Airline Tickets - when to buy? Seattle to Italy

The correct answer is during the full moon if you hear a wolf howl.....

Seriously, there are many different strategies that people use and sometimes these strategies are polar opposites. Generally, buying tickets earlier rather than later is best, but how early is too early? I think an entire year out is too early unless you are hoping to use frequent flyer miles.

Now is a good time to start tracking your preferred routes and get a sense of what a typical cost is. Then, when a fare you like does come along you can feel confident and purchase it knowing you received a good buy.

Just a reminder to include any baggage fees or seat selection fees in your price comparisons.

There is no right answer except that maybe start watching in August/September? You could also look at Icelandair. They fly out of Seattle. Sometimes Delta from MN can be pricey and I have to play with destinations a bit. I would guess Seattle would be similar. We are going to Italy late fall, and I ended up flying into Zurich for a large savings. You do also then need to factor in the train for that type of thing. I try not to fly thru CDG (more chance of strikes) and usually will try to fly thru Amsterdam. Recently I read on the forum, that it can be better to connect in Europe vs. connecting somewhere in the U.S. Although I don't always have a lot of choice, this made sense to me, because if a connecting flight is cancelled in Europe you have more options than if your connecting was a U.S. city.

If you’re using miles, start tracking the quantity of FF miles required for the same flights a month earlier. Sometimes those sway quite a bit! Then when your date opens up, you will know if it’s in the reasonable range to purchase. I noticed that the quantity of Delta FF miles needed this year seem to be higher from previous years.

I do like to book early, so we can have the bulkhead seats. We had a flight one year where the man sitting in front of my husband had his seat reclined back as far as possible the entire flight. We try to avoid a repeat of that experience.

Read a few days ago that Alaska Airlines will start to partner with Air Itay which will fly from Seattle to probably Milan. Hopefully, we’ll know soon when the flights will happen and how much they’ll be. Would be wonderful to be able to fly from Seattle to Italy nonstop.

Also, I frequently use Matrix-IT to search for flights. You can have them search over a month period (i.e., for all of May 2020) and they compare the prices for various airlines. You specify the number of stops you are willing to make. I found a flight from St. Petersburg, Russia to Los Angels for $125 using this search site.

Watch a variety of dates and flights - even 1 day can make a difference. We've tracked our desired flight for several years and typically bite about 7 to 4 months ahead. I would try to commit no later than 3 months ahead.

I don't think there is much of an upside from buying too early - there's no incentive for airlines to offer the best fares right when published, and you also risk schedule changes (plus you have to pre-pay once you book). I buy only after tracking the fares over several months across all airlines, and when the price is in the range I want to pay. I try to be as flexible as possible on every variable that goes into pricing (airline, exact dates, airports used, and itinerary). I also look at budget airlines and see what they're offering.

I've snagged some great deals to Italy by purchasing in January. When I've seen them, the prices jumped back up by the end of January/early February.

Last year on January 4th I paid $530 (carry-on only, reserved seats extra $) for Air France, direct from San Francisco to Rome, outbound late April, return in May - nearly in that 7 to 4 month window that Mike mentions.

From what I've seen flights are more expensive this year. But if you do as others have said - start checking prices early - you'll recognize a bargain-for-that-time-period when you see it and know to lock in your fare.

Tickets go on sale 331 days out. If you are buying from a US carrier or with miles, you can buy one way tickets without a penalty, If you are looking at Icelandair, Condor, or British Air, for example (all good options out of SEA), buy round trip as they charge more for one-way trips. We are flying BA to Heathrow then on to Italy this fall. I will do almost anything to avoid changing planes on the East Coast. Condor goes directly to Frankfurt, which we did this spring. Worked out well.

Now is the time to track the price of your flights--I use Google Flights. You will get a good idea of the going price for your routes so you can recognize a good deal when it arises. For our last couple of European flights (one to Italy), I found best fares about 5-7 months out--but I know that's not always the case.

As far as booking through Delta or Air France, check the fares--sometimes one or the other will have a better price for the same flight! (We entered our Delta FF number for an Air France flight and earned miles.) You may want to consider that, if there are issues with a flight once you are traveling, European-based airlines have different regulations (no personal experience, but from what I understand better than US airlines). I've flown both out of Seattle--Delta through Amsterdam, Air France through Paris. I had good experiences at both airports--lines through immigration moved quickly, employees were helpful if we had questions. If price and duration are your priorities, just go with the airline that offers the best of both to you!

Thanks for all the great advice. I hadn't thought about possible strikes at CDG, but now recall hearing of them occasionaly over the years. Will check out SEA-Amsterdam-Italy flights too.

Becky, that’s the best news today! We would love to see Alaska Airlines & partners providing s non-stop to Milan!

Fly out of JFK to Milan, really cheap tickets and non stop.

I buy early, but I'm 6 foot 8 and have to reserve the seats with extra legroom before someone else snatches them up

Jennifer, I do try to avoid CDG when I can, but I don't have a significant amount of choices as I believe is the situation with you, as well, so I do fly thru CDG when I have to, hope for the best and don't let it stress me out.

