Originally Posted by Prestige
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Initial plan:
- Party of four departing from YUL
- Departure dates: April 28-30, return May 12-13 (yes 2007, I like to plan ahead!
)
- Staying with friends in Milan but want to visit Rome
- Currently have enough miles for 3 Y seats or 2 J’s (would prefer J and will maintain Prestige status for 2007)
Q fares are currently around $1000 for MUC and ZRH, and about $1200 for FCO. I didn’t investigate MXP too much because I want to avoid connections in Europe (traveling with kids). Also, flights to MXP appear to be more expensive. Another thing to consider is the car rental which I didn’t check yet but have been told that it would be cheaper in Germany than Italy. ZRH seems like a good option as well given that it’s pretty close to Milan.
Basically looking to minimize travel distances by car, cost and connections. Any ideas from the experts out there?
Thanks.
You are right in that car rental is generally more expensive in Italy than Germany (not sure about the differential from CH though). Renting in Italy, the CDW excess waiver on the car can rack up significantly during a long stay (€15-ish a day IIRC).
CDW and Theft excess waiver on a rental car is strongly recommended to take out as well for Italy. Particularly in the Italian cities it seems car owners are not too careful about parking and many cars quickly get minor knocks and dings - mirrors hit by passing cars is common and that can be very expensive when you return the car without CDW/TP excess waiver. Car theft can be quite a problem in some cities.
It was the case that if you rented a reasonably prestigeous car in Germany (Merc, BMW or Audi) the T&C's stated you could not take it into Italy due to the theft problems. This was the case from MUC three years ago with Avis when we did it on a vacation and we had to settle for a VW.
Actually flight connections in Europe are not generally a problem although LHR and CDG can test anyones patience. But MUC and FRA are good in comparison and LIN is much closer to central Milan than MXP is. MXP does have an express airport train link into central Milan though, with LIN a taxi is the best bet as it's only about 5kM from downtown.