Hi all,

I think that I've read every thread on Rome in the past two days and I was hoping that I could get your advice on a trip that I'm trying to arrange PIT-FCO.

My life has been somewhat strained lately and I really would like to visit Rome and the Vatican for a bit of spiritual renewal. I have an ugly travel calendar the next few months and just about the only time that I can squeeze in a couple of days is March 25 (sat) to March 29 (wed).

So far it looks like my choices are:
USair - $1500. for coach books in B and H (not good!)
USair - use 100,000 miles for premium coach. It books in Y and I was hoping that I could use my CP DMUTA5 to confirm Envoy.
Continental - $587.00 all in. 1 connection (no status)
British Air - $679.00 all in. 2 connections (no status)
Lufthansa - $773.00 all in 2 connections (*gold status)

I'm really beating my head against the wall here. I'd like to buy a ticket on USAir and fly them, but their prices are really outrageous when comapred to other airlines.

I've read some good things about British Airways and that looks appealing if I'm going to sit in coach.

The reviews seem mixed on Lufthansa. I've read good and bad.

I'm really hoping that I can pull this one off. My next window is midsummer and I want to avoid Rome during that timeframe.

Any Flyertalker advice?

Thanks in advance!

I'd buy the LH ticket. However, you can upgrade a premium Y US award using your CP TA certs. But I believe you could also upgrade a US B fare at the time of ticketing using the cert. So, would you rather pay $700 for coach, $1500 for J, or 100,000 miles for J?

AC is $368 + tax/charges = $591 for your dates. Stops in Toronto and Frankfurt. Probably your best choice for getting US miles.

You could give US a call and look for *Alliance award availability on various routings that use combinations of US, LH, UA, and AC. All are likely to be 2 connections from PIT. It's not very far in advance, so availability could be scarce, but there may be possibilities.

You could give US a call and look for *Alliance award availability on various routings that use combinations of US, LH, UA, and AC. All are likely to be 2 connections from PIT. It's not very far in advance, so availability could be scarce, but there may be possibilities.

No point in using miles if the AC ticket is <$600.

No point in using miles if the AC ticket is <$600.
Yes, I tend to agree that at this price it's better to accumulate than spend miles. Still, if one wants to burn miles, it's worth investigating the *Alliance awards (especially before spending 100k on a premium US award). In particular, finding a 80k *Alliance business class award could still be an attractive option.

If you're relegated to only flying coach, US is the best choice of them all for seat pitch and IFE.

If you're relegated to only flying coach, US is the best choice of them all for seat pitch and IFE.

Yes, but it's definately not worth a $900 premium.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to go back to the drawing board when I get home tonight. The AC flights are the best bet so far. The flight is cheap and I can use the money I save to buy a set of Bose headphones!

Shame that USair is so much more than everyone else. I can stomach a couple hundred dollars, but almost $1500.?! Wow.

Thanks!

Pit2Home:

It looks like this is a case of rather full flights as opposed to US's pricing. In checking your outbound leg its only showing 7 available seats in the Y&B buckets. All the other coach class seats are already 0'd out. On the return the lowest available fare is in the Q bucket. The US FCO flight is very popular... you're just running up against that popularity. Will be interesting to see how the MXP flight affects loads on the FCO run.

Pit2Home:

It looks like this is a case of rather full flights as opposed to US's pricing. In checking your outbound leg its only showing 7 available seats in the Y&B buckets. All the other coach class seats are already 0'd out. On the return the lowest available fare is in the Q bucket. The US FCO flight is very popular... you're just running up against that popularity. Will be interesting to see how the MXP flight affects loads on the FCO run.

With this knowledge, I'd be tempted to get an unrestricted Y award ticket on US and then upgrade with your CP TA certs and hope for a bump to help offset some of the costs once in FCO.

If you must be in Y, you could try to find a routing on UA via IAD or ORD through either FRA or LHR, using LH or BMI to get to Rome. That way you could get E+ on the long haul. LH Y is best avoided. (Here's a guess, though, that UA will price higher tham most of the others - that's how it usually works out for me. :rolleyes: )

Another thought: Is it necessary that you fly into FCO? Could go to some other point and take a train?

As others have suggested, the simple reason US is so pricey on this itin is that both of your desired intercontinental segments are overbooked. There are Envoy seats open both ways; coach is oversold.

Arrrgggghhhhh!!!

After beating my brains out on this, I may not be able to go in March anyway. The client that I'm working with (who I want to keep happy) may switch the dates for a training program. This may put my free week into the first week of May. What a bummer...I really wanted to visit the Vatican before Easter.

I was just getting ready to go with the USAir premium award and use my CP DMUTAS to upgrade. I even checked...seat 1A was available on the outbound.

I really paused last night and thought of all the options available. Pay the $1600 on USAir and get the miles or pay $700 on another airline and put up with 2 connections. It all came down to the purpose of the trip...unwind and destress a bit. When it was all said and done, I looked at how big my DM bank is, looked at the DMUTAS staring me in the face, and looked at how easy the flights would be in Envoy via PHL (I know, no jokes).

Back to the drawing board for the latter part of April or the first week of May. I'll probably just end up doing a premium award and upgrading for less stress. And probably take the money that I would have spent on airfare and donate to a charity for a bit of good karma.

I really appreciate everyones help. Thanks again.

did you look at any of the new destinations, then flying one of the bargain airlines in europe?

did you look at any of the new destinations, then flying one of the bargain airlines in europe?

Flying US to LGW and then hopping onto EasyJet has worked great for me. I think EasyJet flies to Ciampino, not FCO, from LGW.