My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

The order for my 525 is in. It will be a 24month/10K lease with the following options.
-TiAG Metallic with Black Napa Leather
-Steptronic, ZPP, ZSP, Xenon, PDC, Nav

I will be traveling with Mrs. BABF and BABF Jr. who will turn 8 months during the trip. Our pickup date is March 20. I am using AA miles on a OW award in business class and SPG points for a 7 night stay in luxury Starwood properties.

European Holiday from SPG

Mrs. BABF does not want to drive too much with BABF Jr. So we are going to restrict ourselves to the main cities. We plan to park once we are inside the city, stay close to the city center, and use public transport/taxi/walk. I would appreciate any pointers on where to stop during our road trips.

Itinerary:
March 18: Fly out of SFO-ORD-YYZ on AA. Connect with BA YYZ-LHR
March 19: Fly LHR-MUC; arrive MUC at 4:45PM
March 20: Pickup car; Drive to Venice

VENICE: Nights of March 20 and March 21
The two hotels I am considering are:
Westin in Venice Proper

Westin on Lido Island
I would prefer the Westin in Venice proper but I am not sure how to get there with my car, drop the luggage, and then where to park.

March 22: Drive from Venice to Florence:
FLORENCE: Nights of March 22 and March 23
Hotel Choices:
The Grand Hotel

Westin in Florence

Parking at the hotel is valet and costs between 45 and 60 Eu. I have found a public garage about a mile away for 15 Eu which I plan to use.
Italian Description of Parking
Google Translation

March 24: Drive from Florence to Rome; Will stop at the Prada factory/outlet on the way to make it worth it for Mrs. BABF. Will drop the car off in Rome at Harms. The BMW web page does not describe where exactly the drop off point is. I hope it is easy to find my way back to Rome Central from there.

ROME: Nights of March 24, 25, 26

Westin Rome

March 27: Fly to FCO-MAD (Iberia)
March 30: Fly MAD-LHR-DEL (BA)
April 9: Fly DEL-ORD-SFO (AA)

Wait for redelivery....

Reply » My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

Nice leisurely itinerary. Good plan, esp. with Baby On Board.

Only comment is that you have a lot of connections to get from SFO to MUC. Going through YYZ - wow.

Pity you aren't going through NY or LA. AA has Flagship Suites in the 777. Best flying experience one can have.

Regarding drop off in Italia, there is no drop-off point. The driver usually meets you at the airport, from what I have been told. You should double check this with Harms to be sure. The driver leaves the country immediately en route to Munich.

Reply » My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

AA had no award availability on SFO-JFK-LHR. I am lifetime Gold (1MM) with AA but do not get the added inventory which the Plats/ExPlats get. Plus BA has flat beds in Club and is very baby friendly. There is one extra connection ORD-YYZ which could have been avoided. I do not have enough points for F so the flagship suite was out of contention.

Though with a toddler, I think it will be better if we are able to go to a lounge to change him and clean him and relax ourselves often, instead of doing everything in a long flight.

Reply » My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

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In Florence, are you sure that Parcheggio Oltrarno is the clostest one? I would have thought Parcheggio della Stazione to be closer to either hotel.
If your wife wants to go to Prada, maybe you/r wife want to consider also "The Mall" (it's on the way to Rome from Florence - just ask at the hotel) with Gucci, Tod's, Zegna, Armani, Loro Piana outlets all in the same location: http://www.outlet-firenze.com/
Edit: as for the drop off: at the ED center in Munich they will call Harms and you will make the arrangements (day, city, place -- hotel or wherever you want). They' ll ask you for a tel. # where to reach you to confirm: cell is very useful). I don't remember if the meeting time is agreed upon at the time of the call from the ED center or later.

Reply » My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

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That's very true (lounge breaks) although one thing to consider is that babies have the most difficulty with pressure changes (takeoffs and landings) so the more you go up and down...

Didn't read the itinerary close enough so I didn't realize you are BA out of YYZ. Their new club class beds aren't bad either I'm told but I'm only on BA for short haul flights out of LHR (such as to MUC) and on those, there's no real difference in seating except for the missing middle passenger up front.

Reply » My ED Itinerary: Thoughts and Comments Welcome

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Link to Station Parking
I did not check this location since it is oriented toward short term parking (Hrs 1-2 are 2 Eu and 3+ are 3 Eu) which would make it a very expensive 48 hours!

The 1 mile distance should be walkable for me. There also seem to be a lot of busses available.

Thanks for the tip on the mall. I heard if you spend more than 250 Eu in a store you get the tax back.

It would be great if the driver could meet us at the hotel. I do not plan to have a cell phone with me. Though I could get a GSM card for my T-Mobile Blackberry. Do folks here have any pointers on how to do that?

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