Rick Kessler

My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year, and
I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-

1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order to
save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t from
SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in London,
and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different tickets
and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through to
Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at LHR,
go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag them to
terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid question,
but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to identify
each bag with a traveler.

2) On arrival in Venice, I know we will be basically brain-dead from a 26
hour journey (factored from the time we get up, ) so I want the trip from
the airport to our hotel to be as well planned and direct as possible to
avoid any mis-steps or unnecessary delays. (This will be our first trip to
Venice.) Our hotel, the Ca' Favretto San Cassiano, is almost directly across
the Grand Canal from the Ca' d' Oro, so what I am currently thinking is,
take the Alilaguna to the Fondamente Nove, and then a water taxi to the
hotel, a fairly direct route through the Canale de Misericordia and the Rio
S. Felice, BUT- I don't know whether water taxis are even available at
Fondamente Nove, or what I should expect to pay for this taxi ride for two
persons with one bag each on a Friday afternoon/evening (5 to 7 PM depending
on actual arrival time of the flight and customs.) My Italian is currently
abysmal, I'm working on it, but don't have a level of confidence as far as
haggling over the taxi price. Anyone have any input on this route/plan,
including taxi fares, or should I just suck it up and spend the extra 1.5
hours and go to S. Marco or Ferrovia, then a vaporetto to San Stae? Any
assistance would be greatly appreciated.

RK

Lennart Petersen

"Rick Kessler" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
news:jnNxb.247950$275.908492@attbi_s53...
    > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year,
and
    > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order to
    > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t from
    > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in London,
    > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different tickets
    > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through to
    > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at LHR,
    > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag them
to
    > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid question,
    > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to identify
    > each bag with a traveler.
Different carriers doesn't say so much but with different tickets i would
guess it's unlikely you'll be allowed to have your luggage throughchecked.
Anyway you can always ask and get the final answer when you check in.
Besides you're also facing a small risk, assuming your first leg from SEA is
arriving too late you'll find the connecting ticket to VCE useless (unless
you have paid for a full fare ticket).
In my opinion it´s not a good idea to travel on different tickets unless you
have at least one night between the legs.
With a through ticket you can expect the carriers to take care of you if
flights are late or eventually cancelled,to put you on next available flight
and if necessary accommodate you.
L.P

R

Don't take the alliguna......it takes nearly an hour to get into venice and
you'll have to change to a vaporetto (1/2 hour more)_ to get to ca d'oro, by
which time you'll be nursing a severe headache
get the bus to piazzale roma and the vaporetto

"Lennart Petersen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Rick Kessler" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
    > news:jnNxb.247950$275.908492@attbi_s53...
    > > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year,
    > and
    > > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    > >
    > > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order
to
    > > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t
from
    > > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in
London,
    > > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different
tickets
    > > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through
to
    > > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at
LHR,
    > > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag
them
    > to
    > > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid
question,
    > > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to
identify
    > > each bag with a traveler.
    > Different carriers doesn't say so much but with different tickets i would
    > guess it's unlikely you'll be allowed to have your luggage throughchecked.
    > Anyway you can always ask and get the final answer when you check in.
    > Besides you're also facing a small risk, assuming your first leg from SEA
is
    > arriving too late you'll find the connecting ticket to VCE useless (unless
    > you have paid for a full fare ticket).
    > In my opinion it´s not a good idea to travel on different tickets unless
you
    > have at least one night between the legs.
    > With a through ticket you can expect the carriers to take care of you if
    > flights are late or eventually cancelled,to put you on next available
flight
    > and if necessary accommodate you.
    > L.P

John Bermont

Rick Kessler wrote:
    > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year, and
    > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    >
    > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order to
    > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t from
    > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in London,
    > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different tickets
    > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through to
    > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at LHR,
    > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag them to
    > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid question,
    > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to identify
    > each bag with a traveler.
    >
    > RK
    >
    >

Rick,

I've made a number of connections in London. Here are some tidbits.