If you're willing to fly on airlines other than Delta then I highly recommend downloading the app Hopper https://www.hopper.com/. I have been watching flights to Rome, Italy for the last 6 months for a trip this Fall and I had seen prices drop all the way down to $535 roundtrip. About a month ago I thought we had missed our window of opportunity. Two weeks ago tickets dropped down all the way to $304 roundtrip!!! Due to the specific flight I chose they were slightly more but I was able to snag 4 roundtrip tickets for $322 a piece this September on British Airways. If you do download the app make sure you add ALL of your travelers names and birthdays and TRIPLE check the spelling (I had a mishap but was thankfully able to cancel for free within 24 hrs). You want to have all the info entered so you're ready to pull the trigger when deals pop up because they don't last long.

Delta sometimes offers Black Friday deals around Thanksgiving.
BUT be aware, they often do not last until Black Friday.
A couple years ago, they great fares appeared on Tuesday morning and were mostly gone by the next day.
I didn't get one of those, but I got a pretty good deal to Rome a few weeks later.
If you're willing to hold out til November, you can see what you might get with $$ instead of FF miles.

consider looking at flying out of Vancouver YVR we do it all the time as prices can be 1/3 the price of flying out of SEA

I also suggest you check flights out of Vancouver BC. They are sometimes significantly less costly - I saved nearly 50% on one trip. It may be well worth the trip north.

I'm going to try my related question here first. I've now been able to look at the flight options. Not really very many for getting from Seattle (or Vancouver) to Bari. Everything is still very expensive, especially for comfort plus or premium economy so I will keep tracking. I did find one option that I considered reasonable, but it involves booking the round trip to London Heathrow and back and then booking separate flights to and from Italy. The one flight that works under this plan to get us to Bari is a Ryan Air flight that lands in Bari at 9:20pm (We've got 8-9 hours to get from LTR to Stanstead). The lodging I've found is in Locorotondo and google maps shows it at as a 1 hour drive. Is this realistic? To think that we can leave Seattle at 3:20pm on a Friday and arrive at Bari at 9:20pm on Saturday and then get our rental car and drive an hour to our lodging? My other option would get us to Bari at 4:30pm, but right now costs $1000 more per person. Yikes!

Is this realistic? To think that we can leave Seattle at 3:20pm on a Friday and arrive at Bari at 9:20pm on Saturday and then get our rental car and drive an hour to our lodging?

You will have been traveling for 24+ hours and awake probably several more than that. How well do you sleep on planes? I'm usually fine the first night. It's the following night that I wouldn't want to be driving at night. What is your typical state of mind after your flight to Europe? Even if I'm fairly awake, I'm not sure I'd want to get a rental car in a new city and drive it at night for an hour to find my lodging.

As a different idea to keep the less expensive flight...do you have the option to stay the 1st night nearer the Bari airport and then drive to your intended lodging after you've gotten a good night's sleep?

Thanks CW, staying by the Bari airport could be an option, we were just hoping for two nights at the hotel I found near Locorotondo. I did find a Lufthansa flight (YVR/MUN/BRI) that gets in at 5:20pm for only $200 more for premium economy than the SEA/LTR/Stansted/BRI option I was looking at and that would have between 16 and 19 hours of travel to get to Bari depending on whether we drive to Vancouver that day or stay with friends close by YVR which is definitely better then the 24+ hours of the other option. Just don’t know much about Lufthansa or Air Dolomiti.

SEA/LTR/Stansted/BRI

Do you mean SEA-LHR, STN-BRI ? i.e., flying into Heathrow and out from Stansted

You are aware of the logistics of getting between airports in London?

Yes Joe. That flight landed at 8:30ish in the morning at Heathrow and left stanstead at 5:40 in the evening. Even with London traffic that seemed manageable. 😊. The problem was it didn’t land until 9:20 in Bari.

Noticed there’s an airfare sale on Aer Lingus. They flight nonstop Seattle to London several days a week. As you know, you will then need to buy separate tickets to Italy.

Options I would consider: Non stop SEA to Europe include connections to Bari from AMS and CDG. AMS has many direct flight options with a local carrier. CDG not so many with AF.

Second Hooper. Notification can be set up. Utilize Rome2Rio site.

We flew to LHR on BA. The next day LHR to FCO to BRI on Alitalia, very inexpensive.

Thanks for the suggestions. Air Lingus only flies non-stop from Seattle to Dublin. Also it doesn't look like they have any premium economy options, although their business class is cheaper than other airlines. I did look at Amsterdam, but as far as I can tell there are no non-stops from Amsterdam to Bari. I hate throwing in extra stops because it just adds to the chance for delays, cancellations and lost luggage. If I'm wrong, point me to a carrier, please. The best Amsterdam/Bari and Naples/Amsterdam connection puts you on the same Delta/Air France flight that the Seattle to Paris flight connects with and the initial Seattle to Amsterdam flight is priced about the same at this point.