As an inexperienced European traveler, does anyone have suggestions when to buy tickets from L.A. to Rome getting the best deal possible? Traveling the end of May 2011.
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon, USA
959 posts
Soon as possible, prices going up.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Ah the old "AirFare Crystal Ball" question. You must do your research and KNOW what the typical price is. Then you as you keep checking daily you will be able to spot an airfare sale much like I did 2 weeks ago from our hometown to Rome. Only with adequate and consistent monitoring of fares can you jump on a sale. Yes, there are rules of thumb that if you wait too long the fare will just keep going up up up, etc. The definite rule of getting the best airfare is to buy when it's on sale!
Posted by
Charlotte, NC
28 posts
Check out www.farecast.com It can help give you hoistorical price information, alert you to sales, and "predict" the direction of prices. Not and end all be all, but a useful source of information.
Posted by
OP
Prescott, AZ
153 posts
Thank you, some good advice.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
I believe farecast.com only projects six months out, so no help on this. We're in the same boat, planning to travel in May. Haven't bought tickets yet.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
the last bit of info I rec'd from Bob Bester travel grp newsletter is buy by Nov for summer travel. And that the fares will be up to double of this yr. I know this sounds outrageous but it might just be a caution and a heads up if you see a fare that is doable for you -buy it! And Rome has always been pricey in gen. you could always try a consolidator like cheapticketr.com also. Sounds like we all need gd luck for 2011 European travel.
Posted by
Atlanta
3262 posts
I set daily airfare alerts using www.kayak.com - I track airfares for the destinations that I'm interested in going to so that I know a good deal when/if I see it.
Posted by
Columbia, MD, USA
9 posts
We started looking in April of this year for our trip to Rome in October. We are flying into Rome and back from Milan. We checked Cheapo-Air & Travelocity almost daily. Over the course of about six weeks, we noticed that the best day for fares was on Tuesday during the day. We had been finding fares anywhere from $825 to $910, flying through London (taxes on these flights were around $400 each). Then one Tuesday towards the end of May, we found a flight that goes through Amsterdam for round-trip of $465! The taxes were very low, about $30 each. We do have three legs of the flight, but to save almost $500, it was worth it for us. We ended up booking through Travelocity. This was our experience.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
When you find a fare you are happy with -buy it! It is not going to be a bargain yr next yr acc to the pros.