I’m flying from NYC to PSA for a conference at Il Ciocco that runs March 9-14, 2008. The good news is that I get to fly paid J. The bad news is that there are several possible routings, each with its own warts. I’ve never been to Italy and it’s been a couple years since I traveled to Europe (LGA-PHL-LGW on US in F). Thus, I would really appreciate some advice from the FT gurus on what would be best with the following priorities:
1) Getting there with as few hassles as possible (baggage, misconnects, etc)
2) Price - all of the itineraries below are pricing $3300-3600 a/i but AA110 is I1 and D fares do not allow LH/AP, so there's a couple thousand dollar jump to J if I can't land an I fare both ways. I’m currently obligated to fly US flag carriers where possible. Open Skies should change that, but policy hasn’t been confirmed here yet.
3) AA miles (Star Alliance is my secondary for LH, AP-AirOne)
Here are the flights I’m considering based on ITA:
Code:
Outgoing (3/8/08-3/9/08)
LGA-ORD AA321 11:45a-1:20p (1h46 layover; next longer is 2h55)
ORD-FCO AA110 3:15p-7:25a (1h20 layover!? will it work?)
FCO-PSA AP6164 8:45a-9:35a (LH2742)
5556 AA mi + 500 *A mi
LGA-DFW AA743 12:45p-3:45p (1h20 layover; next longer is 2h40)
DFW-LGW AA50 5:05p-7:55p (1h5 layover!? no way, right?)
LGW-PSA BA2600 9:00a-12:05p (AA6584)
6874 AA mi
JFK-CDG AA44 5:45p-7:10a (4h5 layover)
CDG-MUC LH4243 11:15a-12:50p (2h55 layover)
MUC-PSA LH4046 3:45p-5:25p (op by Air Dolomiti)
3635 AA mi + 1000 *A mi
JFK-BRU AA172 6:15p-7:45a (3h30 layover; 1h25, 5h15 alts)
BRU-MUC LH4603 11:15a-12:35p (3h10 layover; 5h15, 1h25 alts)
MUC-PSA LH4046 3:45p-5:25p (op by Air Dolimiti)
3667 AA mi + 1000 *A mi
Return (3/15/08)
PSA-FCO AP6164 7:00a-7:50a (LH2743; coach only; 2h10 layover)
FCO-ORD AA111 10:00a-3:00p (3h15 layover; 1h40, 6h35 alts)
ORD-LGA AA350 6:15p-9:29p
5556 AA mi + 500 *A mi
Other items:
1) How are my chances for making the 1h20 inbound AA-AP connection in FCO? If I misconnect, the only other direct FCO-PSA on AP is 8:45p-9:35p, too late for me, so could I get reaccommodated on AZ, which has a 9:35a-10:40a flight? Other than that, AZ runs FCO-MXP-PSA, LH runs FCO-MUC-PSA, and AF runs FCO-CDG-PSA. (I need to arrive in PSA in time to catch the very last bus to the conference at 7:00pm, but earlier is better.)
2) I’ve confirmed that AA has interline agreements with both LH and AP. Any difference to booking directly on AP vs LH codeshare, particularly with respect to possible misconnect above?
3) I usually travel with a 21” rollaboard and a laptop bag. Would I need to consolidate down to 1 carryon for all of these itineraries?
4) Can I book this mixed itinerary by calling AA? Or do I have to use a 3rd party travel agent? (I'm having trouble getting it via AA.com)
5) I’ll ask about lounges once I have the itinerary confirmed, but FWIW, I’ll be PLT/OW Sapphire next year (thanks FT!) and an AC member.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! TIA!