When to buy plane tickets for June- Italy

I didn't know what dates you're flying, so I just plugged in SFO to Rome (round trip) on Expedia for some random dates, June 1 - June15. I was seeing RT fares significantly lower that than in coach, averaging $700 roundtrip. If you're looking at a business class fare, that's a different price range.

Your price will vary depending on the day of the week you're flying out, the day of the week you are returning, how many days you'll be there (some fares require you to stay over a weekend to get the best price), and class of service. It also makes a difference how many tickets you are booking at one time. If you want the above $700 rate, for example, but they only have one seat remaining at that price point, then your group will be bumped up to the next price group.

It's always a good idea to set up some fare notifications (Google flights has one. Several travel apps do as well.) Then you can see how prices fluctuate.

Wait for what? Flight tickets do not tend to drop in price the closer you get to your departure date. Airlines frequently have sales but it's a bit of a guess when these will occur although the New Year is always pretty much guaranteed, we've recently bought our flights from London to Miami for August and both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic currently have their sales on.

Is $1200 a good price? That depends on how you feel about it. Is it affordable? How does it compare with other flights? Are you happy to gamble on the price going down if you leave it a bit longer?

Personally I think it's a good price although I would compare the prices in other cabins. Sometimes the extra for business or from business to first isn't that much and is certainly worth paying the extra in my opinion.

I was recently told by a travel agent that the best time to purchase tickets is 90 days prior to the flight. I ended up booking my tickets 120 and right around the 90 day point the prices dropped $100. We ended up paying 800 roundtrip and non-stop. I had setup several flight tracking alerts for pricing on my phone to monitor prices which really helped.

Not sure I'd trust the knowledge/experience level of a travel agent who says the best time to buy a ticket is any specific number of days ahead of time.

The best time to buy your ticket is when the price has dropped. And the only way you will know when it has dropped is to check regularly every day so that you know what the typical price is. Therefore if you check and the price is BELOW the typical price then you know it's a better airfare.

Any travel agent who tells you the best price is X number of days before departure is not worth his/her commission!

Wait, you should be able to get a flight for $800. or lower. Be sure you check several different date pairs. I was tracking Lufthansa flight dates and the Thursday flight itinerary was $1300. and I bought the Tuesday flight itinerary for $665. Use Google Flights and set 3 or 4 email alerts on diferent dates. Also, have you looked at Norwegian Air from Oakland?

Ordinarily a multi-city itinerary makes sense. However, if SFO-Rome round trips are much less, it might be worth it to loop back to Rome at the end of the trip.

You can use 'flight tracker' on Google Flights to see where prices are heading. Put in specific itineraries and you will receive emails when the price for that flight(s) changes. For a June trip, I would be ready to buy from today on, as soon as you see a price that you are willing to pay. But if you get too close to your departure date, prices will most likely be even higher than today.