We will be flying from Olbia to Florence in Sept '26 and are looking for a non stop flight. I saw that Volotera has one at 7:40am. We will be staying on the northern end of Sardinia, and were hoping to catch a non stop flight a bit later than that.
When I checked with ChatGPT, it said there is usually an additional non stop flight around 12:40pm. I haven't found anything like that, and am wondering if I should keep waiting for Volotera to possibly open up another flight, or if Chat GPT is incorrect, and I should just book the early flight (with the drive, car rental return, etc we would have to leave our hotel by around 4:00am and were hoping to not do that).
If it is typical of Volotera to open up another flight in a few months or so, I'll wait. Just don't want to take the chance of the current flight getting sold out, since the flight is only a few days a week and we don't have flexibility.
Thanks for your input!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
13029 posts
Saturday Sept 5, 2026 Volotea has the 1240 direct flight
If you are confined to a specific date to fly, then get the ticket. I would not expect them to have a 2nd non-stop on the same day.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
The date I need is for Sept 13, 2026. I only see a 7:40am flight. Am I missing something?
Posted by
Chicago
1062 posts
A couple of things to keep in mind:
- any schedule you see now for a flight in 11 months is very likely to change, maybe more than once, before your date of travel
- I would not trust ChatGPT to provide any kind of reliable advice on travel schedules
- discount airlines have extremely variable (different times each day, not every day of the week) schedules compared to mainline airlines, and nothing is typical of discount airlines.
If you don't want to get up at 4am (understandable), then book a flight with a connection that
departs later in the day. Although most flights look very expensive this far out.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
7374 posts
Caution, pedantic alert:
I believe the airline you are referring to is actually named "Volotea", not "Volotera". See https://www.volotea.com/en/ No?
ChatGPT? You're serious? OK...but I wouldn't bet my lunch money on any nonsense it spews.
I'd be surprised if Volotea has more than one flight that day on any route, never mind on a route like Olbia to Florence. It's a pretty thin operation IME.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
13029 posts
Appears the only day there is a 1240 flight is Saturday.
The other 3 days of the week they have a flight is the 740 departure.
If you must fly on the 13th then it's 'up early' or take a connecting flight.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17050 posts
A few days ago I did a search on Italian traffic tickets and consequences for not paying.
I got several AI results. When I looked at the original source the AI got that information it turned out it was my posts (mostly in RS’ website).
Any AI platform that considers me as a reliable source cannot possibly be taken seriously.
Use the Volotea website.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
7374 posts
I got several AI results. When I looked at the original source the AI got that information it turned out it was my posts (mostly in RS’ website).
Roberto, you should contact Chat GPT and send them a bill for the use of the content you created that they stole from you.
From the Community Guidelines:
Content found in the Rick Steves Community is not to be used for formal and/or professional research, commercial gain, or redistribution in any way without the permission of Rick Steves Europe and the Rick Steves Community member(s) involved.
I believe RSE takes a dim view of anyone who has scraped content from this website and used it without permission.
Posted by
Freedonia
18002 posts
Chat GPT? Seriously?
Use Google Flights to find who flies between the cities you wish to travel and then go to Volotea's website to buy your tickets.
I would put money on Google Flights being right. I wouldn't put a penny on anything AI being right.
Posted by
Chicago
1062 posts
Another aspect to researching these things is to look at cities that are easily within
reach of your actual destination.
Ryanair flies from Olbia to Bologna on Sunday, Sept 13, departs 11:20am, arrives
Bologna 12:25pm. Take the monorail or cab downtown to the train station, and
then it's a 40 minute train ride to Santa Maria Novella.
While Vespucci Airport is not all that far from downtown, the train takes you right
to the main station, thus saving a bit of the time used in the connection from Bologna.
Also note that because of the general restriction of flights not being posted until 330
days prior to departure date, any general travel site (including Google Flights) will,
as of today, not show you flights for 9/13/26 (that will change in a day or two, I think).
However, the Ryanair website does show you flights more than 330 days out, and
you can purchase a ticket now, if you want. Just keep tabs on the schedule over
the next year.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you everyone for the helpful input. I appreciate it.