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Travel to Italy

Post/Question 1 of 2.

We are planning on traveling to Italy March 5-21, 2021. I know this is the "off season" and cooler weather, which we are entirely comfortable with. I am really only looking for people's opinions, as I know nobody here will have an answer. I am not sure if anyone has any knowledge or know someone that is in the "know". I have already booked out hotels for Venice, Florence, & Rome ( 2 hotels in Rome). I feel confident in our choices, and feel great that I thought ahead with booking with flexibility through Booking.com (No pre-payment, & free cancellation until 1 week before). My question comes down to the airlines, I have a ton of anxiety about this. I know we are in unique times, but I am concerned when to purchase my tickets. Right know airlines, American/British have policies in place that I feel decent about in the event this thing comes back in the spring. However, airlines such as Lufthansa i am skeptical of their policies, and vouchers as I live in the US & dont travel to Europe very often. My concerns are that the prices for these flights will skyrocket, especially if they are leaving out the middle seat, and also they may sell out at a affordable price for me. So question, is when is the best time to book, and should we do it now? For background, we are flying from Orlando MCO- Venice 1 way, and leaving from Rome FCO to MCO on the way back. Our best options for price and flight duration are a hybrid British/American Airlines flight (British to Italy & American back) & Lufthansa to and from. I know this was a wordy question, I thank you very much in advance for any advice you may have.

Posted by
8377 posts

I have no insight, but I will note that the further out you book your flights, the greater the chance that your flight schedule and/or connections will change in the interim.

Posted by
89 posts

This is only my opinion but right now with the airlines bleeding cash its a buyers market. I think that once travel picks up you'll see air fares go up substantially. I think that you should just be sure you book the ticket as refundable so that if something happens you can get your money back.

Posted by
222 posts

Hello,

I agree as well about the prices in the future. I really think that traveling abroad is not going to be for the budget friendly traveler like myself. We live in Florida as well and looking at Flights for April/May 2021 out of MCO or TPA. With the current cancelation policy, if you have the funds I would get squared away. My only suggestion is maybe doing a round trip flight from MCO-VCE, grab a quick ride to the train station, and take the train directly to Rome. It is only a few hours by train. Then you check in, clean up and have dinner in Rome, retire for the night and wake up refreshed. In the morning you continue your trip ROME, FLORENCE and then end in VENICE. IDK just my opinion. Not sure if it was cheaper your way or not but just a thought...

I do think it is a little early for the accommodations. There are so many amazing Airbnb's in these places you are going! We had such an amazing experience with our Airbnb's I will never stay in a hotel again.

Posted by
15 posts

Nurs, I agree with much of what you said. My wife prefers the hotels though, so we are going with those for now. As we get closer, I will look to see if I can the same ones at a cheaper rate, and cancel & rebook. As for the airlines, we are looking at a $2k flight all together either way, anything more than that will put us in a bad spot. It's always cheaper flying out of MIami, but the logistics of where to store the car and such could cost as much as the difference.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Posted by
8377 posts

jcu, you're saying $2000 per person for the whole trip? What do you mean by "Lufthansa to and from"? You're looking at two separate one-way tickets? An open jaw R/T ticket MCO-Venice and FCO- MCO shouldn't be that much.

OK just read your other thread. Never mind.

Posted by
15 posts

It's actually like $2500 roundtrip for both of us. Both routes are the same booking. Lufthansa to Venice and from Rome. The other route was on AA website, was also the same booking. British Air to Italy with a layover in London, and AA with a layover in Philly

Posted by
7595 posts

Have you used Kayak.com to find your cheapest tickets. It is a great source.

We had to cancel our Delta flights for a safari to Africa this summer. I had used miles for the trip and Delta refunded my miles and the fees as well. Do you have miles saved?

I think travel to Europe by March of next year will be OK, but it is hard to tell. You can purchase cancel for any reason trip insurance. It is more expensive but might be a good idea. Also, be sure to buy health insurance and medical evacuation insurance for your overseas period. That is not very expensive.

Love Italy and those three cities. Enjoy.

Posted by
15 posts

Thanks. Travel insurance is a must , especially after I got food poisoning last year while in Florence

Posted by
3586 posts

Re insurance: Read the fine print. There were several sad tales on this forum of people who bought “cancel for any reason” insurance, and found that pandemics were excluded.

Posted by
4217 posts

Just so you are aware, Lufthansa never refunded my flights to Greece in May 2020 even though Greece was not even allowing in visitors. They stalled for months and never even followed up about a voucher or anything--I eventually contested with my credit card and got my money back, but now my view of Lufthansa is tarnished (and I had flown with them yearly for over a decade). I did not want to use my cancel for any reason insurance because it gives 75% and I was able to get 100%. The insurance company was excellent and actually allowed me to transfer that policy to a domestic trip I took in summer. That is why I continue to recommend TravelInsured.
I will not be buying tickets far in advance like I used to. I am holding out hope that deals will be available when I am ready to travel. I know it does not seem like it should matter, but I also always feel better if I am booked on the same airline for departure and return.

Posted by
759 posts

This thread has been DEAD for over 5 months. The OP has not posted on this forum for over 5 months. Why are people digging up very old threads and posting on them as it active? Are folks that bored?

Posted by
32521 posts

bob, it attracted spam which woke the zombie and then perhaps people sometimes miss the dates when they just read the OP and try to help

Posted by
15 posts

Op here, thank you for reawakening this. Update, we are not traveling on our trip. As we all have dealt with the impact of Covid

Posted by
15560 posts

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