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-   MilesBuzz (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz-370/)
-   -   Help - flight to Italy (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1456650-help-flight-italy.html)

brooklynmatt Apr 9, 2013 6:39 pm
Originally Posted by Jophiel (Post 20565141)
I'm about to go to Italy myself. I'm using AA miles b/c of the off-peak awards and the 10% rebate from using the AA card, so it's only costing me 36k miles. As everyone else has mentioned, you should rely on AirBerlin or AA if you're using AA miles, in order to avoid the BA surcharges.

Since you're originating in NY, you actually have a good chance to take advantage of a free one-way or two. MileValue has a great explanation of all this for AA awards here. It's a great way to increase the value of your award redemption. United is also a great option for free one-ways as well and MileValue has some great articles on that too.

Good luck and have a great time!
Run that by me again? 36k miles?

guv1976 Apr 9, 2013 7:12 pm
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Originally Posted by brooklynmatt
Originally Posted by Jophiel (Post 20565141)
I'm about to go to Italy myself. I'm using AA miles b/c of the off-peak awards and the 10% rebate from using the AA card, so it's only costing me 36k miles. As everyone else has mentioned, you should rely on AirBerlin or AA if you're using AA miles, in order to avoid the BA surcharges.

Since you're originating in NY, you actually have a good chance to take advantage of a free one-way or two. MileValue has a great explanation of all this for AA awards here. It's a great way to increase the value of your award redemption. United is also a great option for free one-ways as well and MileValue has some great articles on that too.

Good luck and have a great time!
Run that by me again? 36k miles?
During AA's off-peak season between North America and Europe (October 15-May 15), a roundtrip, SAAver Coach award costs just 40,000 miles. Holders of most Citi/AA credit cards get a 10% rebate on the miles spent (up to a maximum annual rebate of 10,000 miles per cardholder).

brooklynmatt Apr 9, 2013 7:59 pm
Originally Posted by guv1976 (Post 20565326)
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)



During AA's off-peak season between North America and Europe (October 15-May 15), a roundtrip, SAAver Coach award costs just 40,000 miles. Holders of most Citi/AA credit cards get a 10% rebate on the miles spent (up to a maximum annual rebate of 10,000 miles per cardholder).
Ah yeah - that doosey...very cool. I always thought of it as a I time gig. I gotta say things like that and the baggage etc is a good step forward for cards like AA to retain customers.

I'm flying in June, but hope to make it NYC-MXP/FCO-DXB-NYC for 70K on * (with a few indirects unfortunately).

wjb123 Apr 17, 2013 5:23 pm
great experience
 
I used [email protected]
He was able to find me two flighs NY-CDG-Florence with return Rome-NY for 100,000 miles each ALL flights in business class. Small taxes and fees of only $130 per ticket. He was great to work wit and found things I had no way of finding. When I was ready to book even the airline agent was amazed I had this reservation. I was all very worth his fee on $250 for the two tickets.

Euro3 Apr 18, 2013 8:22 am
Just came back from Italy. I took AA from FCO and it was 20K miles. I had gone to Paris as well and had purchased XL Airways France flight to fly into Venice and then took the train from Venice to Florence and then to Rome.

I personally liked Venice, Florence/Pisa/Siena much better than Rome.

Chuckles Apr 18, 2013 8:33 am
Originally Posted by wjb123 (Post 20609170)
I used [email protected]
He was able to find me two flighs NY-CDG-Florence with return Rome-NY for 100,000 miles each ALL flights in business class. Small taxes and fees of only $130 per ticket. .
Care to share which airlines you are using? And which airline's miles?

Originally Posted by wjb123 (Post 20609170)
He was great to work wit and found things I had no way of finding. When I was ready to book even the airline agent was amazed I had this reservation. I was all very worth his fee on $250 for the two tickets.
Can you share some of the things he found that you had no way of finding? I am sure most FT'ers would be interested in a new secret or two :)

wjb123 Apr 20, 2013 8:40 am
He found various flight options over the course of 5-6 days that i was unable to find myself. We decided to use Delta miles since I have the most there. Yes he charges a fee but well worth it as I was unable to book Biz class all the way through and for only 100k per ticket. Very pleased.

Jophiel Apr 20, 2013 3:28 pm
Originally Posted by wjb123 (Post 20622757)
He found various flight options over the course of 5-6 days that i was unable to find myself. We decided to use Delta miles since I have the most there. Yes he charges a fee but well worth it as I was unable to book Biz class all the way through and for only 100k per ticket. Very pleased.
I would imagine that he found partner availability that doesn't show up on Delta.com searches. This can be the hardest thing for non *A, since you have to cobble together searches from across multiple sources to get a handle on which partners may have the availability you need.

MileValue has some good articles on this and which airline sights let you search which airline partners (e.g AA.com searches BA & AirBerlin, but not Qantas or Cathay Pacific IIRC). Wikipedia for airport entries can also be a great way to work backwards from your destination airport or from bottle-neck airports to find out which partners you should be looking for availability on.

Fraggable Apr 20, 2013 4:15 pm
I'm on my way home from a trip from Rome>Florence>pisa>Rovigo>Venice and have to say that Florence was pretty boring compared to Pisa. I guess it depends on what you want to see - architecture vs. art, but the leaning tower was better than anything I saw in Florence, including the Duomo and David. We didn't have time to explore Tuscany much in the 9 days we had, so that may be a reason to go to Florence. I second the comments about Rome at night, everything looks way cooler in the dark. Except the public transportation. Do yourself a favor and pay the $8 for a taxi ride at night. Drivers don't expect a tip.

Chuckles Apr 20, 2013 6:37 pm
Originally Posted by wjb123 (Post 20622757)
He found various flight options over the course of 5-6 days that i was unable to find myself. We decided to use Delta miles since I have the most there. Yes he charges a fee but well worth it as I was unable to book Biz class all the way through and for only 100k per ticket. Very pleased.
Thanks for getting back, WJB. We plan to use Delta miles also, so glad Delta miles worked out for you. There is hope!!!

wjb123 Apr 21, 2013 8:06 pm
Chuckles good luck and le me know if Dennis is helpful.
Jophiel - yes Air France to Italy and Alitalia back.


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