A really quick hop to Milan
 

Hi All again.
This will be a very short trip, due to stupid reason. I decided to buy a winter jacket. Warm nad nice winter jacket. You can do this via manufacturer's website with delivery to Poland, but... their conversion ratio (EUR to PLN) is so crazy, that it's actually cheaper to buy in the Italian store with delivery to the boutique, fly to Milan, collect it, and fly back to Warsaw.

So, that's the plan.

It was possible to buy a cheaper itinerary, but I decided to try ITA on this trip. Also, the business fares were crazy expensive, so I decided to book eco, and later try to upgrade both ITA flights. I do not need business on morning flight from WAW, and also the return, as it's late and I have to be productive the next day. And also a meal after 8:30 p.m. is not exactly my pair of shoes. So, I skipped offers for about 130-150 Euro for LH upgrades.
ITA upgrades: I tried my best, but nobody was interested in getting my money. You can't upgrade via LH, as this is ITA flight, and you can't buy it via ITA, as you booked via LH. Makes sense. Maybe I could ask at the airport, but instead I decided to spend those money on Negroni in the Duty Free.

So, what the trip will look like:
Early morning breakfast in Polonez Elite
LH eco to MUC
2 hours layover, so the lounge for most of the time and second breakfast
ITA eco MUC - LIN
and back exactly the same way
ITA lounge in LIN (I hope for it, again)
ITA eco LIN - MUC
2 hours in MUC, so shopping and the lounge
MUC - WAW LH eco.

This itinerary leaves about 5-5,5 hours in the city, so I will pick up my order, go to Giusti for some more vinegar that I tried about a month ago, some more shopping, maybe a lunch somewhere, some walking around the city center, and back to the airport via M4.
Disadvantage: 6 a.m. flight from Warsaw.

Unbelievable that this is cheaper than having it shipped to you :confused:

Yeah, they add a good 20-25% due to the currency conversion. I e-mailed them about this and the only feedback was "thank you for your remark, we will note that". So, the advantage is that I have a trip to Milan for a maybe 50 Euro, but only because of late purchase and specific itinerary, skipping the ITA would be cheaper.

I have an ITA flight from Milan to London City in November; part of a 3 flight triangle with each leg on a new (to me) airline. I’ve been watching a few YouTube videos about the ITA A220 in economy to LCY.

I often buy my clothes in Italy,. But normally it's not the reason for a trip (only one for my first Brioni-suit).

Unfortunately, Poland is a 3rd category country regarding this topic. And I do not mention if brand is here or not.

2 years ago, when I wanted to get a new Apple Watch, it was 10-11% cheaper to get it for Euro (as I did during my business trip to Brussels), than get it from Apple in Poland. Now, if you want to buy Rimowa, the gap is still about 10%, so if you want to get the checked bag, you have about 160 Euro difference. So, if you have some flexibility, you can go to FRA or somewhere and fly back with a new suitcase, and still be below the official price in Poland.

Good morning from Polonez. It's crazy morning, and I was one of the first people in the lounge, despite being at 5:10, which means about 15 minutes for a breakfast.
Only a few bites to keep me somehow full until I reach MUC. Of course, I skipped the bar.
BTW, for the first time, I saw rude staff at the fast track. Lines are crazy, so god bless status. This is the moment when it pays for itself,

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Overall, it's not a nice start of the trip. The check-in was a nightmare, as you have to check for LH and ITA separately, and while it was OK for my flights to LIN, I had some issues with flights back, which means the ITA BP on my e-mail without chances to transfer to my Apple Wallet (not a big issue), but I was unable to check-in for my last flight of the day, so now I'm without BP. Will try to solve it while in MUC. Will see.

Morning hop is provided on standard and boring A319, the flight is about to be full, as they asked via e-mail to check the carry-ons.

The flight was uneventful. 90% of seats were taken, I had row 4 and free middle seat (maybe a hidden benefit of status), so nice space for economy.

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I slept for almost a whole time. Water and chocolate were provided.
Now, to the Senator lounge. Lovely lady in the lounge was able to check me in for my evening flight, so now I have all my BPs. Time for some breakfast.

