Concerto

And now I see, when I call the reservation up on Flying Blue, that my booking is in Economy on the domestic Italian flights and in Business on the segments to and from Malta. I hope that is not the case, because it will be a whoopee cushion when it comes to XPs then.

jfkeze

Reach out to the OTA, did it show booking in Business Class at all times, if there was a change perhaps they can put you on another flight... I think it would be a loss of 8 XPs from 6 to 2 from Domestic Business to Domestic Coach...

asian_crossfitter

Would you mind posting the itinerary? I am trying to see if I can take advantage of this deal but I am coming from Amsterdam which is spiking up the prices..

jfkeze

If in AMS, head to DUS by train you will always find much better deals and an additional 15 XPs for DUS-AMS... Try DUS-TRF/BLL via AMS, CDG

Concerto

Every segment is actually showing as Business (I) when I look at my Expedia account and the Alitalia site doesn't show any class for any of the segments. So are domestic Italian flights single class these days, a bit like BA used to be (and as AF now is)? I've managed to secure seat reservations for all flights, except for the initial BGY to FCO flight.

jfkeze

Hum, perhaps it will credit as I Class, not sure how retrocredit works but it could be an alternative....

Concerto

We'll see, it's not such a problem if it goes funny ways, but I won't be able to report back soon because my trip is in mid August. Anyone going out sooner than that?

I must say, hotels are damnably expensive at that time and there are not many options for using points for the big chains are fairly absent from Malta (one Hilton hotel, no Accor, no Melia). Has anybody got any accommodation suggestions?

Andrew_G

If you've got some IHG points, the Holiday Inn Express is perfectly OK and only 20,000 points, but availability is a bit patchy in August. The Intercontinental next door has reward nights available but at 45,000 points.

Concerto

Thanks, I am very much with you and going down the IHG route. Actually, points availability is coming and going and cash rates are going up and down, so it is worth playing roulette a bit. The Air BNB offers are mostly quite expensive for what's on offer and, although one can earn Avios from Air BNB, I rather get some IHG points, or use points and save money entirely. I was just toying with getting IC Ambassador status which would offer a second weekend's night for free and a number of decent benefits. Financially, it's a toss between that and just using Points & Cash, given that I don't stay at ICs all that much.

I will write about the flights and the whole flying experience here, of course, but it won't be a trip report as such because this is not the forum for that.

Concerto

I have just completed my first sector on this trip to Malta, BGY-FCO so far. Anyone else done this trip yet?

Bergamo airport was surprisingly pleasant, with a really decent departure area with cafes and shops that invite browsing. Looks like it has been all renovated, unlike Verona airport (which hasn't changed since I went through it on a school ski.trip in 1982). The check in area was a bit of a low cost airline zoo, though.

Fast track security was super fast and uncomplicated. There is apparently a lounge landside, but we visited the airside one which was very small and quiet. It had a limited newspaper selection and mostly packaged snacks, juices, water and self serve coffee. Very little to get excited about.

The Alitalia CityLiner flight left on time and arrived early. Business class consisted of the first few rows, just 2 seats on either side in the Embraer 175 aircraft. The neighbouring seat of each pair was blocked. There was no service or product whatever, just the minimal drinks service of Economy by a disinterested cabin crew member, in plastic beakers with no refills offered. Pretty poor offering I thought, but the flight was pleasant enough otherwise.

techsensei

I'm new to the game, just got an AMEX Gold to help me boost my XPs and I now have 51XP. I would like to at least make it to Silver this year but I'm based in the Netherlands. Are there any worthy (and albeit not too expensive) xp runs out of Amsterdam by any chance?

Porcepic

The best deals in terms of XP run are not out of AMS nor CDG, as the goal is to run through the most segments possible (xxx-AMS-CDG-xxx r/t will trigger 30xp more than AMS-CDG-xxx). Considere positioning to a city easily accessible from AMS (via air or rail). Best candidates for "final" destination are usually located in Northern Europe. You have several examples mentioned in this thread or related ones.

jfkeze

Dusseldorf is the answer! Add segments and easy to reach from AMS... Here is a classic example done in a weekend... These fares have a Saturday Night Stay requirement...
​​​​​90 XPs for 505 Euros... Oslo TRF Is no where near Oslo so you need to stay near the Airport... Another option is BLL home to Legoland!

Concerto

Thanks for the reminder, jkfeze​, I am going to be constructing one of these shortly, ideally to TRF. Haven't been there and it would make for an interesting destination.

The rest of my Malta trip was excellent and the trip back was much more "premium" than the outbound, with nice service and a slightly more exclusive feel to it. The special seafood meal on AZ was very good and well worth ordering. The flight from FCO back to MXP was much better (than BGY to FCO), with a decent drinks service and packaged snacks. There were quite a few familiar faces from the Malta flight, so I reckon some other people were out on this jolly.