The Essentials of Planning - Italy - page 574

For Residents of New Zealand: You can pick up a passport application at any
New Zealand Passports Office ( % 0800/225-050 in New Zealand or 04/474-
8100) or download it from www.passports.govt.nz .
For Residents of the U.K.: To pick up an application for a standard 10-year pass-
port (5-yr. passport for children under 16), visit your nearest passport office,
major post office, or travel agency, or contact the United Kingdom Passport
Service ( % 0870/521-0410; www.ukpa.gov.uk).
GETTING THERE
High season on most airlines' routes to Rome is usually from June to the begin-
ning of September. This is the most expensive and most crowded time to travel.
Shoulder season is from April to May, early September to October, and
December 15 to December 24. Low season is from November 1 to December 14
and December 25 to March 31.
FROM NORTH AMERICA Fares to Italy are constantly changing, but you
can expect to pay somewhere in the range of $550 to $1,580 for a direct round-
trip ticket from New York to Rome in coach class.
Flying time to Rome from New York, Newark, and Boston is 8 hours; from
Chicago, 10 hours; and from Los Angeles, 12 1 ⁄ 2 hours. Flying time to Milan from
New York, Newark, and Boston is 8 hours; from Chicago, 9 1 ⁄ 4 hours; and from
Los Angeles, 11 1 ⁄ 2 hours.
American Airlines ( % 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) offers daily nonstop
flights to Rome from Chicago's O'Hare, with flights from all parts of American's
vast network making connections into Chicago. Delta ( % 800/221-1212; www.
delta.com) flies from New York's JFK to Milan, Venice, and Rome. AmericaWest/
US Airways ( % 800/428-4322; www.usairways.com) offers one flight daily to
Rome out of Philadelphia (you can connect through Philly from most major U.S.
cities). Continental ( % 800/525-0280; www.continental.com) flies several times
a week to Rome, Milan, Venice, and Bologna from its hub in Newark.
Air Canada ( % 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.ca) flies daily from Toronto to
Rome. Two of the flights are nonstop; the others touch down en route in
Montreal, depending on the schedule.
British Airways ( % 800/AIRWAYS; www.britishairways.com), Virgin Atlantic
Airways ( % 800/821-5438; www.virgin-atlantic.com), Air France ( % 800/237-
2747; www.airfrance.com), Northwest/KLM ( % 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com),
and Lufthansa ( % 800/645 - 3880; www.lufthansa-usa.com) offer some attractive
deals for anyone interested in combining a trip to Italy with a stopover in, say,
Britain, Paris, Amsterdam, or Germany.
Alitalia ( % 800/223-5730; www.alitalia.com) is the Italian national airline,
with nonstop flights to Rome from many North American cities, including New
York (JFK), Newark, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Washington, and Toronto.
Nonstop flights into Milan are from New York (JFK) and Newark. From Milan
or Rome, Alitalia can easily book connecting domestic flights if your final desti-
nation is elsewhere in Italy. Alitalia participates in the frequent-flier programs of
other airlines, including Continental and US Airways.