There is also some celebration related to Oktoberfest (and I heard that later there may be a special menu, so will try it)

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Unfortunately no bacon this time :(

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Very tasty pineapple smoothie and fresh OJ. Nice experience. Oh, and they have printed guides for Munich.

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With still 40 minutes till boarding it's time to charge my phone and watch, eat a little more and to the gate. Next update will be unfortunately or during lunch, or from the LIN lounge.

As mentioned, greeting from ITA Airways lounge.

So, back to the trip.

ITA flight MUC - LIN. Scheduled to be A220-300, but last minute change to -100 version. The livery is really nice, but it was hard to capture it. This was the best I was able to do.
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Flight was slightly delayed, at first due to "technical issues", and later they asked to check carry-ons, and no-one wanted to do so. But finally, I was able to board.

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Power port and device holder is really something above average. Below average, was the dirt on the plane.

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And this is a one-year-old plane. But the seat looked like 10 years more. Oh, one thing - in business, you don't get 1-2 like on Swiss, but rather 2-2. Middle seat is blocked only in 3-seat section. We took off about 30 minutes behind the schedule. After some time, trolley appeared, and I was lucky to get a cup of Coke Zero and some crackers. Sweet thing was also offered.

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After serving maybe 4 rows, they went back to the galley, maybe due to turbulences.

ITA offers wifi for purchase

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We landed slightly delayed after a really bumpy approach. Bus gate, of course.

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Now, it's time to get to the Galleria, perfectly with M4. What can go wrong? Spoiler: we're in Italy, so everything.

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So, what happened? Some part of public transport went on strike to support Gaza. Key thing: some part. 3 metro lines were operating, and guess which was not? Of course the M4 connecting airport with the city. ..... Ubers were crazy expensive, and by crazy I mean 80-120 Euros for like 12 km ride. OK, time to find something. I asked few people from the airport how I can get to the city, google claimed that everything was cancelled. Well, there is a 973 bus, connecting airport with "somewhere close to the city center". Does the bus work today? Who knows, go and wait, if it comes, means it works. Ilaty in a pill :)
I was lucky, this part of transport decided not to strike. Ticket was 2,20, as usual. The bus terminated (or at least everyone got off) about 20 minutes from the Galleria. So, I walked. Some nice views on the way.

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Mission complete, Galleria reached. Good hour behind the schedule.

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Order collected, staff was rude. Time to go further.

Tell me you're not seriously going to try to bring a bottle of vinegar onto the plane....

Vinegar? On the plane? Let's be serious!

Only 2 small bottles :D

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And some herbs that I use for cooking

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As balsamico is really dense, it caused my bag to go for secondary inspection. But the lovely gentleman said only "aaa, balsamico. Balsamico is absolutely OK". Checked if bottle is sealed, and let me go.

BTW, Linate has the newer tomography-based scanners, so secure check is quick and effective.

I guess this only happens in Italy....

Rest of the planned shopping was unsuccessful, so I decided to have a quick lunch. I chose the easiest option - All Antico Vinaio. They have at least 2 locations close to the area, I decided to try the closet one.

I went for a limited edition sandwich with cured beef, cheese, tomatoes, and some greens. 13 Euros, which is quite pricey for this place, and 5 for a much needed beer.

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Upstairs there is also a place where you can eat your food. The sandwich was very tasty, and absolutely worth trying. I was lucky that the lines were short, at the time when I ordered, but it changed really fast.

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With still about an hour to go, I decided to just walk around. Weather was not perfect, but the rain was not that strong.

Considering what was going on in Milan last Monday your trip went definitely smooth. The general strike and demos for Gaza all around Italian cities were announced since several days before, in the afternoon around Stazione centrale clashes between part of the mob and police went out of control, with some small groups able to reach the atrium of the station and devastate part of it. In the morning due to heavy rain the north part of Milan near the river Seveso (an effluent of Como lake) went under water, students of a local school had to be evacuated using amphibian trucks.