Perche

For the last five years, Marco Polo airport has been under construction. Last November I really liked the new indoor, mobil walkway out to where the ferry and water taxis were, all indoors. The construction of the airport itself, however, seemed to go on forever. It is now finished, and will open on Monday. Similar to the amazing redo of FCO in Rome, the airport in Venice will be one of the country's best.

It is supposedly architecturally stunning, with a huge waterfall centerpiece, marble walls, and wavy ceilings like ocean waves, to characterize the theme of travel, as Venetians have always been known as travelers going back to Marco Polo, for whom the airport is named. There is a lot of glass, which Venice is also known for.

With it comes a revamped Marco Polo lounge. The old lounge was decent, with nice views, but it was small, and a few years ago internet service was spotty. Recently during construction it was really bad, and I'd get them to give me a pass to enter another lounge, Ethihad if I recall, which also wasn't that good. The new lounge opening Monday is supposed to be up to top international standards. It has a viewing part out to the runways, a garden, and a part with wavy ceilings, again to convey the theme that Venice is about water travel. They plan on continuing to improve the airport by spending one hundred million euros per year for the next five years.

According to the press release; "Avere un grande aeroporto č fondamentale. Stiamo cablando con super velocitŕ la cittŕ. I giovani non se ne vadano. Giovani, state qua. Qui c'č il futuro. Venezia č una cittŕ che si č rimessa in moto.“

"Having a great airport is fundamental. The changes we are making to the city are happening at super speed. Young people, don't leave, stay here. The future is here. Venice is a city in motion."

I can't wait to try it out.

rickg523

BRAVO!
I fly out of Marco Polo at the end of the month.
Thanks for the good news.

Perche

http://www.veneziatoday.it/cronaca/t...ugno-2017.html

Inaugurato il nuovo terminal del Marco Polo: tutto pronto per lunedě, investiti 68 milioni
L'apertura al pubblico č prevista per il 19 giugno, funzionalitŕ ed estetica unite nel progetto. Commenta Marchi, presidente di SAVE: "L'aeroporto come motivo d'orgoglio per Venezia"
"Inauguration of the new terminal at Marco Polo: everything is ready for Monday, an investment of 68 million, open to the public June 19th, functionality and esthetics were joined together for the project. Commented Marci, president of the architectural firm, 'our motive for the airport was to make it the pride of Venice."

Pictures of the new terminal and lounge.
http://www.veneziatoday.it/foto/cron...erminal-2.html

SanDiego1K

Where is it in relation to the old airport?

Perche

It is a new wing added on to what was already there, and it will be the new departure and arrival area. I don't know what they will do with the older part, probably close it down and remodel it too, but that's not been announced.

SanDiego1K

Thank you, Perche. The news is much appreciated.

SuperG1955

We're departing to AMS on Sep 6. It should be running pretty smoothly by then (hopefully).

Then again, it's Italy.

FormerLurker

Unless I'm really confused (entirely possible) I was in that lounge last week, so it either opened early or the opening is in phases. The new lounge is definitely spacious and beautiful, with many seats looking directly out onto the runway, a patio, a media room, tablets set up for Internet use, etc.

The food selection was non-existent, though (just croissants at 07:00) so maybe it was a soft opening.

PWMTrav

Wow, looks great.

CXBA

Great news, looked at the Veneziatoday article and see the pictures as very enticing. Can't wait to try it, and it should be very soon

Perche

The upgrades to Marco Polo's airport caused it to be shut down on Saturday morning in an unexpected way. The modernization is beautiful. You no longer have to take a long walk outside to get to the docks where the boats to the city arrive and depart from. You stay inside and take a moving walkway to docks inside ports within the terminal.

On Saturday morning a snake crawled out of a door and headed directly towards the check-in counter. Passengers thought it was a new form of terrorist attack and notified officials, who shut the airport down. Emergency personnel were called in to hunt for the snake.

Venice is a marshy lagoon. I've never heard of a snake being seen in Venice, but out in the islands in the lagoon that I kayak to I've seen snakes, and saw one just a few weeks ago on an island when I was there. They are harmless.

By modernizing the airport so that there is now easy access to the water, it works as a two way street. People can get to the boats to the city more easily, but snakes in the lagoon now have an easier way to get into the airport.

It turned out to be one of the harmless snakes that you see in the outer islands.
http://nuovavenezia.gelocal.it/venez...nte-1.15749635
To summarize a few sentences from the article in english:

Alarm this morning at 9AM in the airport when a beast passed through the sliding doors and headed towards the check-in counter. Travelers alerted security and the firemen arrived to hunt for what was eventually identified as a harmless snake native to the lagoon. They put it in a box and took it away, and after a half an hour of freneticism on Saturday morning affecting both arrivals and departures, the airport returned to tranquility.

Venice is pretty unique. They made a movie about snakes on a plane, but Venice actually had a snake in the airport. If you happen to see a snake in the airport don't worry, it is harmless,. You won't because I'm sure the problem is being fixed. Below is a picture of the critter being sent back into the lagoon.

MHLHR

All - the new airport lounge and its access program is a joke.

Not only did they immediately after renovation discontinue affiliation with all the Priority Pass, Amex etc cards, but the current rules are such that even One World Silver or *S members have no access (and Gold cannot bring a guest) AND they put in place a membership program where you can buy the card for a small fortune (that may work in the US, but not in Europe), or you can acquire the card by having flown the equivalent of 9 international flights OUT of VCE in 2017.

Cool - I have flown the 9 flights out of VCE in 2017 so I register, and then I am told that the registration (in late August 2017) is only valid for 2018, AND for 2018 one will have to fly the equivalent of about 20 flights OUT of VCE before requalifying for 2018 (25 "magic points" on an undisclosed scale that will be revealed in late 2017).

