Okay I’m a little embarrassed to post this question but I know there are a lot of nice folks who post on this board and also a lot of folks who work for the airlines, so my question is:
I need to get my son a ticket for his Fall semester in Milan (nice work if you can get it…leave Dad home to pay the bills!) and ideally would like him to fly out of Sioux Falls (FSD). If this was your challenge, and you wanted to do it with only one stop, which airline would you choose?
The most intiguing flight I’ve found so far was on Delta with the one stop in Atlanta, but there is an 8.5 hour layover.
Is anyone aware of a direct flight from ORD to Milan?
Departing from Omaha (OMA) might also be an option for us.
Thanks for any and all comments!
Use kayak.com. It will list all flights available and then take you to the airline’s own web page to do the booking. You can also have it show fares from other sites such as expedia.
Yeah like Dami said, check a Website like Expedia etc…if you book with one, use Expedia or Orbitz, your cheaptickets.com s and others of the like are not endorsed by the airlines, and have restrictions and other cancellation policies that may cost more if there were a delay or other service disruption.
As far as flights from ORD to MXP, I beleive AA and UA still fly the route, Alitalia used to, not sure if any of the European airlines operate it. Not even sure if AA or UA do any more, non stop at least, might be 2 or 3 days a week, so try to be flexible if possible when searching. Good Luck!
Not sure you can get from Zoo Falls to Milano in one stop. I’d consider flying into a larger Euro city like Zurich, Munich or Rome and then take the train. The airport connection to the train will be easy and then from the train station in Milan it will be easy to access transportation to where you want to go. This way you can connect via ORD or MSP.
As a professional passenger railroad employee, although it’s not my particular company, thanks for promoting the rails!! 
Regardless of what you think of Obama, I sincerely hope his proposal to build high speed rail infrastructure succeeds. Anyone who has spent time traveling in Europe by train will tell you that America’s passenger rail system is a shame. The northeast corridor (and the entire eastern and western seaboard) is absolutely rip for true high speed rail.
Then bend over, grab your ankles and brace yourself!
No railroad in the EU pays its own way, they are all very heavily subsidized.
How are they subsidized? By gasoline and diesel fuel taxes levied at the fuel pump. Why do you think fuel is so expensive over there?
Same goes for the trolleys and interurban rail systems you find over there. Very usefuk and heavily subsidized.
Don’t get me wrong, I love riding the trains and think the Eurailpass is the best way to get around when overseas.
I just think everyone needs to know the true costs involved in seeking high-speed rail in the USA. People here aren’t going to choose to ride the rails over driving their own cars until the price of driving isn’t just prohibitive, it’s downright punitive.
Have you also compared the land size of the European countries with the land size of the USA (even just the 48 contiguous states)? It’s just not practical to go coast-to-coast on a train. I think it’s great to be able to use the train for shorter distances (i.e. under ~ 500 miles).
One thing I’ve always thought would be great would be for true intermodal transportation. For distances up to about 200 miles there would be trains. Above that distance would be airlines. The trains would go to the airport directly as they do in many European countries. You would check in at the train station and seamlessly go from one mode to the other. With today’s environment, though, you would still need to go through security at the airport.
Damn, is there anything you two don’t know about?!?
Dami, they don’t have too much info on it, but your dream materialized in the 20s. TWA Transcons would originate with a Trimotor, and then you’d get a sleeper for the night portion and then board an aircraft again in the day time. (I’m a railroader now, and was a TWer at one time, this is a great marriage in my eyes!!
FLY TWA
I also remember back in the 90’s Amtrak and United having a marketing partnership where you’d “relax” and take the train to your vacation destination, and fly back on United so that you spend more time at your vacation by flying back.
I have taken long distance trains, and flown long distances and both have their advantages. Obviously the train takes alot longer, but you also get to see a side of the country that you would rarely ever see, especially on some of the western routes. It’s always fun to go to the Viewliner car and see a family playing cards and spending time together.
As far as the corridor trains and highspeed, around here, our track is set up for it, the signals are in place, and what many don’t realize is that the equipment will be the same, but that the speed “limit” will be higher.
When people around here talk to me about it, they imagine these 200+ MPH bullet trains, and that’s not going to happen here or the other proposed corridors. Even at 100 MPH though that beats the highways, and when you get into major cities, with exception of some freight traffic, you’re not stuck in gridlock.
Here you can drive to CHI in about the same time but traffic north of Interstate 80 is usually stop and go for the last 30 mi plus parking anywhere in downtown Chicago is at very least 17$. Their light rail system is so good that you can get anywhere in town on it within a 2 block walk from Union Station, and Metra will take you to the burbs.
Compared to flying, it takes about 25 min wheels up wheels down. But the flights are express flights w/ RJs and based on the fare structure are designed for connecting traffic (which is convienient because the fares are comparable and our TSA lines are nothing like an ORD).
There’s definitely a need for both, there’s definitely benefits to both, and since I started working in the RR industry and with my airline past, I’m pretty proud of the transportation system in this country.
Oh and Dakotadoc, sorry for hijacking the thread!
I’m aware of that. There was a boast of only 2 (or 3?) days to go from coast-to-coast!
The main reason they did that was that flying at night wasn’t done.
Right. I have flown in a Trimotor. While I treasure that as one of the coolest things Ive had the opportunity to do in flying, I can say I think for sleeping purposes, a nice Pullman sleeper of equal vintage would work better for the overnight.
Neat how they worked together though, and now that I’ve been a part of both, they’re not the competetors I assuemed they were.
neither UA or AA fly from ORD to MXP. AA flies to Rome, but offers no onward connections on OneWorld from there.
I would propose this itinerary to eliminate downtime and also have options in case weather is bad.
United 7149 FSD-ORD (1h 46 min connection to)
United 906 ORD-MUC (Munich) (1 h 35 min connection to)
Lufthansa 3900 MUC-MXP
The only single-carrier single-connection available to you from Sioux Falls is through Atlanta on Delta.
However, from Omaha, this is available:
Continental 2916 OMA-EWR (3 hr 13 min connection to)
Continental 44 EWR-MXP
That would be a great option as well.
From ORD
One stop via US Air through Philadelphia will get you in Milan in 14 hours with a 3 hour layover in Philadelphia
One stop via American through New York will get you in Milan in 12 hours with a 1 1/2 hour layover in New York
Both return flights allow time to get through customs and you can expect a 3 hour layover at both airports on the above flights.!
From OMA
Continental 2916 and Continental 44 has a flight that will get you to Milan in 14 hours via Newark.
Delta 4971 and Delta 74 will get you to Milan in 14 hours via Atlanta.
Same as above for ORD, return trip allows for going through customs and both of these flights have about a 3 to 4 hour layover time.
Got the above information from www.itasoftware.com (completely ad free)
Great search engine for international flights only. Clutter free and very good. Great connections and prices. AA used to fly non stop to Milan . someone here says they moved the flight to Rome. This may be a seaonal service. Like i said Vayama.com is a great site for international flights.