You will probably need to claim baggage at LHR and then check it in
again to go to Venice. It is not only since 9/11 that passengers at LHR
were required to identify their baggage before it was loaded. I had to
do that some years ago. I think it was during the first unfinished Gulf War.

It might be a bit more than dragging your luggage from T3 to T1. On
another trip (I forget which terminals I was connecting to with my
daughter) we had to take a short bus ride to go from one terminal to the
other. After the flight from Los Angeles I was in a grog, and all that
her 12 year body could think about was a McDonald's macmuffin.

Another condition to be aware of is the different baggage allowance
within Europe compared to trans-Atlantic flights. Last I knew most
flights within Europe had a 20 kg (44 pound) limit for the total of
checked and carry-on. Above that you are assessed a fairly steep charge
per kilogram. Some years ago I was charged about 25 pounds for my
luggage on a flight from London to Amsterdam after flying from Miami to
London within the trans-Atlantic baggage limits.

I suggest that you check with your carriers. These conditions are always
changing, and usually not in the direction benefiting consumers.

John Bermont
--
------------------------------------------------------
* * * Mastering Independent Budget Travel * * *
http://www.enjoy-europe.com/
------------------------------------------------------

Carole Allen

I second that. Venice has a small airport, the bus stops right
outside the doors, it's a short bus ride (there are racks for the
luggage) which delivers you right to piazzale roma, and from there you
can catch a vaporetto to your stop...

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 22:23:20 -0000, "r" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Don't take the alliguna......it takes nearly an hour to get into venice and
    >you'll have to change to a vaporetto (1/2 hour more)_ to get to ca d'oro, by
    >which time you'll be nursing a severe headache
    >get the bus to piazzale roma and the vaporetto

Gerald

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 19:30:33 GMT, "Rick Kessler"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year, and
    >I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    >1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order to
    >save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t from
    >SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in London,
    >and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different tickets
    >and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through to
    >Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at LHR,
    >go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag them to
    >terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid question,
    >but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to identify
    >each bag with a traveler.

I have seen prior postings where people claim to be saving"serious"
money with this second ticket system. What's the story? I fly
IAD-BLQ & VCE-IAD for us$407 Feb 18-26 on UA thru FRA. Would have
been less thru MUC, but friends do not let friends fly thru MUC in
winter.

To the questions at hand. If you are flying a regular airline(not
Ryan, or Fly by night) SEA-LHR, they should check your luggage
through. i.e. If you could have gotten the flight on a single
ticket, then you probably can get them ckecked through. If the
luggage does not show, and are not checked through, you have a real
problem, as the initaiting airline does not have to go put out much
effort to get your bags to VCE.
    >2) On arrival in Venice, I know we will be basically brain-dead from a 26
    >hour journey (factored from the time we get up, ) so I want the trip from
    >the airport to our hotel to be as well planned and direct as possible to
    >avoid any mis-steps or unnecessary delays. (This will be our first trip to
    >Venice.) Our hotel, the Ca' Favretto San Cassiano, is almost directly across
    >the Grand Canal from the Ca' d' Oro, so what I am currently thinking is,
    >take the Alilaguna to the Fondamente Nove, and then a water taxi to the
    >hotel, a fairly direct route through the Canale de Misericordia and the Rio
    >S. Felice, BUT- I don't know whether water taxis are even available at
    >Fondamente Nove, or what I should expect to pay for this taxi ride for two
    >persons with one bag each on a Friday afternoon/evening (5 to 7 PM depending
    >on actual arrival time of the flight and customs.) My Italian is currently
    >abysmal, I'm working on it, but don't have a level of confidence as far as
    >haggling over the taxi price. Anyone have any input on this route/plan,
    >including taxi fares, or should I just suck it up and spend the extra 1.5
    >hours and go to S. Marco or Ferrovia, then a vaporetto to San Stae? Any
    >assistance would be greatly appreciated.

The water taxi should cost about €85 from the airport to your hotel.
That rate is no longer determined by the taxi driver. You pay in the
airport at a booth on the East side of the airport.

The boat to Fond. Nuove would cost €10 pp, if that is the Fond. you
are talking about. You will negotiate your own taxi rate from there,
and I have never had a rate under €50, so not much saved by doing
that.

