OliverB

I'm trying to book a flight to Florence from SF on either June 18th or 19th, but like everyone else, I'm concerned about covid issues/restrictions and it's causing a lot of confusion as to the best way forward. I'd like to book the cheapest fare, but also need to take out full insurance coverage (ie. fully refundable ticket) with flexibility in case the need to either cancel or reschedule comes up, as a result of covid.

I'm not sure where to start... looking at United, Lufthansa and Swiss, possibly Air Canada if there's a decent flight connecting to Europe, but there's also Iberia as another option. The fare classes are especially confusing in covid times. I can't seem to decipher them with regards to covid concerns. Should I book a fully refundable or premium economy class ticket through United etc., or should I just book basic y fare and take out travel insurance with another third-party agency that covers covid-related travel hindrances (positive testing, quarantine, etc) -- not sure the best way to go and I'm wondering if anyone can help me to find the most affordable tickets given the circumstances?

In pre-pandemic times, I'd have likely just booked the lowest fare, unless I had points to burn. I should mention that I'd like to arrive in Florence no later than June 20th, but ideally sooner. Preferably not more than one connection as well. Any advice or pointers in the right direction would be immensely appreciated!

I need to book by the end of this week (it's too complicated to explain). Thanks!!

guv1976

Is this a one-way, or a roundtrip? If a roundtrip, what return date?

Do you have frequent-flyer miles you could use?

There is no trans-Atllantic service in or out of FLR, so if you want a single connection, you would have to get a nonstop from SFO to Europe.

13901

FLR also has a fairly short runway, so you might find more services to PSA - Pisa. There's then connections (trains) to Florence.

guv1976

Currently, there does not appear to be any trans-Atllantic service in or out of PSA, either. While the runway at FLR is relatively short, it does have service to/from several European airports that also have nonstops from SFO. Details here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Airport

OliverB

I haven't figured out the return yet, but sometime between July 2nd and 7th. It's more flexible on that end.

I don't have any miles or status now. I haven't traveled anywhere since covid.

guv1976

If you only plan to purchase a one-way ticket (assuming that Italy will permit you to enter without an onward ticket), the cheapest seems to be on TAP Air Portugal, departing SFO on June 17 or 19, and arriving FLR early the following evening. For not much more, you can get a roundtrip on SAS -- but you'd have to overnight in Copenhagen in each direction.

If you are creditworthy and can spend a few thousand dollars in the next couple of months, you might be able to get enough bonus miles from a credit-card sign-up bonus to get a frequent-flyer roundtrip ticket.

rove312

You can also look at flights to FCO and take the train to Florence. Under current schedules (they aren't posted yet for June), there's a direct train from the FCO airport station leaving at 13.53, taking 2 hrs. 18, and frequent connections in Rome taking just a few minutes more. It may be easier than connecting in a third country to FLR, often with a tight time to have Schengen passport controls, and the connecting country possibly having extra COVID rules.

JMN57

For Florence, look at BLQ (Bologna) or PSA (Pisa) as both are very easy transfers to trains. Neither have TATL service (BLQ had AA from PHL as seasonal a few years ago but I doubt that'll return in the near future). If you want to TATL to Italy, it's MXP or FCO and seasonal to VCE, sometimes NAP and PMO.

If you want to fly to FLR (or PSA or BLQ) you'll have to connect either UK or EU.

OliverB

Thanks so much!!! It makes more sense to book RT as it’s more economical than separate one-way fares. A few questions:

My girlfriend found that same Copenhagen fare, booking round trip, with return flights on July 6,7,8 (varying only by roughly $20) — one issue, is that she’s only seeing them on kayak, skiplagged & momondo (haven’t checked other search engines yet), but she’s not seeing any of these flights on the SAS website, except some of the returns. She’s not seeing any of the departures. I’m going to search myself, but she knows what she’s doing.

Update on above paragraph: she found the SAS fares if booking direct SFO - CPH only, but that increases the overall cost because we still need to land in FLR.

Another concern is whether these fares are fully-refundable because of covid - should I just be looking at 3rd party coverage and not worrying about the fares themselves? From what my girlfriends seeing on SAS , they are non-refundable/non-flexible tickets, but re-bookable(?) for $300 + change fees up to 72 hours. No cancelations. I need some kind of reasonably priced insurance policy that covers potential covid interruptions incl. cancelation if border issues or visa policies come up, however unlikely, or testing positive + maybe having to quarantine, etc. I’m sure you understand all the potential considerations… I’m not sure what kind of coverage my Amex Bonvoy cards offer here 🤷‍♂️

Thanks again for all of this, it’s really helpful!!!

guv1976

If you want the flexibility of cancelling a non-refundable ticket, you would need to purchase a cancel-for-any-reason insurance policy, which is likely to be expensive in its own right.

