Flights to Italy from USA

hi, im not sure. Ive been traveling to europe for 1+ year. everyone and their mother say that if you wait, you can SOMETIMES find cheaper fairs. This is how i feel about the wait-n-see. It sucks if you want to go and have all your reservations paid and just waiting for less expensive airfair. If im spending my free time planning and spending $$$ buying tickets and such, i not going to chance it and do the wait-n-see and HOPE for the prices to drop. thats how if feel about it. My trips last year to Amsterdam (AMS) cost me about 1k USD the first time and 1200 USD the second time. The first flght took an extra 6 hours (total 16 hours) due to the 2 layovers. the second was direct (10 hour). I did the "wait-n-see" on the 2nd trip to see if i could get it cheaper and paid more. if you have layovers in your flight, you may want to weigh the cost of waiting around vs seeing/doing things. Also what i found out after my first trip was the direct flight to AMS and is why i took the 2nd trip back. Im in the final planning stages for my trip back this sept and i will probably be paying 1300 for my round trip (r/t) ticket back to Amsterdam (AMS). Since i can get direct flights to AMS, im using it as my "hub". If you can, look for a hub from your town to minimize any layovers. just so you know, it appears that prices have gone up. another comment. a friend from work did the PDX>AMS>London flight (same as me) this Jan and it cost him 800 USD r/t. Im assuming because it was winter. try using skyscanner, kayak and other flight search engines. happy trails.

Try driving to Charlotte. I'm seeing flights for $1550 range. Is it worth driving 4 hours each way to save $500?

I actually thought about driving to Charlotte, which is a 3-hour drive for me. But I would have to pay more for gas and parking if I drive that far. Leaving out of Myrtle Beach, I can leave my can leave car with friends and avoid parking fees.

Well I know flying open jaws can be a time saver/maybe $ saver but the train round trip from Rome to Venice is reasonable at less than $180 (each) and is at most a two hour enjoyable train ride. So, poke around with that info and see if it works for you. Also, I book my hotels (well, B&B's) months out to get the best accommodation for the price. I actually book my accommodations and then my flights around that. (And yes of course I do a search for approximate flight costs up front). You're already behind the curve here for the high summer season. The B&B we stay at in Florence and Venice are booked up months out (they are, however, small establishments). Also look into cheap flights (or mileage point flights) to major hubs then connecting on to say Rome. Delta flies direct to Rome from Atlanta.

Thank you for the replies. We are planning to stay in Venice for 2 nights, Florence 3 nights, Cinque Terre 3 nights, and Rome 2 nights. So far, we have found a B&B in Venice for 100 Euro per night. Any other advice will be helpful in planning our trip.

Michael: The airlines are getting better at estimating the supply and demand, and they're controlling the prices. U.S. Airways a year ago was the cheapest flight to Italy out of Charlotte, but their airfares are up substantially. U.S. Airways is also eliminating some flights into/out of Italy, and their gateway city is shifting from Charlotte to Philadelphia. Unless there is a one day sale, don't expect airfares to Italy to be reasonably priced this Summer. That's why we're visiting the Canadian maritimes this Summer. Remember that April and May, September and October are preferred months for travel to Central Europe. Tuesday and Wednesday are the least expensive days of the week to fly. It's always best to have some variability in your dates.
For flyers in the Southeast, I suggest they watch Clara Bonsonetto's Bargain Travel column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution(AJC.com) and watch ClarkHoward.com for travel specials. Right now, flying out of Chattanooga thru ATL is the only "bargain" I see to Europe out of the Southeast.

I'm paying over $1700 from SFO to Florence, around the same dates. SFO is on the West Coast so is farther from Italy, however SFO is a major hub compared to Myrtle Beach, therefore there is more competition. Last year I paid $1600 in the same period. Therefore you are on average for that time of the year. You might save some if you drive to a major hub, like Charlotte, but the you have to add the costs of driving there. I also would have saved over $50 if I flew to Rome, a major hub, instead of Florence. But then I would pay more in train fare from Rome to Florence. What can you do? Unfortunately there are now only three "cartels" left (code share alliances) that monopolize the transoceanic flights: Star Alliance (United et al.), Sky team (Delta et al.) and One World (American et al.). They are holding us by our necks.

train round trip from Rome to Venice is reasonable at less than $180 (each) and is at most a two hour enjoyable train ride To elaborate on an answer given earlier, many many tickets are available on many of the trains booked ahead, both those provided as Freccia from Trenitalia and those new sleek red .Italo super high speed trains, at either €19, €24, or €29 per person each way. If it could be done in two hours somebody must have a time-turner or flue-powder! Rome to Venice, either route, takes just about exactly 3:40 by train.