The bus to P. Roma is very inexpensive, and convenient, according to
others. I have never done it. The Vap. stop is ok, buy a ticket for
however many days you are staying. Should be easy to get on, as that
is a starting point for the Vap, and Feb-March is not too crowded.

However, S. Stae is not right next to your hotel. It is less than a
quarter mile as the crow flies. It also over 1/2 mile, and over 3
bridges if on foot. There is at least one dead end bridge. I think
one bridge is sorta tall(lots of steps) at R. d. Torri, and I just do
not remember the other two, only that one leads to a dead end. If you
do walk, bring a compass, and lay out the route very well.

You should also prepare for arriving in fog, and landing elsewhere, or
not being able to leave, not getting luggage, etc.

Have a great trip.

Cathy Kearns

"John Bermont" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Rick Kessler wrote:
    > > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next year,
and
    > > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    > >
    > > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order
to
    > > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t
from
    > > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in
London,
    > > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different
tickets
    > > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags through
to
    > > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at
LHR,
    > > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag
them to
    > > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid
question,
    > > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to
identify
    > > each bag with a traveler.
    > >
    > > RK
    > >
    > >
    > Rick,
    > I've made a number of connections in London. Here are some tidbits.
    > You will probably need to claim baggage at LHR and then check it in
    > again to go to Venice. It is not only since 9/11 that passengers at LHR
    > were required to identify their baggage before it was loaded. I had to
    > do that some years ago. I think it was during the first unfinished Gulf
War.

I'm a bit confused here. Last June (6 months ago) I flew SFO to LHR
on Virgin, and then took BA to Rome. Our luggage was checked
through from SFO to Rome, despite it being two different airlines.
Layover time was 4 hours or so. Bags made it to Rome fine. How
is Venice different?

I've flown many an airline switching planes in Rome, Paris, Munich,
or Amsterdam. Often I have to change airlines, as the trans-atlantic
carrier doesn't make the inter-Europe flights. Usually, but not
always the two carriers code share. (The Virgin/BA flight obviously
wasn't a code share) I've never had to find my luggage and re-check it.
Perhaps I'm just lucky?

    > It might be a bit more than dragging your luggage from T3 to T1. On
    > another trip (I forget which terminals I was connecting to with my
    > daughter) we had to take a short bus ride to go from one terminal to the
    > other. After the flight from Los Angeles I was in a grog, and all that
    > her 12 year body could think about was a McDonald's macmuffin.
    > Another condition to be aware of is the different baggage allowance
    > within Europe compared to trans-Atlantic flights. Last I knew most
    > flights within Europe had a 20 kg (44 pound) limit for the total of
    > checked and carry-on. Above that you are assessed a fairly steep charge
    > per kilogram. Some years ago I was charged about 25 pounds for my
    > luggage on a flight from London to Amsterdam after flying from Miami to
    > London within the trans-Atlantic baggage limits.
    > I suggest that you check with your carriers. These conditions are always
    > changing, and usually not in the direction benefiting consumers.
    > John Bermont
    > --
    > ------------------------------------------------------
    > * * * Mastering Independent Budget Travel * * *
    > http://www.enjoy-europe.com/
    > ------------------------------------------------------

