Sticker shock

Not sure where you're looking but kayak.com has that starting at $1177.

Just found out that I might be able to sneak in a trip to Italy in June. Since we are frequent flyers with United, I checked there first. I guess that's the price you pay fOr traveling in peak season.

That price is absurd! As the previous poster wrote go on kyak and check it everyday. We got a round trip ticket last December for a trip in May on Kyak for $806.00 roundtrip. It's on Delta from JFK. Go on kyak.com and you should be able to get a ticket for about $1,200 at this point in time. You aren't going to do much better at this point. The more time you have to plan the cheaper the ticket will be because you have time to shop it. On Kyak I would recommend the following. First be open to fly out of Newark or Jfk. We live on long island and have used both airports. So check nearby airports not just newark. Also, we always fly non-stop. We don't want to spend more than 8 hours in a plane or transfer. If you are willing to take a one stop transfer you can get a cheaper flight, proably in the $700 range. Just understand it will take you closer to 13 hours instead of the 8 hours to get you where you want to be and hope the connections are on time. Since it is a night flight you will be tired.

So much for that advice to buy when the sales hit 60-90 days ahead!! Our June/July flights to/from Italy on Aer Lingus set us back a cool $800 each....bought in October.

Nothing is the same as it was with flights, but Kayak seems to be a great source for finding the best rate.

try US Air out of Philly for the nonstop to Rome.

Thank you all for your replies. I can actually use three airports, Newark, JFK or Philly. So have some options, but I know it will not be inexpensive.