Airline to use

Where you going to be traveling to?
Emirates also has regular seating--not all first class.

My only criteria are price and convenience. There is no airline I would rule out (or airport if it's close enough). Non-direct flights are not a big deal at all although I'm sure you can get a direct flight to Rome from JFK. I would probably pick Air France or KLM because food on non-US airlines is much, much better. I didn't enjoy my Alitalia flight to Rome many years ago, so I'm biased against Alitalia (but that doesn't mean you'd have a bad experience too, so take that with a grain of salt...it's one data point).

There is no right time to book. You should track fares over a few months to see where your comfort spot is. I use http://matrix.itasoftware.com to play around with dates. You can also use Kayak. The more flexible and patient you are, the better price you'll likely get. Personally, I wouldn't pay any more than say $850 for an October flight (I assume you're flying into Rome, right?)...I'm sure you can do better with Turkish Airlines but it does require a stopover.

For a direct flight the best time to book is now.

We can only tell you the airlines to avoid possibly if you tell us where you are going direct to Italy from JFK.

Emirates? They don't have direct flights from JFK to Rome if that is where you are planning to go.

I can't believe I left that detail out, yes Rome! I heard alitalia is having financial difficulty, so I'm afraid to use them. Does emetiatrs automatically load in first class. I almost fainted when I saw the price.

For a direct flight the best time to book is now.

Do you know something that no one else does, like how prices are going to move in the future?

Alitalia has been having financial difficulty forever. They're not my favorite but if the price is right, book 'em.

Emirates does not fly non stop to Rome from JFK
Since you are afraid of Alitalia From JFK Direct to Rome that leaves you with
American Airlines and Delta Airlines to choose from.

You should go to each site and start searching.

You could fly Emirates, but they fly nonstop into Milan, not Rome, from JFK. You would have to change planes there, or take a train. Emirates ticket prices are around $1,200 round trip in Economy right now. And only about $10,000 in 1st. Not sure what you were looking at to give you the $27K price.

Emirates do fly (daily I believe) from JFK to Milan Malpensa, using an A380. Fares are competitive and the product is far superior to that offered by the American carriers or Alitalia.

Wow djp_syd, you are absolutely correct! I could get a direct flight into Milan for $1082 round trip for two! Unbelievable! I don't know what I did, but I swear $27000. I was floored. I really like that option BUT then it would change my itinerary. I planned on Rome, Florence Tuscany. Hmmmm..maybe I could add 2 days & do Milan, Florence, Rome Tuscany, Milan. UGH!!!

Thank you all for your replies, this is why I love this site! Greatest advice EVER!

I did a dummy search from my closest airport on Emirates and it did retrieve some bogus fare that was close to $20,000 round trip. A ~ $500 fare to Milan is definitely worth some flexibility. The only bad part is that you'll never want to fly another airline again :-)

Sh**... sign me up for some of that Emirates.

That's what I hear, lol. It is a great price. The best I've seen. About $400 less than American or delta direct to Rome. So it may be worth it. I probably won't book until the end of March, so I'm hoping those prices will be there in a month. But I need to do my research before pulling the plug.

In this case, I would pull the trigger (normally I wouldn't recommend just jumping on the firs thing you see). But that sale expires in 2 days according to the website. I'm all about tracking fares over a few months because I've been doing it forever....so I know how rare a $500 flight to Europe is. The least I've paid was ~ $570 and that was through Turkish Air with a long overnight layover (not that I has any issue with that because I like traveling in Istanbul, and I love Turkish Air). Emirates is a 5-star airline, not a commodity like the others. And this is a direct flight. If it was me and I had set plans in October, I'd pull the trigger. Of course, there could be another sale later. Emirates has had sales to Milan before and so I'm sure it could have one again...but you won't know exactly when. If you want to wait, then subscribe online to get alerts when they have another sale.

Good luck, and I hope you find a good price and schedule for your trip.

you got to book that now;

You've got your choice of the following direct flights:
Alitalia--out of JFK
American--out of Philly or JFK
Delta--out of JFK
United--out of Newark seasonally (whatever that means)

I'd be looking for a great airfare before purchasing. If nothing comes up by the first of the Summer, go ahead and buy.

Emirates is also about to commence Newark to Athens (Greece not Georgia)
https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-to-launch-daily-service-to-newark-via-athens

Wow, that is a great special from Emirates! I have never considered Emirates. I wish they flew from the west coast to Europe, but it appears they fly only to Asia and Africa, at least from San Francisco.

Katie: any of the major airlines will get you to Italy and back safely, but I will note that in my experience the US airlines (AA, DL, UA) all provide sub-par service compared to the European based airlines. Go for ticket price and convenience of non-stop options out of JFK or Newark. I use flights.google.com extensively and it is really fast and flexible for finding all the round trip and open jaw combinations. I snagged a fare flying from Chicago to Milan, and then returning from Venice for $819 RT for a trip this June. Outbound is on Alitalia and the return is on Air France...all booked through the Delta airlines website as that is where the best fare was posted. Good luck and good travels!

So I ended up with Emeriates from jfk to Milan $490.46 pp direct flight, round trip. I couldn't pass it up. Thank you all for your comments. Now I have to go study up on Milan, which I wasn't even considering!