In Rome out Venice airports nearby?

[55J5-5]

My family will be flying into Rome and out from Venice Aug 2009. Not sure if we are leaving from Boston or Portland, me. But looking to see if anyone knows of an airport near Rome or Venice that might save us some money. If so is there a train that connects?
Thanks for all the help.

[scottbee]

Originally Posted by 55J5-5

My family will be flying into Rome and out from Venice Aug 2009. Not sure if we are leaving from Boston or Portland, me. But looking to see if anyone knows of an airport near Rome or Venice that might save us some money. If so is there a train that connects?
Thanks for all the help.

Firstly, cruises don't leave from landlocked Rome, they leave from Civitavecchia, about 50 miles from Rome (and about 45 from FCO/Rome Fumincino airport). Yes there are trains to both. From FCO to Rome proper, there's the Leanardo Express, a few Euro, that gets you into Rome Termini station. From Termini, the regional train to Civitavecchia is again, just a few(6 IIRC) euro and drops you about 5 blocks from the port entrance (where a shuttle bus takes you to your dock). If you're going from FCO direct to Civitavecchia, it is possible to get off before Rome Termini, and change trains there.

Venice it's all fairly close. The cruise facility and the station are a couple of miles from each other, and the airport is just a few miles away

[55J5-5]

Scottbee i realized I did not explain enough. Sorry. I am looking for info on an airport that might be cheaper to fly to/from than ROM and VCE. We are staying a few days before and after the cruise and I realize those are not the exact places the ship will be.

Example:
We are looking at possible doing a round trip from Rome instead of to Rome from Venice.[ We would take the train up to Rome and fly home.]

So I am looking to see if there is any other airports we could possibly fly in/out of but take a train to/from Rome, Venice?

Does that make more sense??
Thanks for the help.

[6rugrats]

Sure, it's possible to fly into/out of any airport if you have enough time. IME, a roundtrip to FCO has always been less expensive than flying to Rome and out of VCE.

Go to your airline's webpage, and you will usually find a route map. Look at all the cities into which they fly. See if anything seems interesting, do some dummy bookings and see if you can find something less expensive. Be sure to factor in the cost of train travel.

We took a cruise that departed from Barcelona and docked in Nice. We were trying to book frequent flyer award tickets, but all we could find was arrival in Barcelona and departure from Zurich. We took the train from Nice to Milan and spent the night, and arrived in Zurich the next day. It was a beautiful train ride, and a great way to see the country.

Look at all your options.

[scottbee]

Originally Posted by 55J5-5

Scottbee i realized I did not explain enough. Sorry. I am looking for info on an airport that might be cheaper to fly to/from than ROM and VCE. We are staying a few days before and after the cruise and I realize those are not the exact places the ship will be.

Example:
We are looking at possible doing a round trip from Rome instead of to Rome from Venice.[ We would take the train up to Rome and fly home.]

So I am looking to see if there is any other airports we could possibly fly in/out of but take a train to/from Rome, Venice?

Does that make more sense??
Thanks for the help.

All depends where you're coming from. There are really only 4 airports with flights from the USA in the North/Central part of Italy.;
VCE/Venice (close to the port)
FCO/Rome
and the two alternates
PSA/Pisa (4 hours by train from Civitavecchia)
MXP/Milano Malpensa (8 hours north by train from Civitavecchia, about 5 to Venice)

If you're willing to take the adventure of a train trip across the alps, VCE is reachable from MUC/Munich for about 100€ in under 7 hours

EuroCity 87
München Hbf dep 11:30 13
München Ost dep 11:40 8
Rosenheim dep 12:13 7
Kufstein dep 12:35 3
Wörgl Hbf dep 12:46 4
Jenbach dep 13:00 2
Innsbruck Hbf dep 13:27 7
Fortezza/Franzensfeste dep 14:46
Bressanone/Brixen dep 14:56
Bolzano/Bozen dep 15:31
Trento dep 16:03
Rovereto dep 16:19
Verona Porta Nuova dep 16:59
Vicenza dep 17:26
Padova dep 17:42
Venezia Mestre dep 18:00
Venezia Santa Lucia arr 18:10


Another option to consider is fly via a European gateway, such as Dublin IE on EI/Aer Lingus (cheap flights from BOS, JFK), and then transfer to a flight to VCE, FCO or even .BLQ/Bolongne (a few hours from VCE, about 6 from Rome). Check the route maps for the various major european airlines.

Also, as a rule, an open-jaw flight is what you want here;

BOS-<some gateway>-VCE and FCO-<some gateway>-BOS. Open Jaw is in and out of different cities, where the unflown portion (VCE-FCO in this case) is the shortest distance of the 3.

