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    Rome: Modern and Ancient

    icon-user Andy Shuman icon-comments Comments July 25, 2018
    Rome: Modern and Ancient

    Once a small, nondescript village on the Tiber River, Rome grew into an astonishing world power, ruling a vast empire for almost 3,000 years,  and changing, reinventing and transforming the world, arts, politics, culture and itself as it went along.

    Today, Rome is a bustling metropolis, as well as a mecca for nightlife and shopping. The surprisingly walkable historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, filled to the brim with gorgeous palazzos, thousand-year-old churches, spectacular gardens and magnificent ruins, such as the Colosseum and Pantheon.

    Pantheon, Rome
    Pantheon, Rome

    As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, but so do airlines. Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Europe. In 2014, it served almost 40 million passengers. All of the major U.S. airlines fly there.

    Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber River
    Castel Sant’Angelo and the Tiber River

    American Airlines and the oneworld alliance

    The following oneworld alliance members fly to Rome:

    • American Airlines, seasonally from Chicago and New York
    • US Airways via Philadelphia, and seasonally from Charlotte
    • airberlin via Düsseldorf and Berlin
    • British Airways via London
    • Finnair via Helsinki
    • Iberia via Madrid
    • Niki via Vienna

    British Airways levies a substantial fuel surcharge on flights from the U.S., so you will save hundreds of dollars flying on American Airlines to London, and then on British Airways to Rome.

    Round-trip tickets purchased with AAdvantage miles cost:

    • 40,000 miles off-peak in economy (from October 15 to May 15)
    • 60,000 in economy
    • 100,000 in business
    • 125,000 in first

    Aventine Hill in Rome
    Aventine Hill in Rome

    MileagePlus Miles and the Star Alliance

    The following Star Alliance members fly to Rome:

    • United Airlines seasonally from Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.
    • Aegean Airlines via Athens, and seasonally from Corfu and Heraklion
    • Air Canada via Toronto
    • Austrian Airlines seasonally from Vienna
    • Brussels Airlines seasonally from Brussels
    • Croatia Airlines via Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb
    • Lufthansa via Frankfurt and Munich
    • Scandinavian Airlines via Copenhagen and Stockholm, and seasonally from Oslo
    • Swiss International Air Lines via Geneva and Zürich
    • Tap Portugal via Porto
    • Turkish via Istanbul

    Round-trip tickets cost:

    • 60,000 miles in economy
    • 140,000 in business
    • 160,000 in first

    Rome's skyline
    Rome’s skyline

    Delta SkyMiles and the SkyTeam

    The following SkyTeam members fly to Rome:

    • Alitalia via Boston, Miami and New York, and seasonally from Chicago and Los Angeles
    • Delta via Atlanta and New York, and seasonally from Detroit
    • Aeroflot via Moscow and Saint Petersburg
    • Air Europa via Madrid
    • Air France via Paris
    • KLM via Amsterdam

    Round-trip tickets cost:

    • 60,000 miles in economy
    • 125,000 in business

    First class tickets cannot be purchased with SkyMiles.

    Economy award seats cost 60,000 miles with any of the major alliances, unless you can take advantage of American Airlines’ off-peak awards by flying between October 15 and May 15. That will save you 20,000 miles.

    American Airlines also offers the best deal for business class. Tickets cost only 100,000 AAdvantage miles, compared with 115,000 MileagePlus miles, and 125,000 SkyMiles.

    Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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