Lennart Petersen

"Cathy Kearns" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
news:[email protected]...
    > "John Bermont" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Rick Kessler wrote:
    > > > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next
year,
    > and
    > > > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    > > >
    > > > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order
    > to
    > > > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t
    > from
    > > > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in
    > London,
    > > > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different
    > tickets
    > > > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags
through
    > to
    > > > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at
    > LHR,
    > > > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag
    > them to
    > > > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid
    > question,
    > > > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to
    > identify
    > > > each bag with a traveler.
    > > >
    > > > RK
    > > >
    > > >
    > >
    > > Rick,
    > >
    > > I've made a number of connections in London. Here are some tidbits.
    > >
    > > You will probably need to claim baggage at LHR and then check it in
    > > again to go to Venice. It is not only since 9/11 that passengers at LHR
    > > were required to identify their baggage before it was loaded. I had to
    > > do that some years ago. I think it was during the first unfinished Gulf
    > War.
    > I'm a bit confused here. Last June (6 months ago) I flew SFO to LHR
    > on Virgin, and then took BA to Rome. Our luggage was checked
    > through from SFO to Rome, despite it being two different airlines.
    > Layover time was 4 hours or so. Bags made it to Rome fine. How
    > is Venice different?
    > I've flown many an airline switching planes in Rome, Paris, Munich,
    > or Amsterdam. Often I have to change airlines, as the trans-atlantic
    > carrier doesn't make the inter-Europe flights. Usually, but not
    > always the two carriers code share. (The Virgin/BA flight obviously
    > wasn't a code share) I've never had to find my luggage and re-check it.
    > Perhaps I'm just lucky?
It's ok if you have a through ticket. Code sharing doesn't matter.

Rick Kessler

First, Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply with suggestions and
personal experiences.

There seems to be some dispute over whether or not we can check our bags
through to Venice or not. I guess we'll just try to check through to VCE
when we leave Seattle, all they can do is say is no, right? We do have a 4-5
hour layover in London, so I don't anticipate any timing issues with our
bags arriving in Venice with us. Doesn't mean there couldn't be other issues
of course. <g>

Regarding the transport from VCE into Venice and our hotel, the concensus is
that the Alilaguna is not the best way, and a water taxi from VCE is
exorbitantly expensive for value received. I bow to others experience, and
will take the bus to P. Roma/Ferrovia. I may try to get a water taxi from
the Ferrovia depending on how dark it is when we arrive. While one of the
charms of Venice may be getting lost in the back streets, I will save that
experience for when we have had a good nights sleep, have daylight, and
aren't hauling baggage with us. ;-) Our hotel fronts the Gran Canal, and
has entry available at that point, so a taxi might be a good alternative.
Regarding the San Stae to hotel walk ,as described by Gerald (should we
decide to take the vaporetto) I found a great downloadable (about 5M?)
interactive map on veniceXplorer.net which allows you to zoom, pan, display
vaporetto routes, stops and timetables, as well as points of interest,
restaurants, print, etc,etc. Supposedly, this map will soon be available for
download to a PDA, in which case I'll take it with me. If not, I'll print
the areas of most immediate need, such as the route Gerald described, (by
the way Gerald, your memory is impeccable, I think I even saw the bridge
which would most likely be a dead end [pte. ca' Pesaro] ) and use these as
needed. FWIW, I was impressed with this first iteration of the map. Check it
out. (Disclaimer- no association with veniceXplorer.net other than as a
website visitor. )

John B. was right about the baggage limits, we're flying Lufthansa to VCE
and the total checked allowance is 20kg. Dang! Have to do some serious
trimming of the rock collection I usually take. <G> (Unless of course, I
find for certain I *can* check our bags through to VCE, in which case I
think I would be circumventing the restrictions.)

Gerald wanted to know what the big savings were by ticketing seperate
flights- well- the "serious" money saved happens because of the one week
layover in London on the return. I tried numerous airlines and "discount "
websites, and purchasing a multiple destination ticket with stopovers
*always* resulted in at least a doubling of the fare, and sometimes a
tripling of the cost. By purchasing a r/t ticket to LHR with the return date
at the end of our trip, and then a r/t from LHR/VCE for the duration of our
Italy leg, (we will be spending our week in London after Venice and
Florence) I received a total fare of $558.00 USD r/t per person from the
west coast including taxes and fees . Not too bad.These fares were booked at
the airlines' websites. I could probably have lowered this number by about
$100.00 USD If I booked the Venice flight through RyanAir, but Ryan only
allows 15kg of baggage per person, and then there are the associated hassles
of collecting the bags, the time and expense of a bus ride to STD, and so
on.

Again, all replies were greatly appreciated. Any other tips?

