trip to italy in june-help

Airfare is around $1500 right now for flights to Rome in June. You have some time to wait to see if airfare goes down. Sign up for email alerts, I really like www.airfarewatchdog.com.

A couple of things you should be aware of is that you are flying on the most expensive travel days, Friday and Saturday. Considering something midweek (tuesday, wednesday, thursday) and you will save yourself some money. Another thing to Consider is that June is a popular time to go to Rome, so you may not see fares come down much from where they are now. Consider going in September/October or April/May. Airfare is much cheaper.

Mari:

This query is frequently submitted on this site...Buy now? Wait for sale? Buy now? Wait for sale? etc. While some have theories of potential/future sales, I sometimes think the airline industry doesn't even know when or if they'll offer discounts.

That said, I can only speak from my past experience and what I have done for my June, 2010 trip to Italy. Specifically, when I made the decision to go, I researched flts and then booked. This was in September, 2009. What I have discovered are two things...1) there has been no decrease in the fare over the last six months, at least none that I'm aware. Of course, there is always a chance they had a quick sale and I did not observe it. 2) Because my flights are taken care of, I can leisurely research hotels, museums etc, while eagerly anticipating and planning.

What I have learned over years of traveling is that it is likely the person adjacent to me on the airplane paid a different fare than I did. However, being on the plane when I want and going where I want makes that a moot subject. What is important is that you have a wonderful time.

Take care Mari! Happy Travels!

Mari, we are going to Rome in June, too. We finally bought our tickets in January, after watching the high airfares consistently around $1500 for 6-8 weeks. There didn't seem to be much difference in the price even though we were willing to travel mid-week. It's just high season, I guess!

I finally booked because I wanted to have a choice of schedules (a 14 hour flight vs. a 25 hour flight, for example) and figured if I bought earlier I'd still have some choice.
I feel your pain!
Good luck with your ticket purchase, and have a great time in Rome!

Thank you everyone for your input and advice.
have a great weekend!!!!

Hi Mari:

Are you making an "open Jaws" reservation? Even though the upfront cost is typically higher, it can offer a large time-saver. For example fly to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome and fly home to DFW from Rome. (or an combination thereof). This type of travel eliminates the necessity to back-track, hence using up, as the say on this forum "time", which is your "most valuable asset" while traveling. Using that brilliant advice, I suggestion, I planned my holiday and am pink from being tickled!

Take care,
j

Hello,

I booked my flights about a month ago via Kayak.com. I had been watching airfares for about two weeks on a daily basis. Fares were over $1,200. I decided to wait just a bit more. I was happy that I did because I stumbled across a pretty sweet deal via TAP Portogal - EWR to Portagal to FCO with only a one hour and 15 minute layover (same on return) for other than $463.00 R/T with final pricing of $775 inclusive of tax and service charges. I did not even give it a second thought. I booked the flights immediately and worried about securing hotel at a later date.

I guess there is no way to really guarantee that rates go down. I could not afford to pay $1,500 and had set a budget of $1,000 max and was pleased to have come under that. Try Kayak.com it worked for me and perhaps it will work for you. Best of luck!

We booked flights December 08 for a May 09 flight and used whentofly.com. I was very satisfied.

Hey Mari,

If you can leave a day earlier, Thursday,(and who wouldn't want that), It takes the airfare down to 1,323.00 on Kayak.com. If you could fly back on a Tuesday instead of Saturday, it takes off a little bit more money.
Also, it's really going to be busy then, so limit yourselves to one carry-on each, because you really want to be mobile. And call the local reservation numbers in Rick's book to bypass all the lines into the major attractions. You could spend your whole vacation in line if your not careful. Wear your money belts, and be really careful if you use the tunnel that goes under the street by the main train station in Roma.