FC where they put a car on for you planeside or SQ's JFK-SIN service (which isn't a true connection per se). If you are connecting through the same terminal at LHR, and so therefore most likely a T5-T5 connection on BA, then it's remarkably simple. A blanket "I hAtE cOnNeCtInG tHrU LhR" statement is rather shortsighted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted September 3, 2020 #24 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Every time we have been through Frankfurt it has been on Lufthansa, connecting to Luftansa. We have been through Heathrow countless times. We find if fine if no terminal change is required, much less than fine if a terminal change is required. Never yet had the good fortune to go into, and then out of Terminal 5,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybear Posted September 3, 2020 #25 Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) We've flown in and out of FRA on Lufthansa too, but don’t enjoy the long tunnel walks and often the bus rides to the planes for within Europe. Try BA next time if you want to try Terminal 5, it’s a beautiful terminal. Edited September 3, 2020 by bennybear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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