Just curious about people's experiences with flying London to Italy. I have to do that next June (or spend $1000 extra on United). I had a fairly good experience on Lufthansa years ago with that route and a terrible one on Merridiana (sp?). Would like to fly into Florence or Bologna, if possible.........any suggestions? Grazie,
ciao,
Cheryl

{ fixing thread title }

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pauline,

For a full-service airline going direct from London, generally British Airways would be rated best. They go from Gatwick to Pisa and Bologna.

It is hard to say which company is the best, but I would avoid anything that would require changing airports if possible, as this is very time consuming.

We flew British Midland (code: BD) this Spring from Heathrow to Paris and they were fine. I know they fly to Italy but not sure which cities. They have good fares, too - if you book early enough they are competitive with the discount carriers but with the advantage (for us) of flying out of Heathrow.
- Marie

I used BA last year flight is crowded but
no problems, luggage etc. transfered and arrive with us, no service so to speak soft drink but then its only 2 hrs.

I would agree with Anastasia. Changing between Gatwick and Heathrow is a hassle to be avoided if at all possible.

Which London airport will you arrive at from the USA?

Ryanair has new lines from London Stansted to Perugia. It can be an hassle but then it is sooo cheap!!!

I guess that "best" means different things for each of us. With friends in Chrystal Palace and Croydon, my favorite carrier is Eayjet that has direct flights from Linate to Gatwick: it serves my two purposes: neraness of the airports to the area I live or I am headed to, and low prices. Sure, they do not serve drinks and you have to run for the best seat. To others, the best flight, on the other hand, is a business class big eurobucks (or poundbucks) flight with all services, included a complimentary foot massage performed by a professional shiatzu therapist during the flight. So, Cheryl, what is the meaning you give to the "best" word? ^___^

We took BA form Heathrow to Rome in August of this year..tried to return from Rome on the week-end of the terrorist arrests in London. BA canceled our flight for Rome and could'nt re-book us even later in the week. They have refused to give a refund for the canceled flight legs saying it was beyond their control, and ignoring my e-mails and letters.Beyond their control so they get to keep my money??? I will avoid BA in the future whatever the cost for an alternate carrier!

Cheryl,

I have flown Stansted-Italy with Ryanair a lot this year, in and out of Ciampino, Brescia and Torino. Each flight at minimal fuss, price and bother. I'm looking really really forward to the Ryanair flights into Perugia!

The only thing you have to look out for is the "hidden" costs, such as getting to and from the airports, cost of checking in baggage, credit card fee. They're also really strict on excess baggage. If you have more than 15kg (sometimes 20kg - check dates of travel) expect to pay the equivalent of 8E/kg excess.

National Express does connecting shuttles between all the London airports, so check out their website for more details. Sometimes you can also train/tube it, but I think it would work out to be way more expensive than the shuttle bus.

Also, use skyscanner or a similar site to see other flight options.

Hope this helps! Claire.

Great info, everyone. Thank you. Alice, in answer to your question; easy, inexpensive, reliable are what I consider "best"....

I'll check out the other suggestions that seem viable. Hidden costs change the picture a lot, Claire. Good point.

Ciao,
Cheryl

Unless the difference in fairs was huge, I am not sure I would want to travel from Heathrow to Stansted for an onward flight.

Ryanair flights tend to be early morning or late evening - so a hassle if it is meant as a connection. The time before last that I flew out to Tuscany (March this year), it worked out a lot less hassle to take a scheduled Alitalia flight from Heathrow to Rome, then travel up to Siena from there. The flight was around £90 return, - less than half of BA to Pisa or Bologna at that time, and more convenient than the slightly cheaper Easyjet from Gatwick.

Another possibility is to look for flights from the US to Manchester, and look at the possibility of getting to Italy on Jet2.com

You mention London to Italy. If you are flying from USA check out flying into Dublin and making connections there. Most of the discount airlines fly out of Dublin (as well as BA, NW, and several other US carriers). The airport is small so no massive treks, it is easy to make connections and there is no switching airports (and even Heathrow to Gatwick can be a major hassle with the M1's tendency to turn into a parking lot every time I have to make a tight connection).

I am not sure if it's possible for you to change your routing. Try your very best to avoid London, esp. Heathrow. LHR airport has one of the highest airport taxes. It's crowded and very inefficient. The staff do not know what they are doing and, for transfers, no gate information is provided until 30 minutes before takeoff. This is to make people get stranded in the shopping/food area.

I made this mistake in my last trip and hope that nobody will repeat it.

I'm traveling, next May, from London to Naples, on BMI. I chose them because they were very reasonably priced and they leave from Heathrow...switching airports is a major hassle, with traffic and not knowing how long it will take. I'm only hoping that I make the flight. I'm flying on Virgin and someone told me that I need to collect my luggage and go through immigration, in London, and then I would need to go through security again, to go on BMI....Does anyone know if this is the case? If it is, I think I'll miss my flight...

Hey, I like the Dublin idea...thank you. I've been to that airport and it's most certainly quiet and easy to handle and I really don't like Heathrow at all, except that it does have a pharmacist on hand if one gets sick while traveling. (yes, a nonsequeter, but in fact it did come in handy last time thru)...

I prefer not to do the Ryanair trek from airport to airport as once was enough. However, now I have many options, so thank you all........ciao
Cheryl

dkay,
If you are not checked in for the BMI flight and your luggage is not checked through to Naples then yes you will have to clear passport control, retrieve your luggage, check in for BMI, and go through airport security screening. We did this in the Spring and it was amazingly quick and efficient, but that was before the recent restrictions on liquids etc in carry-on bags. How much time do you have between flights?
- Marie