Cancelling an award ticket purchased with UA miles is either free or $125 for non-status members, depending on how far in advance of the departure date one cancels. That's why I strongly recommend trying to get UA miles through a credit-card sign-up if you possibly can.

The SAS option -- even if bookable -- would have the added expense of two nights' lodging in Copenhagen, which should be taken into account in computing the total cost of the trip.

PWMTrav

My suggestion would be to buy a ticket through a carrier that you would otherwise be booking other travel on in the future - that way if you have to cancel your ticket, you can use the credits for some domestic flights. Maybe start with Delta and United, have a look at their current policies, and see if the ability to take a canceled flight as a wallet credit for future travel would be helpful to you. I think DL's might be the most generous, as I think that even if you buy a ticket through them on partner metal, they don't have change fees. You'd want to confirm as I spent maybe 5 minutes looking at this.

I think you're better off going that route if you would otherwise use the credits for domestic flights - I wouldn't rely on insurance to pay out, but that's just me. I'd go with a carrier where I'd otherwise use the credits, or buy refundable flights.

Regarding others' airport recommendations, the best alternative to FLR (IMHO - no offense to any of you) is FCO if you get a flight timed reasonably with the departure of a high speed direct train to Florence SMN. FCO has a direct connection to high speed rail - you go from the airport to the station via a long walkway/skybridge, and you don't have to change trains if you schedule it well. On the way home, you should be OK since it's summer, but note that FLR gets foggy and when it does, they cancel flights and put you on a bus to BLQ. This sucks, and is more likely on a morning flight than later in the day, but this usually matters more in winter.

guv1976

If you're willing to consider the train option from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Florence, Air Canada has some decent SFO-FCO single-connection roundtrip fares for your dates.

pascalgr

Have a look on AF with connection in CDG . Tickets purchased before 28 February for all flight departing until 30 june are fully refundable as a voucher , which is also refundable.

JMN57

For those dates, Air Canada looks to have the best fare - you'd have to check with AC on how they would handle changes/cancellations. It is non-refundable.
Rome is about $20 more. TAP is a hair under $1000 and everyone else is > $1000.

DETAILS: San Francisco/Milan
From http://matrix.itasoftware.com

ITINERARY

San Francisco (SFO) to Milan (MXP) - Sat, Jun 18

Air Canada 760 Dep: 9:50AM Arr: 6:17PM 5h 27m Boeing 737MAX 8 Passenger Coach (T) Layover in YUL 2h 38m
Air Canada 894 Dep: 8:55PM Arr: 10:40AM 7h 45m Airbus A330 Coach (T)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milan (MXP) to San Francisco (SFO) - Wed, Jul 6

Air Canada 895 Dep: 1:40PM Arr: 4:10PM 8h 30m Airbus A330 Coach (T) Layover in YUL 2h 45m
Air Canada 763 Dep: 6:55PM Arr: 10:04PM 6h 9m Boeing 737MAX 8 Passenger Coach (T)


FARE AND BOOKING DETAILS

Provide this information to a travel agent to help them match the fares found.
Make sure to provide the exact booking and fare codes shown.

Fare 1: Carrier AC THW57LGT SFO to MIL $184.50
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code T
Covers SFO-YUL (Economy), YUL-MXP (Economy)

Fare 2: Carrier AC THX57LGT MIL to SFO $134.50
Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code T
Covers MXP-YUL (Economy), YUL-SFO (Economy)

AC YQ surcharge (YQ) $340.00
United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (AY) $5.60
US International Departure Tax (US) $39.40
US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $4.50
United States APHIS Passenger Fee Passengers (XA) $3.96
United States Customs User Fee (YC) $6.11
United States Immigration User Fee (XY) $7.00
Italy Council City Tax (HB) $7.30
Italy Passenger Service Charge Departure (MJ) $1.60
Italy Embarkation Tax (IT) $19.20
Italy Security Charge (VT) $2.80

Subtotal per passenger $756.47
Number of passengers x1

Total airfare & taxes $756.47

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fare construction (can be useful to travel agents)

SFO AC X/YMQ AC MIL 184.50THW57LGT AC X/YMQ AC SFO 134.50THX57LGT NUC 319.00 END ROE 1.00 XT 6.11YC 7.00XY 3.96XA 39.40US 5.60AY 7.30HB 19.20IT 1.60MJ 2.80VT 340.00YQ 4.50XF SFO4.50

This ticket is non-refundable.

sydunipete

In support of some of the others don't rule out landing in FCO. Italy has an excellent high-speed train network and it's about 2 hours from Roma to Firenze. Also consider Milano. MXP is a fair way out of town, but LIN is very close (once I actually walked from LIN to Milano Centrale but I wouldn't recommend this approach - the buses run regularly and are cheap). There is also BGY but this is a fair way out of town and less likely to come into play.