Trip Schedule:
Original

May 28 - YYZ-MXP
May 30 - MXP-LCA
Jun 03 - LCA-MXP
Jun 04 - MXP-YYZ

Revised
May 28 - YYZ-MXP
May 30 - MXP-LCA
Jun 03 - LCA-MXP
Jun 09 - MXP-YYZ

Made a change on Thursday May 25th with Nico for a stopover in Milan on the way back. He was prompt in returning the call and was relieved that it was just a simple change. He asked me to call Orbitz and remove the extra leg. He also asked me to show up at YYZ airport early to get it stickered. Orbitz after sending me around 3 agents was able to fix it.

May 28th: Showed up 3 hrs before the flight to get the stickers. They were quite polite and verified and issued the sticker. With a warning that this is the last change I can make to the ticket. They were curious to know who made the change - "Alitalia Ticketing" was my answer, since now I have 2 stopovers in MXP - Onward and Return.

May 28th: Checked in with only carry-on luggage. Was quite pleasant and nobody was perturbed by the fare paid. Added my NWA number too. The gate was at 523. Had to take the bus to the other side of the terminal and was given lounge access with AC Maple Leaf Lounge which is right after you get off from the bus. Dont try any of the other Maple Leaf Lounges, they only have agreement with the one at the 500 gates.

Boarded the flight and left on time. The 767 is an old one. There were no individual TV Screens. The layout is 2 1 2. It was 25% full and everyone had a window seat. The food was something that you could miss. Quite bland and tasteless. With 100+Mph tail winds made it 1 hour ahead of schedule.

May 29th: Got through Customs and Immigration. Took the Malpenza Express train to downtown Milan - 11 Euros onway - 40 mins. The return ticket works only if you return back on the same day - 14.50 Euros. I did not have any major hotel points to burn and hence reserved a nice little place from Venere.com (also got 4% off with a coupon on the internet)- Mignon Hotel. It had some great reviews and went with it.

Italian women rock!!! I asked for directions at the train station and the women helped me get around to the hotel. Once you get your bearings, Milan is quite easy to navigate.

May 30th: Got to the airport and went to the Alitalia line to check in. They asked me to head to the Cyprus Air check-in. (The check-in was not open, hence checked with Alitalia, what the heck). When they opened, found it was operated by some agency and not Cyprus Air nor Alitalia. They made me check in my roller bag (Standard US 22" roller board). This was at the B gates. I went to the Alitalia lounge and was allowed inside based on my NWA Plat. I was Y class on the onward flight to LCA. The lounge does not have free internet access - 6Euros for 1 hour. The facilities and couches were a bit old. Could have spent the time outside people watching instead.

Cyprus Air is boarded like Southwest, no row calls. Just everybody troops in and boards. The seats were so closely packed, my knees were on my chin. The first class is nothing to be coveted for. The seats were covered with leather but still a 3-3 seating behind a curtain. So Y class or D class makes no difference in their A320. Make sure you get an exit row seat. It is worth it. I had ordered for Veggie meal and got it on Cyprus Air (quite good, compared to the usual chicken or beef option :-).

Landed in LCA ontime. There are no gates in LCA. Everybody is bused to the terminal. Which is a giant hangar. Two queues - EU and Others. Not many questions asked by the Immigration folks. Once you pass it another Wal-Mart sized warehouse where the baggage carousels are. There are ATM machines and a Tourist Center. I was using both waiting for my bag.

Came out and was told the only option to get to town was by Taxi. Got into one. The guy turned on the meter. When we were 200 mts before the hotel, he turned it off (was 4.35 pounds by now). Then at the hotel he said the bill was for 7 pounds. I said what, he said "for you - 6 pounds". I said - "Who asked you to turn off the meter". He threatened to take me back to the airport. I said - "Sure, lets go". Raised the usual hell about my lineage, questionable parentage etc etc. (FYI: They are all sound. Seen too many cab drivers in my life Finally accepted 5 pounds and drove off in a fury. Maybe cost him more on tire and gas for that takeoff than what he did not get from me. Key: Stick to 5 pounds to downtown LCA and 10 pounds to the resorts. Anything else, note down the cab number and complain.