Regards,

J R Kessler

Gerald

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:27:45 GMT, "Cathy Kearns"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >'m a bit confused here. Last June (6 months ago) I flew SFO to LHR
    >on Virgin, and then took BA to Rome. Our luggage was checked
    >through from SFO to Rome, despite it being two different airlines.
    >Layover time was 4 hours or so. Bags made it to Rome fine. How
    >is Venice different?
This guy has two tickets. He is taking two separate flights. The
airlines have a tendency to look at 4 hours just like 4 days or 4
years. He has huge problems if the luggage does not arrive from SEA
or wherever. If you were on one ticket, no matter where along the
line BA misplaces the luggage, in 2 or 3 days, or when ever they feel
like it, your luggage will arrive at your place in rome.

    >I've flown many an airline switching planes in Rome, Paris, Munich,
    >or Amsterdam. Often I have to change airlines, as the trans-atlantic
    >carrier doesn't make the inter-Europe flights. Usually, but not
    >always the two carriers code share. (The Virgin/BA flight obviously
    >wasn't a code share) I've never had to find my luggage and re-check it.
    >Perhaps I'm just lucky?

You come back to USA from un-USA, you find your luggage, go through
customs and recheck it if you are continuing on.
    >> Another condition to be aware of is the different baggage allowance
    >> within Europe compared to trans-Atlantic flights. Last I knew most
    >> flights within Europe had a 20 kg (44 pound) limit for the total of
    >> checked and carry-on. Above that you are assessed a fairly steep charge
    >> per kilogram. Some years ago I was charged about 25 pounds for my
    >> luggage on a flight from London to Amsterdam after flying from Miami to
    >> London within the trans-Atlantic baggage limits.

The charges are much higher today.

Gerald

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 19:52:01 GMT, "Rick Kessler"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >First, Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply with suggestions and
    >personal experiences.
    >There seems to be some dispute over whether or not we can check our bags
    >through to Venice or not. I guess we'll just try to check through to VCE
    >when we leave Seattle, all they can do is say is no, right? We do have a 4-5
    >hour layover in London, so I don't anticipate any timing issues with our
    >bags arriving in Venice with us. Doesn't mean there couldn't be other issues
    >of course. <g>

If iyu are on LH to VCE, you should be able to check through. You
will still have to travel lite, as VCE-LHR will have the low limit.
    >Regarding the transport from VCE into Venice and our hotel, the concensus is
    >that the Alilaguna is not the best way, and a water taxi from VCE is
    >exorbitantly expensive for value received. I bow to others experience, and
    >will take the bus to P. Roma/Ferrovia. I may try to get a water taxi from
    >the Ferrovia depending on how dark it is when we arrive.
VCE is about same lattitude as SEA. Should get dark at about the same
time 5-5:30.

While one of the
    >charms of Venice may be getting lost in the back streets, I will save that
    >experience for when we have had a good nights sleep, have daylight, and
    >aren't hauling baggage with us. ;-) Our hotel fronts the Gran Canal, and
    >has entry available at that point, so a taxi might be a good alternative.
I assume you mean water taxi. My point on that is why spend at least
€50 for P roma to room, when from airport to room is €85. I have
never hired a taxi for such a short distance, but maybe someone else
has.

    >Regarding the San Stae to hotel walk ,as described by Gerald (should we
    >decide to take the vaporetto) I found a great downloadable (about 5M?)
    >interactive map on veniceXplorer.net which allows you to zoom, pan, display
    >vaporetto routes, stops and timetables, as well as points of interest,
    >restaurants, print, etc,etc. Supposedly, this map will soon be available for
    >download to a PDA, in which case I'll take it with me. If not, I'll print
    >the areas of most immediate need, such as the route Gerald described, (by
    >the way Gerald, your memory is impeccable, I think I even saw the bridge
    >which would most likely be a dead end [pte. ca' Pesaro] ) and use these as
    >needed. FWIW, I was impressed with this first iteration of the map. Check it
    >out. (Disclaimer- no association with veniceXplorer.net other than as a
    >website visitor. )
I have tried to buy a hardcopy of their map and their hotel/restaurant
list. They apparently do not have one.


