Price differences on flights to Italy from Seattle

Prices do vary day by day. And the lowest fares probably use Norwegian Air, which does not fly every day from Seattle; only twice a week (Sundays and Wednesdays next September). And the Norwegian website does not show flights ending in Rome, so Kayak has probably addded a flight on some other airline as the last leg going to Rome.

Can you trust Kayak fares? Maybe, maybe not. See where they take you when you click on a fare. Kayak does not sell the flights, they simply list options by others, both the airlines themselves and third parties. The prices shown by third parties (agencies) may not be "live" and may jump considerably during the booking process.

Most people use Kayakmto find good fares and then go to the airline website to book. There are potential hazards with third-party bookings which you should understand before using them.

I do see where prices change depending on the day of the week but ultimately I would book on the website of the airline of choice. I do use Kayak to get an idea of pricing but I always book my flight or lodgings directly and not through a third party website.

My flights for next year dropped from about $900 to about $600 earlier this month. When I checked again recently they were almost $1200. Tomorrow they may be $600 again. Last year's flights bounced repeatedly between $800+ and $1300+. To a human being, the fluctuations seem totally random, even insane. That's why it's so important to watch the fares (daily if possible) to get a good feel for what is a reasonable cost. Then, once you are absolutely certain of what dates will work for you, if you see a great deal, grab it. It may not be there the next day.

Ticket pricing is impossible for any human to predict or understand. Airlines (and consolidators) use their own methods to determine prices. Kayak is fine as a starting point, but I'd never book a flight through them - they just point you to some sketchy service you've never heard of which may have near-zero accountability. Book through the airlines. Also be aware of itineraries with separate tickets, which put all the risk on you (ie, miss your connection through no fault of your own and you may have to toss your next ticket and buy one on the spot for thousands of dollars). Caveat emptor.

If you see a price you like, take it, and don’t look back. We fly Economy Plus or the airline specific version. We booked Delta round trip to Rome and it’s gone up $400 since (and here I am saying don’t look back.....)

Would you consider flying Non-stop from LAX?
Norwegian has LAX-FCO non-stops on September 11th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 23rd, 25th 27th and 30th for as low as $205 (and only one higher than $245). This is Norwegian's "basic" service.....you will probably want to add the extra $90 for checked luggage (20 Kg) in-flight food (I've had worse) and seat selection (get exit row if you can...lots of legroom).
Of course, going this route means you are not flying non-stop from Sea-Tac to Rome, but Southwest currently offers non-stops Sea-Tac to LAX for $69.

As my Uncle Augie would say...."Give it a think".

I will check that out. Also on Kayak the price is 556 round trip for a Lufthansa flight and on the Lufthansa booking site it is 966.84. It is kind of hard not to book through Kayak when you see that kind of price difference.

Who is the ticket actually bought through? Kayak does not sell tickets.

You need to pay attention to what airline(s) you are actually flying on - is it really Lufthansa? Is it more than one airline? If so, do those airlines work together? (eg some airlines will "interline" checked bags, others will not). Do you understand how tickets work? Are you on a single ticket, or multiple tickets? Do you know what happens if you miss your connection?

Sure, $556 roundtrip might be a bargain. But it also might be a ticking time bomb that could cost you many times that amount if something goes sideways and you are left holding the bag. Be sure you know what you are buying!

There are horror stories posted here all the time by someone who thought they were getting some screaming deal, but one flight was delayed, they missed their connection, and had to spend $5000 to buy tickets on the spot to get home. Not such a bargain.

Kayak did not used to sell tickets, but it does now.

That said, all of David's other caveats apply. Who is actually operating the flights? Are these on one ticket? If it says it is a "hacker fare," be VERY VERY careful!! These are often on separate tickets, which means you don't have a real "connection; if there's any problem, it's up to you to fix it, both logistically (no airline will help you) and financially (and a last minute ticket can be a fortune).

While the standard advice to book through the airline is standard for a reason, it's not always a problem to book through another agency. This past summer, my sister's family wanted to fly from NYC to Prague. Since they were buying four tickets, money was important, but since two of the passengers were children, a nonstop flight was strongly preferred. The only nonstop was on Delta, at about $850; Air France was code-sharing the flight, at about the same price. But Expedia only charged $400 per person, so she ended up booking Delta "metal" on an Air France code share with Expedia. It all worked out fine; Expedia gave her all three locator numbers, so she was able to go into each website to select seats, book special meals, etc.

However, Expedia has been around a while. Some of the other resellers are trouble. Before making a final booking, post the specifics here, and ask if any one sees any snags. Once your fare is non-refundable, it's too late.

