December Flight DEN-FCO

Taking a cruise in December to the Eastern Med. Really having a hard time picking the best flight option. Our cruise is Dec. 13-23. There are 4 of us traveling (2 adults and 2 kids).

We originally looked at leaving Dec. 11 and returning Dec. 26. Best flight price we find right now is $1301 p/p on United with a layover in Washington D.C.

I also looked at leaving Dec. 10 and returning Dec. 24. Best flight price $1243 on Air France (although I believe it's actually Delta) with a layover in Atlanta.

Then someone suggested flying into Milan instead. Leaving Dec. 11 and returning Dec. 26 it would be $1079 p/p. Plus, then it would be $140 roundtrip to fly Milan to Rome. We would stay in Milan then since we've never been there and we have been to Rome.

Not sure what to do. Worried about weather of course. Don't want to have more than one stop. Any suggestions? Something else I should look at?

Thanks!

British Airways. They've non-stops between DEN and LHR so coming back you'd clear US Immigration and Customs and DEN.

If you fly to Milan, don't fly to Rome - take the train. A bit cheaper, but more importantly a lot more interesting and fun.

Taking a cruise in December to the Eastern Med. Really having a hard time picking the best flight option. Our cruise is Dec. 13-23. There are 4 of us traveling (2 adults and 2 kids).

 

We originally looked at leaving Dec. 11 and returning Dec. 26. Best flight price we find right now is $1301 p/p on United with a layover in Washington D.C.

 

I also looked at leaving Dec. 10 and returning Dec. 24. Best flight price $1243 on Air France (although I believe it's actually Delta) with a layover in Atlanta.

 

Then someone suggested flying into Milan instead. Leaving Dec. 11 and returning Dec. 26 it would be $1079 p/p. Plus, then it would be $140 roundtrip to fly Milan to Rome. We would stay in Milan then since we've never been there and we have been to Rome.

 

Not sure what to do. Worried about weather of course. Don't want to have more than one stop. Any suggestions? Something else I should look at?

 

Thanks!

For Milan to Rome, why not look at the train? Not sure if it's cheaper or more expensive, but you do get city center to city center. For a distance that short, I would almost always take the train over the plane. But that's me...

Flying in to Milan gives you lots of choices from Denver. From Denver, you had BA via London Heathrow, and Lufthansa via Frankfurt. Both of those get you in to Europe straight from Denver, and then you connect in to Milan. With Lufthansa via Frankfurt, you would clear immigration in Frankfurt, and the Frankfurt to Milan flight would be like a domestic flight. With BA via London, you would re-clear security in London, but not touch immigration until Milan.

Do note there are two airports in Milan. Malpensa (MXP) is 25 miles from Milan and has both BA and Lufthansa service; Linate (LIN) is only 5 miles from Milan, and also has both BA and Lufthansa service. MXP has flights from North America in addition to European flight, whereas LIN only has European flights.

For Milan to Rome, why not look at the train? Not sure if it's cheaper or more expensive, but you do get city center to city center. For a distance that short, I would almost always take the train over the plane. But that's me...

 

The train from Milan would be my suggestion as well. I haven't looked at Milan to Rome in December specifically, but have been checking train pricing and schedules for Rome to Florence, and Florence to Venice, for a land-based trip in October. For those routes, the trains generally run every half hour and prices are very reasonable. As Milan is a major city, I would expect you'll find similar (frequent trains, reasonable prices) for Milan to Rome as well.

The train from Milan would be my suggestion as well. I haven't looked at Milan to Rome in December specifically, but have been checking train pricing and schedules for Rome to Florence, and Florence to Venice, for a land-based trip in October. For those routes, the trains generally run every half hour and prices are very reasonable. As Milan is a major city, I would expect you'll find similar (frequent trains, reasonable prices) for Milan to Rome as well.

There are 2 Trenitalia high-speed trains between Rome and Florence - Frecciarossa that continues on to Milan, and Frecciargento that continues to Venice. Very comfortable, and meaning that if the OP wanted to, they could stay the night in Florence and continue on the next day.

Also look at Italo. they have 4 trains per day from Milan to Rome. No train change starting at 30 euro per person at 3-3.5 hours.

http://www.italotreno.it/EN/Pages/default.aspx