    >John B. was right about the baggage limits, we're flying Lufthansa to VCE
    >and the total checked allowance is 20kg. Dang! Have to do some serious
    >trimming of the rock collection I usually take. <G> (Unless of course, I
    >find for certain I *can* check our bags through to VCE, in which case I
    >think I would be circumventing the restrictions.)
    >Gerald wanted to know what the big savings were by ticketing seperate
    >flights- well- the "serious" money saved happens because of the one week
    >layover in London on the return. I tried numerous airlines and "discount "
    >websites, and purchasing a multiple destination ticket with stopovers
    >*always* resulted in at least a doubling of the fare, and sometimes a
    >tripling of the cost. By purchasing a r/t ticket to LHR with the return date
    >at the end of our trip, and then a r/t from LHR/VCE for the duration of our
    >Italy leg, (we will be spending our week in London after Venice and
    >Florence) I received a total fare of $558.00 USD r/t per person from the
    >west coast including taxes and fees . Not too bad.These fares were booked at
    >the airlines' websites. I could probably have lowered this number by about
    >$100.00 USD If I booked the Venice flight through RyanAir, but Ryan only
    >allows 15kg of baggage per person, and then there are the associated hassles
    >of collecting the bags, the time and expense of a bus ride to STD, and so
    >on.
    >Again, all replies were greatly appreciated. Any other tips?

Let me know if you want to know about London.
    >Regards,
    >J R Kessler

Cathy Kearns

"gerald" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:27:45 GMT, "Cathy Kearns"
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >'m a bit confused here. Last June (6 months ago) I flew SFO to LHR
    > >on Virgin, and then took BA to Rome. Our luggage was checked
    > >through from SFO to Rome, despite it being two different airlines.
    > >Layover time was 4 hours or so. Bags made it to Rome fine. How
    > >is Venice different?
    > >
    > This guy has two tickets. He is taking two separate flights. The
    > airlines have a tendency to look at 4 hours just like 4 days or 4
    > years. He has huge problems if the luggage does not arrive from SEA
    > or wherever. If you were on one ticket, no matter where along the
    > line BA misplaces the luggage, in 2 or 3 days, or when ever they feel
    > like it, your luggage will arrive at your place in rome.

I was on two tickets. One Virgin, one British Air. If you can get them
to check it through in Seattle it will show up in Venice.

    > >I've flown many an airline switching planes in Rome, Paris, Munich,
    > >or Amsterdam. Often I have to change airlines, as the trans-atlantic
    > >carrier doesn't make the inter-Europe flights. Usually, but not
    > >always the two carriers code share. (The Virgin/BA flight obviously
    > >wasn't a code share) I've never had to find my luggage and re-check it.
    > >Perhaps I'm just lucky?
    > You come back to USA from un-USA, you find your luggage, go through
    > customs and recheck it if you are continuing on.
    > >
    > >>
    > >> Another condition to be aware of is the different baggage allowance
    > >> within Europe compared to trans-Atlantic flights. Last I knew most
    > >> flights within Europe had a 20 kg (44 pound) limit for the total of
    > >> checked and carry-on. Above that you are assessed a fairly steep charge
    > >> per kilogram. Some years ago I was charged about 25 pounds for my
    > >> luggage on a flight from London to Amsterdam after flying from Miami to
    > >> London within the trans-Atlantic baggage limits.
    > The charges are much higher today.

Olivers

Rick Kessler muttered....


    >
    > Again, all replies were greatly appreciated. Any other tips?
    >
    > Regards,
    >
One other possibility, involving bus to Piazzale Romani, and the
vaporetto...

IIRC one of your early comments, your hotel is located almost directly
across the Gran from the Ca d'Oro. At the Ca d'Oro, there's a "traghetti"
service, a cheap, less than 2 Eus, gondola ferry across the canal, one of a
half dozen or so such services, operated with undecorated gondolas,
rowed/sculled by guys apparently waiting for the "tickets". We used them
several times on a recent visit, and while not so romantic as a
conventional gondola ride, you get some of the thrill for substantially
less...


