A few questions from a neophyte

Can you be more specific about the flights? Where are you planning to fly into/out of? What dates and what pricing differences?

Usually, the best pricing comes with an "open jaw" (fly into one city, home from another) or a round trip, not separate segments. I try to choose the most direct flights possible and avoid extra segments unless the cost savings is significant. One-way flights tend to be more expensive than open jaw or round trip flights.

I'm fairly tall, and for some reason I don't mind economy class seating on international flights. I paid extra for economy plus once on Delta a few years ago, and it amounted to just a few extra inches of leg room. I thought it was a waste of money. What I really prefer, actually, is more room on the sides, so you aren't fighting for the arm rest. But some people think paying extra for "economy plus" (or whatever the airline's extra room seating is called) is well worth it. Depends who you ask.

The earlier in May the cheaper the prices. I was Italy May 2017 2nd week it was sunny most days not hot.
Depending on the airline there is more leg room in premium. What airline are you trying to book with?
Since you are beginner traveler you should tell us the dates when and from where you are trying to fly to and from. That way we can tell you possible routes.

The benefit of flying on one ticket is that, if one segment is delayed and you miss the connection, the ticket-issuing airline is obligated to get you to your destination. Example: If your first leg, on Delta or its partners, is delayed, but our second leg is on British Air or its partners, you are on your own.

If you purchase tickets from a third-party (Expedia, etc.), you have to go to them for any adjustments.

Piedmont has plenty to keep you busy, pick up a good guidebook for that region and see what interests you. Torino is wonderful.

I am short but I always try to get comfort economy, I feel like a sardine instead of an anchovy.

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses!

We're pretty much equidistant from Detroit, Cleveland and Columbus, OH. Columbus has the advantage of having someone who can drop off/pick up, thus avoiding parking. The dates I've checked on thus far were May 22 : June 6. Pricing for late September (around 9/19) didn't seem to be available yet. We plan to go the open jaw route. I've compared routes flying into Rome, Milan and Florence with flying JFK-Paris-Florence from each of the 3 cities above. The flight home depends on where we finish the trip after our train ride.

We're open to suggestions for airlines to use or avoid. I'll take being a sardine over an anchovy any day!

And thanks for the suggestion on the Piedmont. The area appeals to us but we were worried about transportation.

Our second trip to Europe in March 2015, we started in Paris, then took the train to Lucerne, Switzerland for 2 nights, then over the Alps, and down to Florence then Salerno in Italy--the trip in total was 16 nights. Other than the flights there and home, it was train all the way.

Even though the Lucerne/Florence train trip was not thought of as 'scenic', a la the Bernina Express, it was much more efficient and had some wonderful scenery on its own. In southern Switzerland we actually went up into a snow squall, then down out of it into sunny greenery on the other side of the Alps, memorable to say the least.

Time of year--I think as early in May as possible is probably the best time because late September into October is still in high season.

Logistics--don't have any trepidation about train travel in that part of Europe because it's wonderfully comfortable and if booked correctly is a tremendous value. Actually, I'd be doing it north to south, but you could reverse it, of course. Fly into Zurich, take the train (less than an hour) to Lucerne. Stay 2 nights like we did--you'll find that Switzerland is quite pricey for any longer than that!

We never liked being on a train more than 4 hours a day, finding that traveling in the afternoons allowed us to have a leisurely morning having breakfast, packing, then moseying over to the train station, which in Lucerne was a block away from our great hotel, right in the middle of town. In that vein, I'd be staying, after a 2.5 hour train ride, one or two nights in the Como area to set myself up for the main parts of the trip.

A train from Como to Genoa is 2.5 hours, then a regional train for an hour gets you as far as Cena, but as far as I can see (on the Rome2Rio transit site) there is no train line to Langhe. So you'll have to do some research as to getting around in that area.

Once you finish your time in Piedmont, there are different schools of thought as to whether you should spent the rest of your time in Florence, daytripping it to Siena (less than an hour by bus) or splitting your time in both places left before flying out of Florence and home. Unless you have a need to stay in Siena, my opinion would be to set up shop in Florence, maybe even with a VRBO apartment within walking distance of the train station, and see Siena during the day. Other close daytrips from the Florence SMN train station are Fiesole (actually 20 min bus ride), Lucca, Pisa. Even Venice is only 2 hours away. And of course there are the wonders of Florence itself. We spent 5 nights there and took no daytrips, that's how much we were grooving on Firenze!

Oh--one more thing, about economy seats. I can only vouch for Lufthansa, but on a return flight, 10 hours from Munich to Chicago, we were very happy indeed to pay the $295 extra per ticket to snag a couple Economy Plus seats, which gives you about an extra foot behind the seat in front of you. I thought it was well worth it. I think the width of the seats are the same. Check your carrier for details.

Enjoy your planning!

