First timers

I am not the expert on air fare since my access is thru one of two very small local airports, thus never any good fares, but I will tell you to spring for economy comfort or whatever your airline calls it. That is Delta's name for extra room. If you book early enough with economy comfort you can also choose the bulkhead seats with even more leg room...but no more sideways room, if that makes sense?

I am doing Village Italy in Sept 2014 and so looking forward to it! Rick's tours are just great.

Use www.kayak.com to find airfares to Europe for the dates you are interested. It's a Search Engine that searches other Search Engines.

In terms of room, you can check the advice of www.seatguru.com for the seat configuration and dimensions of the various types of aircraft by airlines.

Economy seats are cheaper but also less comfortable. Many airlines have introduced a new type of Economy seat, generally called Premium Economy (although the actual name may vary from airline to airline). They are economy seats, but with a little extra room. They sell for a higher price, but not exorbitantly higher and the extra cost might be worthwhile to you.

Not to burst bubbles here, but Delta's Economy Deluxe or whatever they call it, gives a few inches of more reclining in the seatback, and a few inches leg room. It was unbelievable how little the seats in coach class recline in an economy seat, and the 'premium seat' surely didn't lie down! If you can get a bulk head seat or exit seat row, that would be great.

Those few inches of leg room can mean a lot. Exactly how much extra room you get depends on the aircraft type. On a few flights, the person in the window seat could stand and walk past me without my scrunching up or standing.

Be sure to reserve an aisle seat. Take advantage of that opportunity to get up every hour (while you're awake) & walk a little to the back of the plane or to the bathroom to ease your back. Be diligent about how little you can pack in your suitcase to also help your back.

The reviews for the Village Italy Tour are great! Enjoy your trip!

I can't add anything about the airfare question, you've gotten good information so far. I can tell you that Village Italy was our first RS tour and we have taken 4 more since then. Village Italy is still one of our favorites. We flew into Venice for 3 nights and then took the train to Padua to meet the tour. The extra time in Venice at the beginning helped us get over the jet lag and walk off the stiffness from being on a long flight. Venice is a great place to do this and being there early gave me no fear that we might have a late flight and miss the beginning of the tour.

Have a great trip and enjoy the planning!
Mimi

As we aren't a travel agency we don't book or follow airfare. You can book directly with your preferred airline, or enlist the help of a travel agent. One we recommend that does a great job is Elizabeth Holmes Travel (tel. 206-547-8361; web: www.elizabethholmes.com).