Italy 2018

[Jim Zurer]

Just snagged tickets from Newark to Rome for April 16, 2018 returning May 17.....non-stop on United. Hoping to get up to Friuli on this trip but no firm plans yet.

$466.00 per person round trip...even less than our tickets last year. Non-stop flights from DC start at $1,100.00.

Flying from Newark worked well for us...we got reasonably priced one way rentals and the drive is an easy 3.5 hours.

Fare on the 16th of April were $150.00 cheaper than other days in that period.

 

[DDTraveler]

Wow, what a great airfare! We can only dream of something like that from the west coast.

DD

 

[Andrew]

For close to those dates (4/17 departure) I see $460 round trip non-stop Oakland-Rome on Norwegian, but there would be extra charges for some things included on other airlines.

 

[Alpinista]

The price is great, but I'd rather pound nails into my skull than to ever fly in or out of Newark. With the exception of my first wife and the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth, there is no memory in my life worse than being routed through Newark on a return trip from Rome.

 

[Mom83]

Alpinista...I have to agree with your dislike of Newark. I cannot count the number of hours I have spent in that airport due to delayed or cancelled flights. My nephew is a pilot for United and there are 2 airports (both United hubs) that he refuses to fly through on personal trips...Newark and O'Hare. That being said, the fares Jim is quoting might persuade me to give Newark another try.
My husband and I now make the 2 hour 15 minute drive to Detroit to fly nonstop to most cities in Europe.

 

[Jim Zurer]

I would generally agree with both of you about Newark, but most of our bad experiences with Newark have to do with the short connecting flights to and from DC or Baltimore.

We flew out of Newark last year on the same United flight and had an excellent experience. We found reasonable one way car rentals and much preferred the drive to the agony of connecting. I was also surprised at the efficiency of the Aerotrain connections between the car rental location and the terminal...even being able to take luggage carts on the trains.

 

[Jim Zurer]

For close to those dates (4/17 departure) I see $460 round trip non-stop Oakland-Rome on Norwegian, but there would be extra charges for some things included on other airlines.

Yes Andrew...Norwegian Air has some excellent fares but if you look at the "fine print", the basic fares don't include checked luggage, reserved seats or meals. If one is a well-organized traveler who can manage with a carry on and doesn't mind waiting for seat assignments and bringing food on board, the fare is competitive. Once you jump to the next categories, the fares increase...still a great deal but not rockbottom.

 

[Alpinista]

I actually saw the lower fares from Newark when I was just wandering through the United site to get an idea for the cost of our trip in May. Our older son does a lot of business travel that sends him through Newark. His descriptions border on stories of cruel and unusual punishment getting through there, which just reinforce my own decision to forego the lower fares for the sake of mental health.

Our own issues with Newark stem from a canceled FCO to Dulles flight that ended up with us spending 25 hours to get home. The absolute worst part was that we missed a connecting flight from Newark to DC since we were trapped in a terminal that had no priority line for either business class travelers or Global Entry TSA to get to the connecting terminal-- when we asked the staff if there were a way around the huge line going through a choke point, all we got was a brusque, "NO". The terminals were dirty. The food was horrible. The food service was even worse. Never again.

 

[Jim Zurer]

I feel your pain....and, as I mentioned, I assiduously avoid connecting through Newark on our Italian trips. It is no fun. I much prefer the 3.5 hour from DC to the challenge of connecting for such a short flight.

 

[Joe Baumann]

I have never had any of those bad experiences at Newark, although I have had many stories of people who have. I also have never had to connect in Newark as it is my home airport. Terminal A leaves a lot to be desired, though. It is old, worn and outdated. They can't build the new one fast enough. I was disappointed when United moved their Express flights to the A gates.

I will be flying out of JFK for the first time in March 2018. I want to try a different airline and different airport. I never flew out of JFK before because it is such a hassle to get to.

 

[Jim Zurer]

We did fly out of JFK two years ago (on Emirates non-stop to Milan). But, for us coming from Washington DC, the drive across Staten Island and Brooklyn added significant time to the trip and made it less appealing. Also the timing of the flights at Newark are such that we don't have to spend overnight on either leg.

 

[Jim Zurer]

We were in Terminal C in May I believe and found the terminal pretty comfortable. The United Club was a disaster however...mobbed and barely a seat to be had. The striking thing that I remember was that there were power plugs everywhere at tables as well as iPads so you could order from any of the concessions in the terminal.

 

[carolync]

Jim - I discovered this year that way cheaper flights can be had out of Philly compared to Dulles and BWI. Might be an option for another trip.

I'm in Maryland, so for me, to get to Philly is about the same as Dulles.

Congrats on snagging the cheap fare. I stumbled upon an Air France one last year for $450 to Florence out of IAD. $1000 less than I had expected to pay for my trip.

 

[Jim Zurer]

I am sure that Philadelphia can be cheaper sometimes...however for a non-stop to Rome next April, PHL fares are comparable to IAD fares. The United fare I found yesterday has increased by $100.00 but is still less than half the price of comparable flights from PHL or IAD.

 

[Alpinista]

Carolyn, we've used the Philly connection in the past, but the trade-off in time/distance versus cost wasn't a good value for us.

We've tried flying Virgin Atlantic to London and then transiting to Pisa (much closer to our home in Lucca). We love VI service, but it is still a pain to make the stop unless we are going to spend time in England or somewhere else in Europe before heading to Italy. We used to enjoy the DC to Milan route, but that is no longer offered. So, we just keep plugging along with United Airlines and the Dulles to FCO option.

In the end, don't think we get a lot of sympathy from our friends and family since we're still ending up in Italy when we step off the flight.

BTW, United Polaris lounge service and flight seating configurations are on the way for Dulles, so that factors in.

 

[Gina Marie]

Just snagged tickets from Newark to Rome for April 16, 2018 returning May 17.....non-stop on United. Hoping to get up to Friuli on this trip but no firm plans yet.

$466.00 per person round trip...even less than our tickets last year. Non-stop flights from DC start at $1,100.00.

Flying from Newark worked well for us...we got reasonably priced one way rentals and the drive is an easy 3.5 hours.

Fare on the 16th of April were $150.00 cheaper than other days in that period.

My friend and I procured those same tickets through United leaving out of Newark for April 10 returning May 10. $458 round trip and I think that included my flight insurance through Alliance.
I've flown to Rome out of D.C., Philly, and Detroit. Detroit was by far my worst experience and it had as much to do with the airlines as the airport. A long miserable 6 hour delay on the return flight out of Detroit back to Norfolk, but worst of all was the airline attendants on Northwest Air. I have never encountered such rude, unaccommodating, practically belligerent airline attendants.

Gina Marie