Italy Airfare

I recently, like 2 weeks ago, read an article in the traveler's section of the the New York Times indicating the rising airfares to Europe and everywhere else for this summer. I paid $1573 for a Delta flight on 7/30 and returning on 8/19 roundtrip from Pittsburgh to Roma. A few days ago i checked a few websites and the prices have increased. Once you find a price you can live with...buy it. Furthermore, once you purchase do not look anymore or you will only drive yourself crazy. Unfortunately, the prices are what they are or will be. Buon viaggio,

Hi RB, I read the same article – it's what caused my panic attack! After hearing so many people tell me that we were too early to purchase and should wait until after the New Year, I immediately regretted not jumping on booking earlier after reading that. I never thought we would be paying over $1500 per ticket, but it's looking like that's the case. We prefer not to wait much later than January to book, but it might be even sooner since I can't stand just sitting and watching them continue to increase.

I'm not surprised that there isn't a nonstop to Venice from Chicago. Venice is not a major airport. Those tend to be located more in the business centers, not tourist centers. But I'm in the same boat as you. Waiting until January to buy tickets for May and the prices keep crawling up. I'm hoping that the bad economic news in Europe might prove to have a silver lining for Americans traveling there and result in lower airfares. And here's that NYT article, in case anyone's interested: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/business/global/09fares.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=nicolaclark

Can you go a bit later? Right now Kayak is showing a one-day "hole" in the price calendar, for July 3, returning July 13. Flight on Swiss and SAS RT for $1049; one stop in each direction. Everything else for days before and after is $1299 and up. I didn't check open-jaw flights with a return from Rome but maybe they are similar.

If you change to going into Milan(MXP) and out of FCO on the dates you want, it could be as low as $1077 on Orbitz. I always check area airports or CDG, AMS, FRA, ect to find the cheapest gateway to the EU and, when necessary, then hop on an EU regional. In this case, you can take the train to Venice. My first rule is don't fixate on a particular airportlook at the area you want and go from there.
Check it out!

One thing I've learned is that not all sites are created equal. Although I like Yapta's layout and it's ability to monitor flights, I see that Orbitz has some flights that I just can't get Yapta to find.

There could be a good kink in this if you have patience and are a gambler. If any of the major European carriers such as Air France or British Air go on strike (which they often do) you may get a lower fare when the strike ends on the carrier that just came off the strike; they want to recoup lost business. Just recently this is what happened to us; we were tossed between flying AF or BA, and at the time the fares were within $20.00 of one another. AF went on strike and BA raised their fare by $800 thinking they had a captive audience. A couple of days later when the strike ended AF reduced their fare by $400.00 which meant our air fare ended up a whole lot less than I had planned on paying. One added highlight--we have never flown AF, they upgraded us to Business Class to boot and the service was SPECTACULAR! Timing, persistence and opportunity all came together. So you gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky?

Book your flight on Orbitz. That way, if a someone books a cheaper identical flight than yours, you will get a refund. I got a check from them once on a flight I had booked, so I know they stand by their word.

I'm not sure how lucky I feel, Jerry! Thanks for all the suggestions though – we're going to look further into the alternative of flying into a nearby city, perhaps Milan. It seems like there might be more options at a slightly better rate. As for booking on Orbitz, I really appreciate the recommendation. I have heard about the price assurance, but honestly didn't think it was very legit. Glad to hear otherwise! I don't think we'll end up booking until after the New Year – so we'll keep our fingers crossed that something good comes up...or I guess I mean 'down'!

The catch with Orbitz is that someone else has to book the exact same flight through Orbitz before you get the refund. Here's the Orbitz fine print: 4.If Orbitz finds, after you have booked your flight, that another Orbitz customer subsequently books the same flight(s), meaning the same dates/times of travel, on the same airline, with the same flight numbers, for the same passenger type, itinerary, cabin, and subject to the same fare refundability, or other restrictions, that is at least $5 lower than the airfare you booked on Orbitz.com, Orbitz will refund you the difference up to a maximum of $250.00 per ticket. I'm curious about the meaning of "itinerary" in that fine print. Call me skeptical as well.

If I were you I would fly into Milan from Chicago and then take a train to Venice. I just checked travelocity and you can get airfare from Chicago to Milan and Rome to Chicago for $826 for the dates you listed.

Wow Scott great rates. Do any of you have a similar suggestion for me? I need to fly out of Boston going to Rome...should I be flying into another place like Milan? What do you think would be the best route? We just want to stay in Rome all the time we are there. June 13-June 20 but I could change them a day or so each way.

I get emails from Aer Lingus every month and while I like Ireland, I love Italy. My wife and I are flying from JFK to Rome and then open jaw from Venice to JFK in March/ April for $725 or so each RT.
It was the best deal by a long shot when we booked.

I've just discovered that if you use Expedia to look into airfares, it will show you how many seats are available on a particular flight. It should be true that the more empty the plane, the more likely the airline will be to drop prices. (Or maybe the reverse is more true - The fuller the flight, the less reason to drop prices.) That said, there have been recent articles about fuel prices going up. Again, where is that darn crystal ball? :-)

I would not get the least bit excited about flights out in June. The sweet spot for prices is two to three months prior to your trip. Who knows what is going to happen in the next few months? That being said, I am currently monitoring prices and destinations for our June flight. I am going to sign up for some automatic notices from some of the travel sites, and wait and see what pops up in my price range. I found that it is best to fly into any EU airport close to your destination. In many cases I use the cheap inter EU airlines to get to my final destination. And the trains in Italy are just awesome. Don't forget to look into Open Jaw flights: fly into one EU town, and out of another. I am finding some great deals for our planned vaca.