Airfare prices.

You realize you're asking others to predict the future, right? :-) Oil prices are on the rise, as is widely reported and that's the bulk of the airlines' cost behind air travel. No one knows what the prices will do in the future. I know that's not the answer you probably want. Sorry.

Agreed no-one can predict the future, but my experience is that airfare prices tend to start moving when you get to within 3 months of the flight date. Before then, they know folks who are booking are not too price sensitive (those folks have to go, which is why they're booking so far in advance). I'm looking at similar dates for an Italy trip, and am waiting.

I had monitoring the open jaws into and out of Spain, and found some great prices if I changed cities, and dates.....slightly. Our June tickets ended up in the $1K range. If you can, try a return out of Malaga (we got great prices using this!), or try flights into Milan, then maybe book your own flight on one of the lo-cost inter EU airlines (use Skyscanner to find some of them). We found it cheaper and faster to book inter-Spain flights rather than train, in some instances. I usually check dates before and after my ideal dates, and this also gives us big savings. We found that two to three months before our flight gave us the best prices. Don't forget to set up an auto notice with Orbitz, Yapta, Kayak, etc. Let them tell you when the airne puts a few of the seats on sale in their quest to fill the plane.

Agreed that by far the best way to get lower prices is to be flexible as to your travel dates. Midweek is often hundreds of dollars less than weekends. And it's true that in the past airlines have waited to start lowering prices until three months before flights. What we don't know is whether this year will be different in that regard. We do know that airlines have become more aggressive in trying to keep prices higher by eliminating some flights entirely. The other unknown (as I mentioned) is what fuel prices are going to do. Unfortunately for the OP, June is absolute peak season for flying to Italy and therefore the highest demand for tickets. And you know what low supply and high demand means. Good luck.

We're going in June,too,but a bit earlier. We did NY to Venice and Rome to JFK and it came out to a bit under $1200. Leaving on Saturday and returning on a Monday. We saw that quite bit of what we wanted to do was closed Sunday or Monday so we planned on those days to be travel days. It seems like most west coast flights head east then across the Atlantic, so your SF to Philadelphia leg is $5-600 RT which is probably about right. I can only assume fuel costs will push prices upwards and I preferred to set my air travel dates so i could begin to work backwards in booking hotels. Good luck

Even the airlines themselves don't know what their prices will be a few months from now. That's because there are too many external factors that are unpredictable and beyond their control. It's good to remember that, once you set your dates of travel, the prices may go up or down, but the number of available seats on your dates will ALWAYS go down. That's why I always go ahead and book my flights as soon as my travel dates are set.

As an airline employee for a big, but not one of the big five, U.S. carrier, I recommend the statements from others that are encouraging you to fly midweek. It saves you a considerable amount and the flights will be more open, allowing you freedom to really sit where you want. And let's face it, on a long flight like that, who REALLY wants to be shoved into a corner or sardined in the middle of a row? No one. Oil prices ARE going to go up, and locking in your flight now does allow you to start planning your in-country hotel dates as well, a must for that time in Italy. In short, buy now and enjoy one more detail crossed off your large list of to-dos.

Thanks everyone. I am looking to buy our air tickets by next week for sure. You're right , this way I can focus on researching for hotels.

I have actually booked hotels before booking airfare when I have been sure of my dates. In fact for my trip this May i booked my hotels last October and my flight 2 weeks ago. i got very lucky and got an open-jaw in to Rome and out of Bari for 1264 nonstop from LA to Rome and back, weekend travel (trying to maximize work vacation time). It jumped more than 300 dollars later that day and has only kept increasing since. Seems like the summer fare sales may be few and far between this year unfortunately.

We bought our tickets right after the first of the year. SEA to FCO, VCE to SEA 5/13 to 5/29. We paid $1188 thru Delta. I was curious to see what those tickets were going for now. I logged on to Delta and was shocked to see the exact same flight combination is now $1782. By buying our two tickets in January, I saved us $1200. Wow.