Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Hello ladies!

Sorry I didn't get on here sooner, we took a long weekend off and went to Vegas!!  Guess where we stayed??

The BELLAGIO, Las Vegas Hotel!!  LOL

We've had these plans for months because my wonderful hubby bought tickets for us to see Josh Groban in concert and he got a GREAT deal for the Bellagio Hotel!  So it was a nice to getaway and RELAX for a few days and Josh Groban did NOT disappoint!  But I do have to say if I had my choice, I'd rather be in Bellagio, Italy ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!!

So excited ladies.. I don't know if any of you have been to Lake Como, Italy... I would love to hear if you have.  But if you haven't, you are in for such a TREAT because it's a real jewel!  It's so hard for me to describe it, I can't really do it justice...  And who knows... maybe there are people out there that don't find it as GORGEOUS as I do, but I can't imagine who??  Just Google it and you'll find some AMAZING pictures and videos.  Oh, there's also a PBS special that comes on about Italy and I think they have some footage of Lake Como.  Check out some of the links I've listed on some of the PAGES to the right or you can check out these links as well:

Discover Como

Frommers

Trip Advisor

There's LOTS more to explore and you can find things on YouTube as well.  I've even found MY pictures on Google when we've "googled" it!  Too funny...  Google Bellagio, Italy as well b/c you will see more of the village you will be enjoying most!!


Here's an arial view of Bellagio.  See the huge building with the pool in front?  THAT'S the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni where the Event will take place!!  The Hotel Florence is the next building to the right after the small building that is covered in ivy.  That's where some ladies will be staying that need private accommodations or because of difficulty walking.  

So I said I was going to talk a bit about the airfare.  I've had some questions about where to fly into, what airlines, etc.  I have some answers to that on the FAQ Page to the right --->  but I wanted to go into more detail about it on this post.

Since getting to Italy will be up to you, here are some suggestions for the best way to make that happen:

1.  You need to arrive at one of the two Milan airports.  IT DOESN'T MATTER WHICH ONE.  There is one called Malpensa and one called Linate.  Both are about 45 minutes from Bellagio and BOTH will have private car services going back and forth all day on September 15th to pick EVERYONE up!  So fly into MILAN, ITALY.

2.   Try to have your flight arrive BEFORE 3pm.  The sooner the better, but if you want to be there when check-in starts and for the Opening Reception, try to arrive earlier in the day.  I will arrange for the private cars/vans to be picking up ladies to the last one is there, so if you can't get a flight in before 3pm, don't panic.  We won't leave you standing at the airport in Milan! 

3.  There are LOTS of airlines that fly into Milan from International destinations.  Here are a list of 5 that are probably the most familiar to everyone:






There are MANY other ones, but these are ones I've checked on.  Air France, KLM and Lufthansa are other ones and I'm sure you can finds ones I've never even heard of.

4.  The BEST option for airfare is to use miles/points!  This is how we've flown to Europe for the past THREE years!!  We save up our points with American Express and then use them on airfare.  This is the BEST use of your points through your credit card!  They don't want you to know that, but it's a GREAT deal and you should FIRST check with your credit card companies to see if you are enrolled in any point/mile program!  Lance and I saved our miles for 20 years and BLEW THEM OUT on our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Europe for two 1/2 weeks and stayed at 5star places and flew Virgin Upper Class!  It's WORTH it to find out if you are accumulating points b/c you get FREE THINGS for spending money that you already are spending! 

5. If you don't have miles or enough points for a free ticket, there are options where you can use SOME POINTS/MILES and pay the difference.  I don't know much about this option, but I know it is out there and I would look into it if you are close to having enough points for a free ticket.

6. I'm coming from the West Coast and they DO have non-stop flights from LAX to Milan.  They are hard to come by though.  What we have come to agree on is that breaking up your flight (from the West Coast) is better than going non-stop.  It's about a 10 1/2 hour trip from LAX to Milan.  Although I've flown on longer flights, it gets tiring.  My suggestion is to fly either to New York or Florida from the West Coast and then fly from their to Milan.  Two flights that are about 5 hours longs just breaks things up, you can get off the plane and walk around, take a break, have a snack, etc...  So that's what we plan to do for this trip.  And, both flights don't have to be on the same airline!  I'm going to shop around on Jet Blue, Virgin, etc. and see if I can find TWO flights that may be cheaper than one non-stop!  If you're coming from the Midwest or the East Coast, then one flight might not be so bad.  These are just suggestions...

7.  Sign up for Email Alerts from the airlines you think you'll be flying on!  They will send you emails when there are sales for the flights you're looking at.  They also sometime GIVE you miles just for signing up for their Frequent Flyer Programs.  

8. Look for flights from some of the discount websites like:






and there are a TON more.  You can even find airfare on Trip Advisor where they will search several websites at once.  

9.  Try to book air travel on a TUESDAY!  I know weird right?  But "they say" that Tuesday is when they post their sales for flights and I'm telling you, it has worked for us!   Now if you can FLY on a Tuesday, that's even better.  A lot of times Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursdays are the cheapest days to FLY.  If you have the time and are adventurous, I would suggest this.  You can fly in a few days early and maybe go visit some other places in Italy like Florence or Rome??  That's all up to how adventurous you are!  I know some people coming to the Event are planning on flying into Rome, staying there for a few days and traveling around Italy BEFORE the Event and then taking the train to Milan!  So GO FOR IT if you want to!  Just remember to arrive in Bellagio on September 15th! :)  And if this IS what you plan to do, let me know so I can put you on the list as arriving on your own OR picking you up from the TRAIN STATION in Milan.  It's VERY easy and there are LOTS of ways to get to Lake Como, so don't hesitate to ask me questions about this if you're thinking of going other places ahead of the Event!  

10.  Some credit card companies will give you a FREE companion ticket if you sign up with them.  I've never tried this, but it may work?  My MIL has and they've flown to Hawaii that way.  So if you have a friend you're going with, it may be a good idea to work on this together and then share the cost of the one ticket you have to pay for??  

11.  Book your flights NEXT YEAR!  When we are SO far ahead of the Event, it's way too early to get any kind of "deal."  In fact, you can't even book this early.  So be patient, but be prepared!  Do some homework by looking at the choices you have and signing up for alerts and such...  But it's too early and I would suggest waiting until February/March of next year.  That is also a GREAT time because they usually have EXCELLENT sales on airfare going on around that time of year!  

12.  Pay the Extra charge for TRIP INSURANCE on your flight!  I know we don't want to add more costs to things, but it really is a smart move to buy flight insurance!  The airline may have a problem, go belly up, you may get sick.  There are LOTS of reasons why Flight Insurance is worth it!!  

13.  It's ALL worth it in the end.  I know this trip isn't a cheap one.  I know it's not for everyone.  But we're not going to the Mall of America for a scrapbook weekend. hehehe... It's ITALY and it's a WEEK LONG trip to one of the most BEAUTIFUL places in the WORLD!!  So don't stress over it.  We have PLENTY of time to book our flights.

I hope this has been helpful!  I think it may be a bit too much information, but I wanted to get it all out there for those who are thinking about the cost of the flight before signing up.  I think I've showed you that there ARE ways to make it work!!  

Again, I'm here to help anyone and answer any questions!  So please feel free to email me anytime at:


Have a BLESSED evening,

Laura

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