Sounds a great trip! One consideration for May vs. September / Oct is that the daylight will be much longer in May. For temp comparison, look at your dates and places on weatherbase.com. I agree with Andrew that regular economy is fine; we'd rather save a few hundred dollars to use on something else. Enjoy your trip!

I think longer stays is more enjoyable than 1 or 2 nights in each place. You may be right that 4 nights in Piedmont could be too quiet.

For deciding if the bigger seats are worth the price, you can use SeatGuru.com to look up the exact seat dimensions for your flight.

If you book connecting flights on separate tickets you take the risk (and cost) if your first flight is delayed or canceled, but on one ticket the airline must get you to the final destination. Sufficient connection time to mitigate the risk would be on the order of 24+ hours for me and that’s not worth the time.

The “multiple cities” option on airline search engines is useful for what RS calls open-jaw but occasionally one way tickets are cheaper. It’s not risky to buy those tickets separately.

I have driven over the Alps so can’t offer much advice for that but for a train ride through the Alps be sure to not take a train under the Alps like in the Gothard Base tunnel. Consider instead a visit to Lake Garda where the north end is in the Alps.

Venice is also worth a few nights and is an easy train ride from Florence.

Enjoy the planning and the trip!

We used to do Italy every year in May because that was our travel window when we worked; now that we are retired we travel in the fall when we can and it is much better. Weather in September will be very warm and in October quite pleasant. May is often cold and rainy (and unpredictable -- it can be lovely and the poppies are in bloom) With a choice I would choose later September, early October. It is still a busy season of travel as people with flexibility have learned that fall is the most pleasant travel time in Europe.

Never book separate flights unless you ave a day or more between them; flights do come in late and if you miss a separate flight you are SOL. Most of our trips to Europe have involved late flights from anywhere from a half hour to 5 hours.

4 locations in that length of time is quite doable but not a leisurely trip. If it were me I would give a week to Tuscany with an apartment in a hill town with parking and then perhaps two other stops at most. 3 nights is two full days; 4 nights 3 whole days. This works to get a taste of major places like VEnice Rome or Florence, but it is by no means 'relaxed' or 'leisurely'

We just flew premium economy on American from Paris to Chicago and were very pleasantly suprised. The seats are bigger, more legroom, footrests and better food. (with real silverware and glasses!) We were flying on D3 buddy passes and were bumped up to this class. Made the long flight much more tolerable.

Becky beat me to it, but on most airlines premium Econ is more than a few more inches of space for your knees
In addition , you may get earlier boarding, on top of the parks Becky mentioned. Each airline is a bit different, so read the fine print

Another vote for Italy in May. I've been there twice during May, and it's been wonderful both times. It's not too hot during the day. You may need a sweater/light jacket in the evenings, but it's a fairly comfortable cool feeling.

Phrank, although others have already mentioned the potential problem of late arrivals and missing connecting flights, there is one more consideration to keep in mind if you book each segment of your flight separately. Don’t do this if you check luggage. You may have to fetch the luggage and recheck it with each connecting flight, as they will be counted as separate trips when you book each leg separately.

The same "economy" seat (or any seat) on one airline is not necessarily the same as the equivalent seat on another airline. They vary according to the specific airline and aircraft, and occasionally there are minor variations among the same aircraft family (eg Boeing 787-800 versus 787-900). So, the only way to know about the dimensions of the seat you are buying is to look up that specific seat on that specific airline on that specific flight. Use seatguru.com for that, but be aware that seatguru is not always 100% accurate, and even if it is, the airline may make a last-minute equipment swap which means all bets are off.

That said, as unreliable and challenging as it is, I think one really needs to do this research when contemplating buying a ticket. Anyone who just blindly buys a ticket without checking what they're getting themselves into kind of deserves what they experience. Too many consumers are blind to every consideration except price, and that's why flying has become so miserable - the airlines are just giving what everyone seems to be asking for (a low price above any other consideration).

There ARE significant differences between the seats. Other factors can also make a big difference in how you feel while in transit and for a few days after arrival - besides seat dimensions, connections, timing, routing, service, etc. All matter, to varying degrees. You do have choices, if you only choose to look that the absolute lowest price, then don't whine about other things.

Good luck.

I vote for ... either. Have traveled to Italy in both October and May, and loved both. Rome got a little warm for me in very late May (2017) but I don't deal well with heat.

My husband is 6' but does ok in Economy as long as he gets an aisle seat and walks around to talk to the crew; I'm 5'4" and can sleep anywhere; so we use the Premium Economy upgrade money for other vacation splurges. If there's 2-across seating, we sit together, otherwise we both get aisle seats so nobody gets the dreaded middle seat.
And at 70+ we get non-stops whenever possible.

A vote for May. In September the flowers in Rome - e.g. the Spanish steps - are likely to be scorched.

And be sure to book your flights directly with the airline, not an online ticketing website. If there is anything to deal with, you want to be able to deal directly with the airline, not an unresponsive third party that already has your money.

Thank you to all who replied. This is a such a great resource.