SAT Lawyer

I wonder what effect, if any, the involvement of the Canadian Transportation Agency had in bringing about the ultimate resolution of this mess. Its involvment may have made a significant impact with Alitalia. Regardless, its good to see that our complaints were heard and investigated.

LapLap

For the record - not only was it a pleasure to speak to Nicollo, I am delighted with the eventual outcome (my own included!).

And considering that this whole thread and the consequences exploded just before the Easter holidays, my hat is off to Alitalia for resolving the majority of our cases within a time frame completely acceptable to all those with any sensitivity to and understanding of the culture of Southern European countries. Bravo Signore Nicollo!

I look forward to seeing all your trip reports.

angus1999

Has anyone who has returned from the trip found a good hotel in or near Larnaca?
Also - does anyone know how easy it is to cross over to Turkish Cyprus and then take boat to Turkey???
tks

MrHalliday

sitting here in Baku...
just noticed a $103++ fare on AA AUS-BUF on Travelocity, 0-class
supposedly valid all of August,
but a quick attempt to book
did not find any available dates for the entire month.

fti

I know that it is very easy to walk across to Turkish Cyprus. But I am not sure about boats to Turkey. You would first need to get from the Turkish side of Nicosia to the coast (I think about an hour drive or less). I know that you are allowed to go from Greek to Turkish Cyprus for the day.

I believe that once you go to Turkey then back to Cyprus, the Greeks will not let you to the Greek side. At least it was this way last year (Greek Cyprus by way of Turkey and Turkish Cyprus was not allowed). But having started in Greek Cyprus your case might be different. Probably not a good idea, but I am sure the Cyprus consulate could answer this question direct from the horse's mouth so to speak.

gleff

fwiw Amex --> Air Canada used to wake a few days to transfer.

Just did one, though, and the Aeroplan miles appeared real time. Guess Amex has finally gone live with them?! ^

AndrewNewOrleans

Not sure if this has been discussed already so you will have to forgive me but for those that have traveled already or have experience at MXP how far do you have to go to get the gate area for the cyprus airways flight from the international arrivals area?? In addition to that...provided the flight from Toronto is on time...I believe it should get in around 7:30am...how risky is it to try and make a run to downtown for a few hours via the express train service before the flight to cyprus at 1:30pm? Any info will be appreciated. THX

umguy

Very good question how long would it take to transfer between an international arrival and the CY flights? I have exactly an hour. Would we make it if the flight was say 20 min late?


Ok forget that question. I was just checking schedules and it seems that the flight EWR-MXP isn't operating on the day I'm ticketed. Um what should I do now?

MACH81

Yes you can get downtown.Either by train,faster and more expensive,or bus,a little slower but about half the price.On a weekend the bus is ok,during the week you might get stuck in traffic.leave the city at 11.30ish the latest an you'll be ok.enjoy

umguy

Ok better yet it seems that as of the 28th of Oct AZ drops EWR.

Ok now add to that. I don't see any nonstops from YYZ-MXP on the 2nd of Nov either. Any thoughts? The last day that I see a flight for this is the 27th of Oct.

L1011toHNL

That IS odd, indeed. I am finding no AZ nonstop service from YYZ to MXP or back for my itin dates either, on AZ.com, travelocity, orbitz, or any. What do you suppose that's about??

umguy

Could be an error. Or maybe they cut service during the winter months. But their schedul ends October 28, and there seems to be nothing beyond that.

umguy

The more I go through Sabre I think it's an error.

L1011toHNL

Called reservations, since I was curious. Asked to book flights for my dates around Thanksgiving. The agent said the flights for November aren't showing up in his system, that maybe there was a schedule change, but to call back in the middle of July to book for November. I didn't press the issue with him.

JFK service is showing all codeshare on DL. Must be an error. AZ seems to have a lot of those!

miguel0881

I'm not sure if the procedure is always uniform, but I can speak from my experience last week. I wasn't checked at all on the Greek side, but only on the Turkish side. I believe in the past (according to my LP book) you had to "register" on the Greek side before you walked across (at the Ledra Palace crossing in Nicosia), but the Greeks didn't ask me anything when I inquired, but only said "you can cross." When I got to the Turkish side, they looked at my passport, entered my name and information into a computer, and stamped a photocopied slip that said "Visa." I asked them to stamp my passport as a souvenier, and they did, although it has been suggested that this might not be a great idea. They certainly wouldn't have stamped the passport had I not asked.

Walking around the Turkish side, I noticed travel agencies with ads for flights to IST. This was on the road between the main Ataturk Square and the Famagusta Gate I believe. I don't know price, but probably fairly affordable. They had pictures of an airline I had never heard of, so maybe a charter or a Turkish LCC. In any event, they use Turkish lire on the Turkish side, but also readily accepted Cyprus Pounds. Obviously, the flights to IST would leave from an airport in the North.

Had I had more time, I would have been tempted to try and fly to IST from Northern Cyprus. When I returned later in the day to S. Nicosia, the Greeks never looked at my passport, but just told me I was free to go. Thus, if you fly to IST and back to N. Cyprus, you could always claim that they never recorded your name when you left and that you were just in N. Cyprus for the day or overnight, and they'll probably re-admit you, especially if you have the entry stamp from LCA to prove you originally entered the island there.

When I left N. Cyprus, they stamped an exit stamp on my photocopied "visa" (and again in my passport only at my request), which was really kind of pointless considering they didn't retain the "visa" but let me keep it. Later, on exit from LCA, the passport guy stamped right next to the N. Cyprus stamp, and didn't say a word.

Once again, these are my own observations of the entire process for what they're worth.