Just thought I'd share my experience. The airline rundown was right on. All my experiences they never boarded business class first. I flew business all the way and applied everything to Delta Skymiles. Everything has applied thus far at 150%. Everything was flawless until the last segment from MXP-YYZ. Airplane was delayed 1hr at the gate and landed one hour late. YYZ is ridiculous and I had 1.5 hours until my next flight from YYZ to the states. When I actually got to the ticket counter to check into my intl flight to the US I had 45 minutes. Check-in ? No problem....

Just to state the obvious: in order to save money, use public transit. In my experience it was faster, easier, and cost a ton less than taxi.

Hotel wise I stayed at Antonis G Apartments in LCA . It costs 10 pounds to get there and Antonis charges 15 pounds a night to stay in a "suite." 10 pounds to get back = 35 pounds = ~$80? Something like that. It's a very cheap hotel 2 stars I think) but I was only in LCA for about 12 hours so what the heck. It was OK for me and my wife.

Rome: I stayed at Hotel Rafaello. Took the express train from FCO - downtown rome. Cost = 9.5 euros per person. 30 minute train ride and the hotel was about 10 minute walk from the train station. The hotel was so-so (3 star) but the location was awesome. 10 minutes from the Coliseum and a number of other sites. If you want to go to the catacombs you just take a bus which costs 1 euro (even tho i never saw a local actually pay....).

Milan: This was the best hotel, even though this was also a 12 hour stopover. 4 star hotel called Starhotels Anderson. It reminds me of W hotels. I paid $110 per night and whatever room we got, the room rate indicated it actually cost about 530 euros a night. Wonderful bed, full bathroom with tub and TV in bathroom... it was very nice.
Take the Malpensa Shuttle Bus from MXP, which costs 5 euros a person, to Stazione Centrale. It's about a 35-40 min bus ride and the hotel is literally across the street.