[55J5-5]

Thanks 6rugrats and scottbee. That was the kind of info I'm looking for. Been looking at open jaw or multi city with both Boston and Portland, ME as base with Rome and/or Venice mixups. The prices are just really up there for us. Someone suggested trying an airport a bit further out and taking a train in. We would love a train ride for a few hours but not much more. [unless price is a huge savings.]
Didnt know if anyone has done something like this and had suggestions.

Did not think to check the route maps though. Your right to make sure to add the cost of the train to see if it is worth using it. Trying to broaden my options.

[eh2zed]

Do your open jaw checking and see how the fares work out. If too expensive you can pick r/t Rome or Venice and train it one way. You can pre or post in one or both cities. Lots to see. Very easy to do.

[6rugrats]

If you want more help, you could post the dates of departure and return and any possible cities.

[FlyerTalker]

First off, know that flights to ANYWHERE in Europe in the summer will be "high priced". I can't tell you how many people book a Med cruise and only then research the airfare. Sticker shock sets in. So, if you are thinking in terms of jetBlue sale prices, you will be out of luck.

Remember that supply and demand are at work...when a large ship docks, it sucks up hundreds to thousands of TATL seats. So, you can often save by shifting your date of travel.

Be aware that flying into a different airport and buying a separate ticket to get to/from FCO or VCE may very well subject you to very restrictive baggage allowances. You have to read the fine print and figure the costs.

Travel in and out of VCE isn't cheap. Nor is spending any length of time there. Factors to consider before choosing a cruise that starts/ends there.

[scottbee]

Originally Posted by FlyerTalker

First off, know that flights to ANYWHERE in Europe in the summer will be "high priced". I can't tell you how many people book a Med cruise and only then research the airfare. Sticker shock sets in. So, if you are thinking in terms of jetBlue sale prices, you will be out of luck.

Remember that supply and demand are at work...when a large ship docks, it sucks up hundreds to thousands of TATL seats. So, you can often save by shifting your date of travel.

Be aware that flying into a different airport and buying a separate ticket to get to/from FCO or VCE may very well subject you to very restrictive baggage allowances. You have to read the fine print and figure the costs.

Travel in and out of VCE isn't cheap. Nor is spending any length of time there. Factors to consider before choosing a cruise that starts/ends there.

Just to put it in perspective though, rail travel in Italy is pretty reasonable. Venice-Rome is between 40-90€ one way (depending on class and speed (1st/2nd and 4h30-6h). Venice-Milan is half that (€15-€40, 2h30-3h).

And for the €, it's pretty close to US$3 = 2€ right now.


I suggested EI via DUB because if you transfer to one of their european flights after a transatlantic, the TA luggage allowance applies, as long as it was bought as a single ticket.

[55J5-5]

Aug 5 out from PWM or BOS. [we would take a bus to bos so savings has to be more than $100pp] This puts us in Rome 3days before the cruise. [hotel taken care of already.]

Aug 23 return to start airport pls. [this gives us 2 days in venice after the cruise, again hotel taken care of already.]

Flytalker, yes we saw the prices of airfare before booking and are just looking for lower than what is offered right now. wish we could get jetblue prices but know THAT wont happen. LOL

good info on the baggage reminder. We have international baggage ready for this trip and are keeping the limits in mind.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

[scottbee]

Originally Posted by 55J5-5

Aug 5 out from PWM or BOS. [we would take a bus to bos so savings has to be more than $100pp] This puts us in Rome 3days before the cruise. [hotel taken care of already.]

Aug 23 return to start airport pls. [this gives us 2 days in venice after the cruise, again hotel taken care of already.]

Flytalker, yes we saw the prices of airfare before booking and are just looking for lower than what is offered right now. wish we could get jetblue prices but know THAT wont happen. LOL

good info on the baggage reminder. We have international baggage ready for this trip and are keeping the limits in mind.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

Open Jaw BOS-FCO VCE-BOS; ($1150 Finnair via Helsinki, $1225 AC/LX via YUL/ZRH)

Open Jaw PWM-FCO FCO-PWM; $1300 ish

But return to FCO from PWM

CO 3293 PWM 1055-1232 EWR
AZ 643 EWR 1740-0755+1 FCO

AZ 642 FCO 1040-1410 EWR
CO 3294 EWR 1715-1848 PWM
$877

The last option is a LOT cheaper, but is a early flight from FCO, and you'd be starting from VCE.

My opinion? Leave VCE (by train) the evening before, stay somewhere cheap in Rome near Termini Station like the Beehive and catch the early train to FCO from Termini.