International Flight in 2 Legs

[artnbarb]

I've been searching for the right itinerary for the least amount of miles for our flight back to the states next fall. It seems that even if all the flights are on time and the schedules don't change, the earliest we could possibly arrive in Tampa from Rome would be 9 p.m. That's just one very long day, and flying west is much easier for me than flying east! I usually binge watch 3-4 movies on the way home, so the time passes quickly.

As you might expect, the itineraries requiring the fewest miles also require at least one plane change, usually two for us. How I envy the people who live in Philly when the plane lands!!! Being the miser than I am, I want to use the fewest miles possible, and was recently tempted by a FCO-LHR-DFW-TPA route. This would require an overnight at the Dallas/Ft Worth airport, and we would arrive in Tampa before noon the next day.

So - for the price of an airport motel, I can have a less stressful return? I think I'm going to do this from now on! Previously my goal was simply to get home as quickly as possible, but now that we're retired, what difference does a day make? I did see some itineraries that had you overnight in London or Madrid, but there just wasn't enough time to go into the city, then the next day you still had a long transatlantic flight PLUS the domestic flight home, still not arriving until 9 p.m. The overnight in the states makes much more sense, especially for me as a non-morning person. I'll still be on Italian time, so I'll wake up bright and early.

Why did it take me so long to figure this out???

 

[Andrew]

Yes, we've done it this way on occasion. The offer shows up more often on award tickets than on paid tickets.

 

[JustTravel]

We always stay at the Sofitel Hotel T5 overnight for our annual trip to and from Venice. We don't want to deal with either arriving in Venice at midnight or leaving at the crack of dawn. We used to arrive/leave at Linate until a trip some years ago when there was a train strike for our transfer to Venice and then on the return trip there was a taxi strike for our transfer to Linate. Too stressful. So we started overnighting at the Sofitel and arriving and leaving Venice in the middle of the day.

 

[Andrew]

Some other points come to mind:

• If the connection at Heathrow is from BA to AA, that may be a change of terminals that could be stressful.
• American Airlines awards can be put on hold for five days, so that would be something to do if something looks good but you want to think it over and hold it at the low miles cost.
• Under current rules, if a better itinerary with the same start and end points becomes available on an award, you can change it at no monetary cost. Now that they have varying miles costs, you could owe more miles.
• Booking this far in advance, there's likely to be a schedule change. If there's one that's major enough, you have some leeway to ask for a change of itinerary regardless of award availability; for instance, you could go non-stop from Rome to a U.S. hub, and just have that one connection.

There are reports that the last two items could get restricted soon.

 

[artnbarb]

Some other points come to mind:

• If the connection at Heathrow is from BA to AA, that may be a change of terminals that could be stressful.
• American Airlines awards can be put on hold for five days, so that would be something to do if something looks good but you want to think it over and hold it at the low miles cost.
• Under current rules, if a better itinerary with the same start and end points becomes available on an award, you can change it at no monetary cost. Now that they have varying miles costs, you could owe more miles.
• Booking this far in advance, there's likely to be a schedule change. If there's one that's major enough, you have some leeway to ask for a change of itinerary regardless of award availability; for instance, you could go non-stop from Rome to a U.S. hub, and just have that one connection.

There are reports that the last two items could get restricted soon.

Definitely not going to change airports in London, no matter how long the layover.

Regarding those last two items that you said might change soon, I wonder if tickets issued before the change will be grandfathered in?

 

[Andrew]

I was referring to a change of terminals within Heathrow, specifically T5 to T3 if it's from BA to AA, not a change of airports. They're on different sides of the runways with a bus ride and several security checks, so it can take a long time. If it's all BA, I think the change would be within T5, but you'd have higher fees.

One can hope the tickets would be grandfathered under old rules; not sure how much award rules are subject to regulation in that regard.

 

[artnbarb]

Thanks for the clarification. I feel like I have so many - too many! - variables to consider!

 

[Steve R.]

If you're going to spend $$ to stay at a hotel for a night, wouldn't it be easier to book a conveniently timed Rome - NYC flight using miles, then springing for a cash JetBlue flight from JFK to Tampa?

 

[artnbarb]

If you're going to spend $$ to stay at a hotel for a night, wouldn't it be easier to book a conveniently timed Rome - NYC flight using miles, then springing for a cash JetBlue flight from JFK to Tampa?

That would still make for one very long travel day, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Staying overnight in the states makes more sense to me.

 

[artnbarb]

Well, I'm moving forward! I put a 5 day hold on a FCO-LHR-CLT-TPA itinerary that cost 22.5K and $97.05 taxes/fees - per person. The flight leaves Rome at 8:10 a.m., still early but not painfully so. It arrives at LHR and 10 a.m. and we have 3 1/2 hrs to get from terminal to terminal. We rejected another itinerary that only allowed 2 hours at Heathrow. We arrive in Charlotte at 6 p.m., and it'll feel like midnight, so not too bad. Unfortunately CLT doesn't have a hotel onsite, but there are plenty nearby with 24 hr shuttle service. For the first time in years we'll be able to enjoy a complimentary breakfast before departing at 9:25 a.m., arriving in Tampa just after 11, so no rush hour traffic.

All my hard-thought decisions will probably be for nothing if/when the airlines adjust flight times. And I know that I have to take responsibility to keep checking on the flight times - I'm not relying on the airline to notify me of changes.

I didn't pay extra for seats further forward - I might have been tempted during an overnight flight, but for a daytime flight I'll be watching movies, so where I sit isn't important. Paying $81 per person to sit in row 8 instead of row 38 -with NO extra legroom! - is just highway robbery, IMO. At least the plane scheduled for the LHR-CLT leg is 2-4-2 rather than the usual 3-3 configuration we usually get with AA.