The ANNOTICO Report

Britain has flights from the US every hour and ticket prices are
startlingly low. Ireland, where Aer Lingus has slashed and simplified
transatlantic fares. France and Germany, (Lufthansa and Air France) compete
ferociously with the U.S. carriers and keep fares down.

Italy has Alitalia, and Alitalia is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance that
includes three of the five (Northwest, Continental and Delta) U.S. airlines
that serve the peninsula. This oligarchy is bad news for bargain-hunting
business travelers who'd do almost anything to be in Italy except pay the
high fares that the nonstop flights command.

So, the bargain hunters should consider some circuitous routes. Joe
Brancatelli has some good ideas.

USA Today
Joe Brancatelli
May 2, 2005

It's a measure of the enduring appeal of La Dolce Vita that almost nothing
will keep American business travelers from going to Italy for some
much-needed R&R.

Not this year's alternately cold, wet or hot weather. Not the miserable
exchange rate, which at €1=$1.29 now passes as a "rebounding" dollar. Not
the overpriced and uneven hotels. Not the crowds of bussed-in holidaymakers
who clog the most famous tourist attractions. Not the hordes of über-rich
investors who snap up ruined Tuscan farmhouses and deteriorating Venetian
palazzi as if they were dime-store trinkets.

No, nothing will stop business travelers from their appointed portion of La
Dolce Vita—except high airfares. Or, more specifically, outrageously high
airfares.

Italy, after all, isn't Britain, where flights from the United States leave
every hour on the hour and ticket prices are startlingly low. Italy isn't
Ireland, where Aer Lingus has slashed and simplified transatlantic fares.
It isn't even France or Germany, where Lufthansa and Air France compete
ferociously with the U.S. carriers and keep fares down.

Italy has the terminally befuddled Alitalia and Alitalia is a member of the
SkyTeam Alliance that includes three of the five (Northwest, Continental
and Delta) U.S. airlines that serve the peninsula. Alitalia's incompetence
and the SkyTeam oligarchy are bad news for bargain-hunting business
travelers who'd do almost anything to be in Italy except pay the high fares
that the nonstop flights command.

Despite all the vowels in my name, my family's Mezzogiorno heritage and my
own passion for La Dolce Vita, I'd say give Italy the boot this year. Wait
until next year. Go to France or Germany or Ireland or Hong Kong or Buenos
Aires.

But I know you people. You want Italy no matter what. So as a public
service, here are my very best tips for flying to Italy cheap(er) this year.

Forget coach

Counter-intuitive as it sounds, it may be more cost-effective this year to
fly to Italy in business class instead of coach. A roundtrip coach ticket
to Rome, Milan or Venice — the three nonstop destinations offered by the
U.S. carriers, Air Canada and Alitalia — will run $1,200 or more on some
days during the summer. But both Continental Airlines and Alitalia are
offering deep, deep discounts on their business-class cabins. If you buy 50
days in advance and stay over on a Saturday night, you can find a roundtrip
business-class ticket for $1,700 to $2,200. Delta and Northwest Airlines
are making similar offers.

Forget nonstops

The limited selection of nonstop flights into Italy isn't the only way to
fly. If you're willing to accept a connection, you'll stand a good chance
of getting your fares down.

Four carriers — British Airways, Air France, Aer Lingus and Lufthansa —
offer an extensive number of flights from the United States and a range of
onward flights from their respective hubs to Italy. This comparative bounty
of seats means that you may often score a lower price to Italy if you make
a connection. How much can you save? Two or three hundred dollars in the
off-peak periods and $300 or more during peak Italy travel times.

There are extremely cost-effective business-class options with a
connection, too. Aer Lingus sells walk-up roundtrips in business class to
Dublin for as little as $1,900 roundtrip. Onward coach flights from Dublin
to Naples and other Italian destinations will cost as little as $100
roundtrip. With a 50-day advance purchase, Air France and Swiss
International are selling business-class roundtrips to Italy for as little
as $2,050 roundtrip.

