Non rev to Italy

Hi, I would like to non rev to Italy the middle of October. I live in Phoenix. I am looking for advice on the best city to fly out of and what airline to use. I was thinking of JFK since Airlitalia has 3-4 flights a day. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, how far in advance should I buy tickets and list?

Hi and welcome!
JFK does have the most options for getting to Italy - AZ, DL & AA to MXP & FCO as well as EK to MXP. Unfortunately, the terminals are not connected so you will need to decide which airline you are going to take. Not sure if we have anyone from AZ or EK (Mig?) but there are plenty of helpful folks here who could help you out with load info on AA & DL. For AA, the FCO flight ends at the end of Oct (last flight to FCO on 10/28) but the MXP flight runs for the whole month. When I went about 9 years ago also in October, AA didn't fly to MXP yet. We flew into Rome, went south then back north ending up in Milan. We then took the train from Milan to Zurich for the ride back across the pond. ZED tickets are good for 90 days from when you buy them but you should be fine purchasing and listing about a week before you travel. Buy one ways to make refunds easier. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

I would highly recommend the Rick Steves Italy book. It was spot on for finding nice, affordable places to stay and eat. Found a gem of a place in Florence but of course, I didn't write the name of it.

I second that welcome.
Just FYI, there is another airport for Milan--Linate (LIN). If you need to connect to Rome, it might be a good Plan B. Lots of flts to Rome from LIN which is a 1 hourThere some bargains for upscale hotels I found on Secret Escapes site and lots on Voyage Prive w or w/out air from London. Just sign up (free) and explore their offers.
Our buddy pass riders have connected from all over EU (they can't use zeds) to do their nonrev to get to Rome.
You might find some older info w/search option.

Welcome aboard Katjoe, as you can see we have some well-traveled members on the board. At the moment the Forum doesn’t have anyone with EK, but we do have a AZ member who can help will info. One last thing – if you don’t have it already, consider Global Entry, it helps.

Perfect time to go to MXP, or FCO.

Thanks so much for all the info. I do have the Rick Stevens book. Would love to hear from the AZ member. I will definitely look into Global Entry, as I am not familiar with that.

Az has not such a good reputation. You could try AA, they fly to FCO, VCE and MXP. I do not remember when the seasonal service stop. MXP is far from the center and if you leave from this airport, it is quite a mess. To travel within Italy, the bus is a cheap and reliable option, we went form Genova to Milano with flixbus for 11 euros. In general between 6 and 9pm cafes have the "aperetivo" for 1 euro added to your drink you get a generous plate of food sample to eat

Flew AZ once, on the JFK-FCO route. Was fine. Had a whole row to myself on th 777.
October is a great time to nonrev! We go to Europe every October, and never have any issues.
Welcome, and enjoy!