Philadelphia-Venice gone or trimmed
Oct 14, 2018, 10:47 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Alameda, CA
Programs: UA 2P, AS, WN
Posts: 50
Philadelphia-Venice gone or trimmed
I just checked in on our April 2019 award reservation, SFO-PHL-VCE, and the PHL-VCE segment was replaced with a dreaded 'Contact a reservations agent' (Would an email have been too much to ask?)
Anyway, tried to make a dummy booking, and no signs of any PHL-VCE nonstops, (in and around April 2019, anyway.)
Haven't actually called reservations yet. Dreading it.
Anyway, tried to make a dummy booking, and no signs of any PHL-VCE nonstops, (in and around April 2019, anyway.)
Haven't actually called reservations yet. Dreading it.
Oct 14, 2018, 10:59 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: Delta 2M DM, Southwest A List and CP
Posts: 1,102
Yes, that happens quite regularly to itineraries that are half a year out. In this kind of cases I usually look for a good replacement (MXP? An extra stop in Europe?) and have that ready as a Plan A to present to the reservations agent. And I have some alternatives too in case that does not fly. I usually get something that is as good as or better than what I had before.
Oct 15, 2018, 9:12 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: AZ
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 200
Same thing happened to me last year!
I just checked in on our April 2019 award reservation, SFO-PHL-VCE, and the PHL-VCE segment was replaced with a dreaded 'Contact a reservations agent' (Would an email have been too much to ask?)
Anyway, tried to make a dummy booking, and no signs of any PHL-VCE nonstops, (in and around April 2019, anyway.)
Haven't actually called reservations yet. Dreading it.
Anyway, tried to make a dummy booking, and no signs of any PHL-VCE nonstops, (in and around April 2019, anyway.)
Haven't actually called reservations yet. Dreading it.
ETA - I also looked at flying into Rome or Milan and taking the train but it requires another transfer which can be tough when you have luggage. But if you travel light and have no United miles, that could also be an option.
Good luck!
Last edited by MellieAZ; Oct 15, 2018 at 9:15 am Reason: Added train option
Oct 15, 2018, 10:47 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Qatar, Turkish, Aeroflot
Posts: 546
Last year they opened up the PHL-VCE April flights and I booked one for a cruise out of Venice. A month later they cancelled all the April flights. The "best" options available from out west involved either uncomfortably short connection times (less than 2 hrs at LHR) or really long connection times so I cancelled and booked on United/Lufthansa.
ETA - I also looked at flying into Rome or Milan and taking the train but it requires another transfer which can be tough when you have luggage. But if you travel light and have no United miles, that could also be an option.
Good luck!
ETA - I also looked at flying into Rome or Milan and taking the train but it requires another transfer which can be tough when you have luggage. But if you travel light and have no United miles, that could also be an option.
Good luck!
Oct 15, 2018, 12:51 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,301
Looks like AA to Madrid and Iberia onward to Venice is an option.
Or even better than the original routing, IB all the way SFO-MAD-VCE if available, but AA can open availability on their own flights, not IB's (or at least not as easily). If needing an extra stop, SFO-JFK-MAD-VCE would be better than SFO-PHL-MAD-VCE.
But I'd look at SFO-LAX-LHR-VCE with BA on the last leg as well.
Or even better than the original routing, IB all the way SFO-MAD-VCE if available, but AA can open availability on their own flights, not IB's (or at least not as easily). If needing an extra stop, SFO-JFK-MAD-VCE would be better than SFO-PHL-MAD-VCE.
But I'd look at SFO-LAX-LHR-VCE with BA on the last leg as well.
Last edited by beachfan; Oct 15, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Oct 15, 2018, 1:05 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: AZ
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 200
I was only mentioning some of the options that could be explored by the OP. IIRC, the combination I looked at for Milan involved an overnight stay in NY, increasing the travel time while adding the connection to the train. But that was over a year ago so times may have changed.
Oct 15, 2018, 1:45 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: FL
Programs: AA ExPlat | UA Gld | DL Gld
Posts: 85
I just got back from Italy yesterday my flight was FCO to JFK and I checked AA app the incoming flight was supposed to be PHL to FCO. When the inbound used to be from DFW. So maybe they are swapping the Venice flight for another PHL to FCO route due to seasonal reasons.
Last edited by PandaSoPink; Oct 15, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Oct 15, 2018, 6:38 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,221
Oct 15, 2018, 6:47 pm
#12
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP, AA Million Miles, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,580
Oct 15, 2018, 10:47 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Alameda, CA
Programs: UA 2P, AS, WN
Posts: 50
Oct 16, 2018, 7:26 am
#15
Join Date: May 2009
Location: PHL
Posts: 2,842
There is always a risk booking a flight during the first or last month of a seasonal route because the airlines tweak the schedules quite a bit. This year the spring holidays were at the beginning of April, in 2019 they are towards the end. That can have an impact and cause an airline to start a few weeks later.
