Too early to book Airbnb for March 2016?

I have booked that early several times (though for early May-mid June). I agree that it may not be necessary now, but who knows when the good places will be booked, especially in a place like Florence? For me the peace of mind is worth it. Also, locking in the Airbnbs reduces the number of things to be checked off the prep list.

And FWIW, I always book accommodations before airfare.

It is not too early to book. I just finished booking my trip to Italy for next July!

I would not book the apartment before you have your air, particularly with it being a holiday. If you have trouble booking your air, you may need to shift your travel days for cost or availability.

What I would do is book a hotel that can be cancelled until maybe 7 days prior. That way you don't have to worry that you won't have anywhere to stay. Then book the apartment after you get the air. Airline ticket prices don't typically go down around Easter, and I have never had luck with anything close to Spring Break, but international is different, and you are right it's not busy then like summer.
Good luck.

I agree with not booking until you have air, you may have to change dates.

With Airbnb, carefully check the cancellation policy on each place. They all are different.

I have been renting apartments for ten years and have booked as much as 8-9 months out to get what I wanted. I understand your hesitation since Airbnb wants all the money at booking. I've mainly used other sites like VRBO and Homeaway. If you're nervous about paying the entire amount, you might want to search those sites and others - since they only require a deposit.
I stayed at a great apartment steps from the Duomo last fall that you might want to check out. It is Homeaway #827413. It required a deposit only until I arrived. There are many apartments in Florence, so you very likely could find one you liked that required a deposit only for now.
Also - I have booked apartments many times prior to booking flights. I like watching the prices of flights for a few weeks to see if they drop. I've never had a problem doing it this way, but only you can make that decision.

" I am hoping that prices will come down "

Wishful thinking- book both now.

Just echoing the importance of looking at the cancellation policy. Some of the ones on Airbnb are VERY strict.

I book my apartments about 10 months out and my airfare 4-6 months out. If you find a place with great reviews, a full calendar, a reasonable price and a doable cancellation policy then book it ASAP. You can cross reference the reviews on the slowtravel website, this is how I chose my Rome apartment, great reviews on VRBO and slowtravel.

I just finished booking all my accommodation for a May-Jun 2016 trip, albeit after I had booked airfare. I'm kinda glad of having to prepay AirBnb as it spreads the cost of the trip over term.

Warren

I had spotted a great listing on AirBnB for an apartment, for my upcoming long-stay trip to Sicily in January. This was back in early May.

The apartment had a name. So I googled the apartment name and eventually found the property's own website. Turns out that the owner had very positive reviews on TA for another property that they listed. I also found more info and positive comments on the TA forum which were very encouraging, about this property owner and this specific apartment.

So I contacted the owner directly. We negotiated terms, price, and deposit conditions that I was very comfortable with in the end. You can try this as well.

Thank you everyone for your great advice. It is much appreciated!

Diane's tip about looking for non-Airbnb listings of the same apartment works for any apartment you might be considering. Most are listed on several different websites, each of which might have a different cancellation policy. You can search using the name of the apartment if it seems unusual enough, or cut-and-paste an unusual sentence from the owner's description of the property and look for that. They usually use the same text for all the different websites.