A last note for now: Plan on bringing your own towel(s). I brought mine. Much better than using their questionable ones. BTW smokers, this is your paradise. There are no restrictions whatsoever in Cyprus.

June 3rd: Took the bus from LCA downtown to the airport for 70c. The ride takes only 15 mins. Beats having to deal with Taxi Drivers ^ ^ ^ . The bus timings are 7:30AM, 8:30AM, 9:30 AM...Mon - Sat.

There are no separate queues for Business class and Coach Class with Cyprus air. I was checked in by 8:10AM. They had mentioned atleast 2 hours before departure. Since the departure was at 9:40AM, I thought anything before 8:10AM should be adequate. Assuming that the "regular tourists" all check-in before 7:40AM There are plenty of flights leaving in the morning hence there were 4-5 agents working.

Got my boarding pass and did not have to check-in any bags. Went to the lounge upstairs. It is just before the smoking area (on second thoughts you can smoke everywhere in this airport . Take the elevator (or lift) to the second level (first floor). The boarding pass is sufficient (D class) to get you through. This lounge is better than the Alitalia lounge in MXP. There is free internet access via their computers but you cannot connect your laptop.

Must add the Immigration and Customs for Non-EU queues were quite "a***". They asked me more questions when I was leaving than when I arrived. The check-in lady took my passport and handed it over to a supervisor to photocopy different pages. The supervisor was taking his own sweet time for it. The check-in person saw me glaring and tried to speed it up. I was irritated that she did not ask my permission for it nor inform me about these requirements. Guess she tried to speed it up since I was flying D class. Just another meaningless excercise in photocopying documents for "your security and your safety".

The flight left on time. We were all bused to the aircraft from the "warehouse terminal". I was pleasantly surprised that it had regular first class seats - had a D class ticket on this leg. It was 3 rows, 2-2 on an Airbus A319. I guess if you have a Y class then it must be on an Airbus A320 with no first class (you cannot consider leather covered coach class seats as first class ) and if you have a D class it must be on an Airbus A320 with first class seating. Food was pretty good. No individual entertainment systems. Arrived on time.

I had a flight from MXP-AMS upon arrival. Tried out the Alitalia lounge and the Air France lounges in the A gates. The Air France lounge was much better than Alitalia. The snacks there were infinitely better. Plus the lady at the desk went out of her way to help me locate hotels near the airport for a night before my return to YYZ. Must say again - Women in Italy rock!

LOUNGES: Thought it would be better to write a seperate section on this.

YYZ: AirCanada Maple Leaf Lounge near the 500 gates (you get bused there). Free WIFI internet access. Decent snacks and free drinks. Business Class Alitalia ticket required.

MXP:
A Gates.
Alitalia lounge. No free internet access. WIFI available at 6euros/hour. So so snacks. Free drinks. Business class ticket or SkyTeam elite plus membership. There are showers in the restrooms. Not sure if they supplied the towels. Timing: 6:00AM - 11:00PM.

AirFrance Lounge. No internet access. Much better snacks (all in french lettering). Free drinks. Business class ticket or SkyTeam elite plus membership. Did not notice showers.

B Gates.
Alitalia Lounge. No free internet access. WIFI available at 6euros/hour or 12.60 euros for 24 hrs. So so snacks. Free drinks. Business class ticket or SkyTeam elite plus membership. There are showers in the restrooms. (not much water pressure though ). Timing: 6:00 AM - 11:00PM

LCA: Free internet access available through their computers. Sandwiches, chips (crisps) etc. Wide variety of drinks. Business class ticket.

SEATING:

YYZ-MXP - B767 with 2 1 2 seating. No personal entertainment system.
MXP-LCA - A320 with 3 3 seating. No first class seats. Leather covered coach class behind a curtain only. Go for exit row seats. Do not remember which row.
LCA-MXP - A319 with 2 2 seating. Regular first class seats (similar to CO domestic first class seats, a bit hard). No personal entertainment system.

FF:

YYZ-MXP - NWA. Was posted within a week. 50% class bonus, 125% Platinum elite bonus and 100K mileage dash bonus - 3K miles.

MXP-LCA and LCA-MXP to be posted on Alitalia after all NWA credits are done.