Hello everyone,
I need to book a flight from FCO to Barcelona early July. It will be two of us with one large luggage to check in each. I am having trouble deciding on an airline since the reviews are pretty contradicting for some and no much knowledge on domestic airlines. I would like a direct flight. Also, what should I look in terms of average prices? your input is highly appreciated!
It is a short flight; go with the airline with the direct flight at the lowest price to accomplish what you need. The longer you wait to buy a plane ticket the higher the prices will go. Currently the prices range 42 to 200 dollars one way in July. You can look this up on Google flights. It currently looks you have 13 direct flights to chose from.
You may need to go most of the way through the booking process (just don't enter a credit card number!) to find out exactly what the checked-baggage fee will be. At least for the budget airlines, you'll want to pay that fee online ahead of time rather than doing it at the airport. Waiting will mean a much higher fee. Some airlines have at least two tiers of checked-bag fees, so you may need to know the weight of your bag as well as its size. If your bags are really large and heavy, it may cost considerably more to check the bags than the price of the tickets. It's worth checking every airline that has a time-suitable departure, since the mix of ticket prices and bag fees can vary quite a lot.
Also pay attention to the airports used by the various carriers. RyanAir, especially, is notable for flying into airports that are not in the city where you think you are going. I believe it uses Girona, for example, for some of its "Barcelona" flights. Girona is a really lovely place, but if you think you're going to land at the Barcelona airport and get a quick, inexpensive bus into the city, you will not be so happy to find yourself at the Girona airport instead.