This of course means that there will be NO lounge access for people who don't pay for it in 2018, or at least until they have done 20 round trips out of VCE.

This lounge is a joke (and a ripoff for people who pay) and it will only contribute to the sense that Italy has no commercial sense and does everything it can to scare of tourists and business travellers.

Perche

Welcome to Flyer Talk and to the Italy Forum.

I think there are a couple of things being mixed up here. First, lets compare purchasing access to the Marco Polo Lounge Club Il Millione to purchasing membership in other lounges. American Airlines Admirals Club has an annual fee of $550. The Marco Polo Club Il Millione annual fee is 125 euros, which is basically the cost of two day passes to an Admirals Club, which is $59 per person.

There used to be several credit cards that provided Admirals Club access, but for the last few years there has only been one, the Citi Executive World Elite Card that has an annual fee of $450. You can obtain an annual membership in the Club il Millione by spending 250 euros at the airport and at least have merchandise to show for it, instead of just paying a fee.

You can get an annual membership to Club Il Millione with 13 flying points. You get one point for every Italian domestic flight, and 1.5 points for every international flight out of Venice. To obtain membership in the Admirals Club you have to redeem 85,000 miles, which is the equivalent of taking 30 flights from NYC to LA.

For the Admirals Club, unless you purchase the $550 membership, redeem 85,000 miles or obtain the $450 credit card, you are not getting in unless you have a business or first class ticket on only three select routes in the USA; JFK to either LAX, SFO, or MIA, or to certain qualifying international destinations. You don't get in just because your are gold, platinum, or executive platinum, unless you are sapphire or emerald flying on certain international routes.

I'm confused about your statement, "even One World Silver or *S members have no access." OneWorld uses gemstones to define status, not metals. The gemstones are ruby, sapphire, and emerald. There is no such thing as One World Silver.

You are also confusing Marco Polo Lounge membership with membership to an airline lounge chain like the Admirals Club, or the Delta Sky Club.

The Marco Polo Il Millione membership is not an airline club, it's a Venice airport club that brings benefits such as priority lane screening for the card holder and a guest; a 25% discount on parking; access to a special parking lot only 20 meters from the terminal; admission to the Marco Polo Lounge for the holder and a guest; a discount for 3rd and 4th guests; and discounts on shopping within the airport, among other things.

I don't know what you mean when you say there are "magic points" that are undisclosed. You pay the annual 125 euros, or spend 250 euros at the airport shops, or obtain 13 points in the manner described above.

It seems as if you are confusing the Marco Polo Airport Club Il Millione program with access by OneWorld status. As I said, there is no such thing as OneWorld Silver. If you are OW Sapphire or Emerald traveling on American, British, Finnair, Iberia, or a Qatar ticket, you have Marco Polo lounge access.

I also don't know how you can berate the lounge itself if you couldn't get in.

Il Millione refers to Marco Polo, the Venetian who traveled to China in the 1200's and opened the doors to the Far East. When he came back from his journey he wrote a book called, "Il Millione" because he kept saying that in China there are millions of this, and millions of that, and so his nickname became Il Millione.

When Christopher Columbus was trying to find an ocean route to the far east instead of the land route that took Marco Polo six years to traverse, and that resulted in him bumping into the Americas instead, he used Marco Polo's book Il Millione as a guide.

In Venice you can still see Marco Polo's house on Campo Il Millione. They buried him in the San Lorenzo church, which is next door to the apartment where I used to live in Venice. During a renovation a few centuries ago they somehow lost his body. Every now and then there is headline in Venice saying they finally found Marco Polo's body, but nobody is really sure where it is.

KLouis

I guess that by *S MHLHR meant Star alliance silver (he states in his profile that (s)he's an FTL -*S- with M&M). At any rate, *S have no access to lounges unless their own FF program allows them to use their own lounge and not a third party one (e.g. FTL in LH business class lounges). Therefore, mentioning *S in the context of the Il Milione lounge was completely irrelevant.

MHLHR

Replying to Perche and to KLouis

OK let's leave the airline frequent flyer programs out of this as you are correct in stating that the reduced lack of access for certain status flyers is their decision - i.e., a commercial decision not to renew whatever lounge rights they had negotiated with VCE airport. But my point is that it shows that VCE has raised the cost for the airlines, and that is also what one then remarks when studying the alternative access possibilities for individuals.

My gripe is with the program as advertised which as PERCHE says is "You pay the annual 125 euros, or spend 250 euros at the airport shops, or obtain 13 points in the manner described above. " But that is not how it works. The key word is here "annual".

If you register today 13 points (i.e., 9 flights from VCE in 2017 to an international destination) then you get a card that expires at the END of 2017. So in 4 months. (Same if you pay or spend in the airport in 2017.)

When you complain to the lounge operator, you are told that is the program and it is in the terms. AND you are told that in 2018, one will need to 25 points (17 international flights) taken in 2018 before reacquiring the card. One has a one-month grace period (January 2018) to fly enough from VCE to keep the card -- that is 17 one-way flights from VCE in January, or 34 segments in one month.

If not, you can build up your points over the year, and get the lounge access back when you have done the 17 flights from VCE (so presumably 34 segments unless you always go back to VCE by train..)

Get it now? This is a scam program as the only way to have lounge access is to pay the 125 EUR; Which by the way will be higher next year according to the lounge operator as this year was the launch year so the price for access to this one lounge will likely be in excess of 200 EUR.

Last, the market in Europe is different from the airline and lounge service market in the US, so the comparisons to US programs are in my view inapposite.