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help with travel to Florence
1) at least one in each major airline alliance. Choose the specific airlines based on what you find in question 2. Someone with detailed knowledge may be able to recommend an airline for service from SAN to Italy. 2) look at airline partners for credit cards with flexible points programs—Citi ThankYou, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and AMEX Membership Rewards and choose. Concentrate your points in one flexible points program if possible. It will make it much easier to build a useful quantity of points. 3) I know nothing. |
Cheftang Welcome to FT
Swiss Airlines, Lufthansa & UA are star alliance AA (and BA & others) are Oneworld alliance USA based airline ffp's tend to be more generous (status benefits/earn/burn/upgrades/award cost/award cash surcharges/expiry/affiliated credit card ff mile earning/promotions) compared to non USA based airline ffp’s (even after the recent changes to some USA ffp’s). But if you are not flying the airline of your ffp the useful benefits are somewhat limited. Low cost fares are tending to earn few ff miles, but depend on the ffp. Earning miles from non flying activities is easier with an airline ffp of your home country. When you state "Would prefer to fly business class when available, but will settle for premium economy when the price is prohibitive." do you mean when paying cash money? Or hoping for business class/real PE award flights? [hard for 3 people] For awards Florence airport only may limit your options. Another airport & a train ride may be better https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Airport Credit card transfer links
A guide --> https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=San%2...=0&c=j&s=2&p=0 |
The AMEX Platinum International Airline Program is the feature you've heard about.
It used to offer a companion ticket (free, except for taxes, fees, etc) when you purchased a Business Class or First Class ticket through their Travel Agency. The paid ticket was (slightly discounted) full fare. Full fare benefits, including no penalty cancellation, accrued to both tickets. Today, it offers discounted tickets in PE, Business, or First. Each ticket is a paid fare.These are not full fare tickets and accrue the benefits of their fare class. I've used this program in both it's iterations and have been well pleased. Even under the old program, I saved a few hundred dollars in comparison to the cost of two (for example) Z fares. With the new program, my savings on two fares to Europe, compared to those I've found independently, have consistently surpassed the cost of the cards. I find it most efficient to find my specific itinerary and price it before calling (you must call to purchase through the IAP). There are also significant Membership Awards - 5 points per dollar - for booking with AMEX Travel, whether using the IAP or not. |
Consider Pisa (PSA) as a viable alternative to FLR. People Mover from PSA to the central train station and then a direct train with a few stops to the center of Florence.
Would you consider LAX and the Alitalia LAX-FCO non-stop that operates 4x-7x weekly? That can be a good use of Delta miles as a U.S.-originating round trip - no international origin surcharges. Florence can be a 90-minute train ride from Rome's central station. |
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