Have a Rick Steves Tours to Tuscany scheduled for April May, and starting to look at airfares
was very surprised that the options available are EXTREMELY limited and much more expensive than what I’ve seen in past trips.
Is this a real thing and /or is it going to get better? I assume that part of it is due to the high operational cost for the Airlines and they’re cutting back on some flights.
Anybody else have any experiences with this or any suggestions?
Are you talking about the Best of Tuscany tour.? It starts in Florence which has an international Airport, with flights to many European hub airports. It ends in Lucca which is less than half an hour from Pisa airport which also has flights to major European hubs . Not all RS tours begin and end in major cities with nonstop flights to or from the US,
As for flight prices, for some inexplicable reason, the volatility in the gas and oil markets and historically high prices for jet fuel have caused ticket prices higher than those common in previous years. I can think of one or two things that may make it better.
You might also look at airfares to Milan and Rome and see if they're less expensive - then take a fast train to Florence.
Not really. Where are you flying from?
Flying from Orlando and doing a pre tour detour to Venice
There don't seem to be any direct flights from Orlando into Italy, but in general the airfares seem pretty low looking in April.
Air France has <$1,000 flights into Florence or Bologna.
Air France and American/British Airways have <$1,000 fares into Venice.
It looks a couple of bucks more as you get into May but it really doesn't get any cheaper than this unless you're booking super duper special fares almost a year out from what I've seen.
What are you seeing that you didn't like? Do you have carriers or airports you're really tied to that are limiting your searches?
Seems like a good time to be booking based on what I've seen the last couple of years,
=Tod
Monitor google flights and sign up for its notifications for flights to Venice, Bologna, or Milan. Out of Pisa, Florence, or Milan.
For no particular reason, I've kept my notifications for a flight I already have tickets for and there are times when the price is double what I paid and other times when it's pretty close to what I paid. Really worth it to keep checking.
Nancy8, I also keep my Google Alerts on after I buy my flights, usually 8-9 months in advance. For my April 2026 trip, the price never went under what I paid. I felt that was great research and guided me for future flights.
You can use ATL, PHI, CHA or JFK as "hubs" (although I prefer to avoid the crowded NYC airspace these days). Those will get to to Venice under a grand with no stops. You could also choose to go through Madrid or some other European city. I fly Iberia business class a lot and they have screaming good miles deals.
My preferred method is to start by using Flightsfrom.com to reverse engineer a good transatlantic flight from my city.
We often pick a part of a country to see, then buy our airfare before finalizing our itinerary. For example, one time we wanted to focus on Northern Italy. It was actually cheaper to fly into Zurich and out of Milan than flying in/out of Milan. So, we added 2 days in Switzerland and finished up in Milan. Finding split city tickets does take a bit more work, but it allows you to start in one city and not have to backtrack or circle around at the end of your trip.
We often fly direct from Atlanta to whichever major city is cheapest, and then take the fast train to our smaller or more expensive destination (assuming the cost of the train tickets is still less than the difference in the airfare.)
great responses and lots of ideas to solve travel challenges. Grazie mille! Appreciate it.
