LAX - Italy
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Delta Silver, Virgin Red,
Posts: 3
LAX - Italy
My wife and I are planning to go to Italy next summer. Our plan is to collect enough miles to fly business or first (something we rarely do). I'm trying to figure out the best airlines to consider with a combination of luxury and points value, so that i can be more focused on my points collection.
I was leaning towards alitalia since i've heard they recently upgraded and they fly direct. The downside is the fuel cost and i'd prob rather use more points than spend cash if i could.
I already have about 130000 delta miles, but i'm also building points miles in citi thank you, chase and amex.
Would love to hear what people think
Brad
I was leaning towards alitalia since i've heard they recently upgraded and they fly direct. The downside is the fuel cost and i'd prob rather use more points than spend cash if i could.
I already have about 130000 delta miles, but i'm also building points miles in citi thank you, chase and amex.
Would love to hear what people think
Brad
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: south of WAS DC
Posts: 10,131
i think you have enough miles for you to go one way. i think you will need 300-400 K points to bring the wife along. also, if this is the delta i grew to new and love, first class on mileage is right up there with hell freezing.
Last edited by slawecki; Aug 16, 2015 at 7:54 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
Alitalia in business class on a direct flight would be great. Business class award space on the LAX-FCO route is hard to come by, though. If you want to book that with more miles and less cash, use DL to book the award. I believe it's 125k miles RT in business, but no fuel surcharges. Just ~$150 in taxes.
If that doesn't work out, looking for AA F/J awards LAX-JFK, then connecting to JFK-MXP on AA would also work. AA's business class isn't going to be as good as Alitalia's, though. AZ gets a bad rap, mostly for ground services, a terrible website, etc - but once you're in the air, it's very good. Probably the best business class food to Europe.
Since you already have 130k DL, you have enough for one ticket. I'd try and get that balance to 250k and book an AZ business class award, if you can find the space. West coast business class to Europe award space is generally rare on any carrier. But at least with DL's partners, you could fly direct on AZ or one stop on AF. I really enjoyed my last business class trip on AF. And if none of that pans out, you can buy a coach ticket to an east coast gateway and connect to a business class award.
EDIT: I see you said next summer. Award space in general is going to be tight, have a backup plan if you can't get a business class award. Economy might even be difficult, as summer is peak tourism season for US to Italy.
If that doesn't work out, looking for AA F/J awards LAX-JFK, then connecting to JFK-MXP on AA would also work. AA's business class isn't going to be as good as Alitalia's, though. AZ gets a bad rap, mostly for ground services, a terrible website, etc - but once you're in the air, it's very good. Probably the best business class food to Europe.
Since you already have 130k DL, you have enough for one ticket. I'd try and get that balance to 250k and book an AZ business class award, if you can find the space. West coast business class to Europe award space is generally rare on any carrier. But at least with DL's partners, you could fly direct on AZ or one stop on AF. I really enjoyed my last business class trip on AF. And if none of that pans out, you can buy a coach ticket to an east coast gateway and connect to a business class award.
EDIT: I see you said next summer. Award space in general is going to be tight, have a backup plan if you can't get a business class award. Economy might even be difficult, as summer is peak tourism season for US to Italy.
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Delta Silver, Virgin Red,
Posts: 3
Thanks PWMTrav. Good info. and i'll look into booking via delta. Also good to know that those awards are scarce in summer. i assumed, but wasn't sure how bad. trying to get out in June if we can.
#5
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
The bad news is that I don't see a single day in June with 2 business class seats on AZ LAX-FCO. BOS-FCO has 3 seats most days, so doing that with a connection is a possibility. I checked Air France and there's no LAX-CDG space at all that month either.
If you can do July, I'd jump on those AZ seats quickly. If not, start searching other west coast-europe gateways to check for space. The fallback option can be BOS-FCO, but that would mean you're spending 5 hours on a domestic connection, which even in first class will be considerably less nice than a European carrier's long haul business class.