We are now booked, arriving in Venice and departing out of Rome 11 days later. We want to spend 3 nights in Cinque Terre and 3 nights in Florence. From Venice, would you go to Cinque Terre (via Bologna) first, or travel to Florence first?

Ironically, the longest time has only 1 change via Milano (assume destination Monterosso, kind of the transport hub for the CT). The shorter time trips have more changes and go through Florence, that sort makes Florence the prime candidate for the second stop.

So you think Florence would be best for the second stop? Is this Itinerary too ambitious then? Venice (2 nights) Bologna (1 day, on way to Florence) Florence (3 nights) Pisa (1/2 day, on way to Cinque Terre) Cinque Terre (3 nights)
Rome (2 days, 2 nights)

Looks good. My d'ruthers would be to spend an extra night Venice and give Bologna a pass, but if that's your preference, go for it.

Hi Michael. The order of cities is good. It will be a whirlwind trip. Many folks on this site would say you are moving around too much. But if you want to see all those places and don't mind being on the go, go for it! Enjoy your trip!

This will be our first trip to Italy so we do want to see as much as possible.
(Venice, Bologna, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pissa, Rome..........Spending nights in Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Rome) We plan to use trains for all our transportation. Do you recommend buying the Eurail Pass ahead of time and purchasing reservations ahead of time? We went to Spain and France last Winter for 12 days, and the EuRail Pass worked out well for the two countries. Thank you all again.

Hi Michael: I looked at some of the other suggestions, and having done a similar trip both driving 3-4 hours to/from a hub for $saving, AND spending more, but not doing the hub drive.....I recommend paying a bit more, OR doing as one person suggested and traveling by train Venice/Rome. Here's why - that 3-4 hr drive doesn't seem so bad on the front end of your trip, when you are rested and excited. However....coming home tired, after a very long flight, that 3-4 hour drive is a nightmare, unless you stay near the hub overnight and then drive home...which eats up some of that money savings. I really don't know how we actually made it safely as I think we slept through half of that drive home. The Venice/Rome train allows someone else to do that driving for you, plus you relax and enjoy talking about your trip and rehashing memories as you get to the airport. The kinder to yourself you are on your trip home, the quicker you'll rest/recover from the jet lag and get back to your life at home. Oh, and may I recommend the Hotel Columbia (walking distance to Termini in Rome). Comfortable rooms, lovely rooftop garden, great breakfast and nice baths. Ask for a room side or back, though, off main street. Safe, walkable neighborhood with restaurants and walk to metro lines as well.

Surprisingly, you could do your entire itinerary using regional trains and not lose very much time. I calculate a total of 65 Euro per person, no need for advance purchase, just buy at the station. Bologna-Florence is the only leg where almost all the trains are high speed, but even then the walk up price is 24 Euro vs the 9 Euro for the early morning regional. So a rail pass will cost way more than that.

Since it is peak season, should I purchase rail tickets in advance?

The regional trains from Venice, Bologna, and Florence all originate in those cities, so you just need to be on the platform 15 minutes early when they spot the trains to insure you get good seats together. Regional train tickets only go on sale 7 days before departure and there are no reserved seats. Once Trenitalia finally gets their summer schedule loaded on the computer, you can buy advance, nonrefundable, nable tickets on fast trains with seat reservations. These can be had for as low as 9 Eu each, but those prices go fast, so keep checking the trenitalia website. Florence-Pisa is a regional train no matter how you cut it. There are some direct Pisa-Monterosso Intercity trains which require reservations, but get your hotel in CT, because if it is in any other of the 4 towns, you're still going to take the local regional train. I see RS is offering Italian railpasses for $223 pp when traveling together. No way you will pay more than $100 pp buying P2P advance fast and regional trains.