I just did a mock booking and the fares I see that are really cheap (under $ 900) are what Kayak calls Hacker Fares. They involve trips within Europe to get you home and these I believe are not linked so miss one, there’s your flight home. On the other hand you might be OK as most of them have layovers of 12 hours. Torture. On the other hand Lufthansa has some in the $950 range with OK layovers, some with multiple stops, no nonstop. $562 I don’t see but I did not check every date.

OK, so Kayak now sells tickets - thank you, I stand corrected on that. Everything else is still valid.

I fervently believe that anyone who simply shops based on price and price alone, to the exclusion of all else, is asking to have a terrible experience or worse. Imagine if you went out to buy a car and the only thing you considered was the lowest possible price.

There's nothing wrong with getting a ticket at a good price. But many people who think they're getting that find that there's more to it.

OP (and anyone who buys a ticket chasing the lowest price) needs to be sure they know and understand what they're getting, what the conditions and risks are, and should be prepared to accept those risks and conditions. Maybe you get lucky and everything works out great, or maybe something different happens. Everyone should go into it with their eyes open and understanding what they're getting. Shopping for a cheap ticket is a minefield, just be careful where you step.

It may be true that it is a bit early to look at flights 11 months out. This may account for some of the crazy variability of prices you are seeing. I have always purchased air tickets to Europe between four and seven months before the trip.

I did not see that low Lufthansa price at all.

I did click on one of the Hacker fares for a September trip. From Seattle to Rome, it took 21 hours, with stops in Philadelphia and Amsterdam (3 hour layover there). The first flight (to Amsterdam with stop in PA) is booked with British Airways but is on American Airlines metal. This low fare was through Cheapoair. The flight from Amsterdam to Rome booked is with Alitalia, on Alitalia metal.

American has a bad reputation for changing flight schedules after you book, especially booking so far in advance. If they do that, you could end up with no way to make the connection to the Alitalia flight. They have been booked separately and you are not protected.

And Alitalia, I believed, is in bankruptcy.

So if a problem arises and you need to change or adjust something, “who ya gonna call?” British Airways, American, CheapoAir, or Alitalia? Not a situation that I would want to be in.

I know this is not the flight the OP is looking at, but it is an example of the risks of buying a hacker fare.

Also, I did not see any flights that were actually sold by Kayak. For flights with one airline, they send you to that airline website. For Hacker fares, they explain to click on both flights in sequence and keep both windows open, then book one and then the other. Clicking on the flight clearly indicates whom you are booking with, in this case ChealpAir and then Alitalia. Kayak is not involved at all.

Can someone give an example of a flight that is actually sold by Kayak? Like David, I am under the impression that Kayak does not actually sell anything; they just send you to another site to purchase. If this is wrong I would like to be corrected.

OK, all good advice. I will keep checking and I have a lot of time. When you click on those good fares on Kayak they do send you to the Lufthansa site. So, I assume, you are buying it through the airline. Don't know why they have some flights at such a low rate. I never saw anything that labeled it as a hacker fare. I will check again, but I think the travel time was the same as the more expensive flight. Thanks for all the good advice.

I'll just add to Lola's assessment that if you are booking thru Cheapo Air, please, please read the Trip Advisor Air Travel Forum threads on this company before you book. Ditto with other Online Travel Agents (OTAs) - do your research BEFORE you give them any of your money.

Here's just one link to a thread with 29 pages, mostly of complaints. If you go to that forum, do a search on Cheapo for dozens of threads.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k10222510-CheapOair-Air_Travel.html

You might check Condor Air. They have direct flights from Seattle to Frankfurt. You have a 2 hour 10 minute layover time to change to a Lufthansa flight to Rome, arriving there 14 hours 25 minutes after departing Seattle. This is a true partner connection, so it is on one ticket. You can choose a longer layover (one hour more) if you wish.

There are plenty of times when perfectly legit fares are, for lack of a better term, 'hidden' on the airline's own web site. It's common in the flight deals section of Flyer Talk to see notes that for a particular ticket and price, you first need to search the route from ITA Matrix (which doesn't sell tickets and doesn't create 'hacker fares') and then enter the very specific flight details when you go to book on the airline's web site rather than searching directly on the airline's own web site for it. Or that a different perfectly legit ticket with all relevant frequent flyer miles & status can only be booked through Orbitz or Expedia.

I'm looking at prices for flights from Seattle to Rome in mid Sept.
2019 and notice a big price difference in just booking one day or
another. Some flights are listed at $562 one day and the next day what
looks like the same flight at $968. This is on the kayak site. Can I
trust these lower fares?

Yes you can. Flights vary by day/by hour. Do not BUY from a 3rd party, however. Use Kayak as a tool to get you to the airline's website for ticket purchase. Often, travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday has the lowest fares of that week.