Making a connection en route to Italy has another advantage: You'll get a
wider choice of destinations. BA flies to at least 10 Italian destinations
from London. Air France serves about the same number via Paris. And besides
its own network of Italian flights from Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa is
a part owner of Air One, one of Italy's major discount airlines. If you
purchase a ticket on Lufthansa, you can also buy a Visit Italy pass from
Air One. That program offers as many as four one-way flights within Italy
for as little as $41 each.

Forget Rome. Start in London

London is now the transatlantic gateway to low European fares thanks to the
vast roster of scheduled flights from the United States and the fast growth
of Ryanair, Europe's largest discounter. Any major U.S. airline and Air
Canada can fly you to London, of course. Virgin Atlantic has an extensive
schedule, too. And British Airways flies to London from 19 U.S. airports.
That many flights means lots of bargains, with flights to London as low as
$99 each way in winter and around $250 even during some peak summer travel
periods.

Once you get to London, you can spend a day in the British capital — that's
probably all you can afford — and then hop a flight to Italy on Ryanair.
>From its hub at Stansted Airport, Ryanair flies to 13 destinations in
Italy. Ryanair's fares are eye-popping. From Stansted to Pisa, for example,
the maximum roundtrip fare is about $120, but it's often as low as $30
roundtrip. Or try this: Ryanair charges just $40 one-way to fly from London
to Trieste. Alitalia's one-way fare from Rome to Trieste is more than $250.

But a note of caution on this approach: Ryanair's low fares do not come
without concessions. Most notably: Ryanair's free checked luggage allowance
is just 15 kilograms, about 33 pounds, per passenger. BA and the other
transatlantic carriers permit you to check up to 140 pounds for free. So
travel light if you're planning on flying Ryanair. Or check some of your
baggage at Stansted's "left luggage" office. Or be prepared to pay
Ryanair's excess luggage charge of about $5 a pound.

Forget what you know. Find a new discounter

Europe's skies are filled with jets run by discount airlines that American
frequent fliers have never heard of. In fact, WhichBudget.com, a Web site
that tracks these things, says 31 Italian airports now have service from at
least one low-fare airline. If you're trying to get to Florence, for
example, an excellent carrier called Meridiana, which is owned by the Aga
Khan, can fly you from Amsterdam, Barcelona or Madrid. If you can get to
Brussels cheap, an Italian low-fare carrier called Club Air can fly you to
Parma or Verona.

Forget schedules. Go charter

Business travelers hate charters, more for historical than practical
reasons. But don't dismiss an Italian charter airline called Eurofly. This
summer, it will fly nonstop from New York to Palermo, which means Americans
finally have a nonstop option to Sicily. Eurofly is also flying nonstop
from New York to Naples, which is a godsend for business travelers who love
the Amalfi Coast, but hate the long drive from Rome. Eurofly will also fly
to Bologna nonstop from New York. You'll need to contact a travel agent to
book Eurofly, but the prices are attractive: as little as $649 roundtrip.
Service starts on June 13 and runs until the fall.

Forget "restricted" miles. Pay double

Finally, we come to miles. You want to cash miles to fly free to Italy this
year? I'll tell you what I've been telling you for years: What part of
restricted did you think the airlines were kidding about? The chances of
scoring a restricted-level award to Italy is near zero late this spring,
this summer and early fall. You'll probably do better late in the fall, but
it'll still be tricky.

So why not do the easy thing? Just pay the unrestricted level, which is
generally twice the number of miles of the "restricted" awards. If you've
got the mileage required for an unrestricted award, spend it. Unrestricted
awards are blissfully simple: If there's an empty seat on the day you want
to fly on the flight you wish to book, it's yours.

One last point: Forget the upgrade gambit. Once upon a time, airlines used
to allow you to buy a cheap coach seat to Italy and then use a relatively
modest amount of miles to upgrade to business class. Not anymore. They
either restrict the upgrade award to the highest-priced coach tickets or
they charge you so much to use your upgrade that you're better off buying
one of those discounted business-class seats that are available.
 

Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a Web site for
business travelers. He is also the former executive editor of Frequent
Flyer magazine, travel advisor of Travel Holiday and contributing editor to
Travel + Leisure. He can be reached at travel@usatoday.com.

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