Discount air travel to Italy

Both Explore Trip and Travel Merry have poor reviews.

Sorry Fran but while we do use Skyscanner, we only book tickets abroad directly through the airlines. $900 is still a lot of money so if there's a problem, we don't want to be hassling with a third party.

I know someone - family of 4 - who booked Italy through a third party and didn't have a flight when they got to the airport. The booker didn't file the reservation with the airline or something like that. Anyway, they never did get to go on that trip, and spent months trying to recoup the money: not the way I want to start a vacation!

I used a third-party vendor once, for a domestic flight, never again.

I know money is a major consideration for most of us, but why would anyone consider booking with a company that has poor reviews?

I would never use a wholesaler to purchase airfare. Like others, I use the search engines to search for fares, then book directly on the airline website. The flights your looking at probably use different carriers and that just creates so much more than can go wrong. I had a friend who used Expedia for flights, On the day before her return flight she went to check in and there was no such flight, Expedia failed to inform her that her return flight was cancelled and SHE would need to rebook. The airline had advised their customer, Expedia of the change by email, Expedia did not forward the email to my friend, so the Airline was off the hook, Expedia said they never received it...and so my friend, stuck with her 10 year old daughter, had to purchase, at full fare, two tickets to get home. I actually saw a fare and route that I Love on skyscanner through Air Lingus, no such flights on the Air Lingus website, so we may need to use a travel agent or I may call Air Lingus directly.

Thank you - Kathy, Zoe, and Letizia. Advice appreciated. Fran

Have used third party through Kayak with no problem and will continue. Have had more problems with UA on connections and cancelled flights then ever with Kayak vendors.

One thing I noticed about skyscanner when I was pricing is that many of their tickets did not include fees. Because I was a bit rabid about tracking flights, I used several sources. The most reliable was the ITA matrix that travel agents use which can be found at:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Since this is not a booking company, I would use this to start my search. If you decide to do open jaw, here is the resource I used:

http://maphappy.org/2014/05/how-to-book-cheap-open-jaw-tickets/

Using skyscanner, google flights and others to 'tip me off' to sales, I would then go to the matrix and validate the info. Then, I booked directly with the airline.

Hope this helps :-)

Fran,

Another problem with these on-line travel agents, they purchase really cheap seats from the airlines but the reason the seats are so cheap is because they're awful - middle row, back of the plane, next to the lav, etc. And you generally won't be able to upgrade out of that seat... Buyer beware.

It might also be advisable to search consumer advocate web sites such as Christopher Elliott (Travel Troubleshooter) to see what you're getting yourself into.

I have had no problem picking seats using third party suppliers while using Kayak. As soon as you get your confirmation and are in the window of the airline for picking seats, you call the airline and can pick what is available on the flight. Airlines sell blocks, not individual seats. Have done this with Icelandic, and Turkish with no problem.

I follow Fare Deal Alert and The Flight Deal on Facebook to stay in the know for discounted flights. I use google flights to search for tickets which then usually gives the option to book at quoted rate directly through airlines. This past time was strange though (snagged $750 tickets to Italy); google flights wasn't showing the American Airlines deal through AA online, had to call British Airways. They couldn't get me the deal so I almost gave up. I checked AAs website and there were our lovely cheap tickets waiting for us to book them! Lesson being, check out all legitimate options for booking a deal.

I actually bought my tickets through travel zoo for a great price! Every few months they have a special for round trip to Milan 850 for two! It's through Emirates! So watch travel zoo's top 20 each week. Oh I forgot it's out of JFK. New York 😀

I actually bought my tickets through travel zoo for a great price! Every few months they have a special for round trip to Milan 850 for two! It's through Emirates! So watch travel zoo's top 20 each week. Oh I forgot it's out of JFK. New York 😀

Skyscanner is good, but the Norwegian Airlines website (norwegian.com) is where I buy my tickets. I've been able to fly from LA to Rome for $500.-$600. round trip. The Norwegian Dreamliners are great planes, and you can buy trip cancellation insurance (in case of illness) for only $12.00 when you book your tickets.