In retrospect, the real distances in Venice, at least Santa Croce, San Polo
and San Marco, are laughably short, but if you don't have a good map or a
good sense of direction, can involve fits, starts and detours.

TMO

Rick Kessler

I found a great downloadable (about 5M?)
    > >interactive map on veniceXplorer.net which allows you to zoom, pan,
display
    > >vaporetto routes, stops and timetables, as well as points of interest,
    > >restaurants, print, etc,etc. Supposedly, this map will soon be available
for
    > >download to a PDA, in which case I'll take it with me. If not, I'll print
    > >the areas of most immediate need, such as the route Gerald described, (by
    > >the way Gerald, your memory is impeccable, I think I even saw the bridge
    > >which would most likely be a dead end [pte. ca' Pesaro] ) and use these
as
    > >needed. FWIW, I was impressed with this first iteration of the map. Check
it
    > >out. (Disclaimer- no association with veniceXplorer.net other than as a
    > >website visitor. )
    > I have tried to buy a hardcopy of their map and their hotel/restaurant
    > list. They apparently do not have one.

The map I got was downloaded to my computer (free) and has search/display
functionality in several areas- vaporetto routes, stops and timetables-
address search- palace, church post office, museum, guardia etc. search-,
all these are contained in the map database. But, if you want info on, for
instance, restaurants or most hotels (there is a limited database of hotels
contained within the downloaded map) , a website window opens up at
venicexplorer.com with a searchable database for those items. I didn't see
where there was a hardcopy map available, which mimics your experience as
well.

    > Let me know if you want to know about London.

Thanks, but I studied in London during my College years, so it's like going
home. As I was a broke college student, I never got to the Continent, which
I am now belatedly trying to make up for.

Gg

"Cathy Kearns" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "John Bermont" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Rick Kessler wrote:
    > > > My wife and I will be going to Italy and the UK in Feb./March next
year,
    > and
    > > > I'm trying to get a handle on a few issues-
    > > >
    > > > 1) The first destination on our itinerary will be Venice, IT. In order
    > to
    > > > save some serious money on tickets, I booked the flights to LHR (r/t
    > from
    > > > SEA) and VCE (r/t from LHR) separately. So- we will be arriving in
    > London,
    > > > and continuing the same day (4 hour layover) to Venice- different
    > tickets
    > > > and carriers. My question is, should I be able to check my bags
through
    > to
    > > > Venice from my starting point (SEA) or will I need to collect them at
    > LHR,
    > > > go through customs at terminal 3 with the bags and then have to drag
    > them to
    > > > terminal 1 for the Venice leg. I know this is probably a stupid
    > question,
    > > > but I'm unfamiliar with the current regulations following 9/11 to
    > identify
    > > > each bag with a traveler.
    > > >
    > > > RK
    > > >
    > > >
    > >
    > > Rick,
    > >
    > > I've made a number of connections in London. Here are some tidbits.
    > >
    > > You will probably need to claim baggage at LHR and then check it in
    > > again to go to Venice. It is not only since 9/11 that passengers at LHR
    > > were required to identify their baggage before it was loaded. I had to
    > > do that some years ago. I think it was during the first unfinished Gulf
    > War.
    > I'm a bit confused here. Last June (6 months ago) I flew SFO to LHR
    > on Virgin, and then took BA to Rome. Our luggage was checked
    > through from SFO to Rome, despite it being two different airlines.
    > Layover time was 4 hours or so. Bags made it to Rome fine. How
    > is Venice different?
    > I've flown many an airline switching planes in Rome, Paris, Munich,
    > or Amsterdam. Often I have to change airlines, as the trans-atlantic
    > carrier doesn't make the inter-Europe flights. Usually, but not
    > always the two carriers code share. (The Virgin/BA flight obviously
    > wasn't a code share) I've never had to find my luggage and re-check it.
    > Perhaps I'm just lucky?
<rest snipped>

I've had bags checked through too with separate tickets, different airlines.
It depends on the two airlines involved and whether or not they have an
agreement to interline baggage. Some of the major airlines do not have
agreements with smaller, low cost carriers.
GG