Christina

That sounds like a reasonable target, $800. Italy is usually more expensive than some other European cities.

I don't think just searching Google is the best way to get an idea though -- I think people meant to use Orbitz, Travelocity, etc, and plug in your dates and you'll see exactly what fares are right now. Many sites give you cheapest fare lists (the cheaper ones will have long layovers, roundabout itineraries, bad times, etc).

I use Travelocity but don't find their farewatcher that useful because (as far as I know), you can't specify the fare dates. So, it's always coming up with cheap tickets that are irrelevant for the time period I want to travel, and to book in advance. For example, a month or two ago I'd get notices of cheap air fares to Paris but they were sales for Spring and I wanted a ticket for summer. There isn't any way to specify only send fares for a certain period.

I've never paid more for open jaw at all. That means there is no premium for leaving from a different city than you arrived. That doesn't mean a ticket NY-London with return Athens-NY is going to cost the same as RT NY-London, it means you pay half of the two RT fares added together.

rex

Might be worthwhile to take a look at the promotion mentioned here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34502347

Even with these promotional (?) prices, MCO-FCO came up $883.87 - - and I did not specifically try for weekend dates.

MCO-LON from $567 (via DFW), for what it's worth.

PLMN

Thanks for the update to the thread. I had seen the Frommer's thread and checked it out.

What I have been finding is that it seems we decided to go when everyone else is going. Most everything is sold out for the dates we need. And the fares still available are going to be $900-1000.

Anyway, I just found out some bad family news and I am going to post a new thread that relates to this this, please watch for it.

elaine

sorry about your bad family news.

On the original topic, I heard on a news program that Americans will be flying in record numbers this summer, so there's not much incentive so far for airlines to offer bargains.

Flyboy

I would keep looking, but I wouldn't expect to find a good deal on an October ticket just yet, unless someone cracks out an early fare war. In the past, I've found good fall fares coming in most consistently after the 4th of July.

PLMN

I guess if it were me and not my parent's paying I would go ahead and book now because as it is none of the companies I have contacted are having an easy time finding seats on the dates we MUST have.

This just goes to show YOU NEVER KNOW. Book early or wait? For cruises it is a whole other ball of wax darn it. Flying is DIFFERENT

It seems "everyone" wants to go to Italy on MY dates.

rex

Looking at the info here and on the other threads where you discuss/lament the availability of affordable flight options (I still don't know precisely what are the "choice" dates you are seeking) - - it still seems like the MCO-LON option from http://www.1800flyeurope.com/showspecial.cfm?specid=167 is one of the leading possibilities for you.

It is indeed more expensive to fly on weekends, but I have checked <i>Saturday</i> October 2, returning Friday October 15, and there are 4 seats at $686 each (all taxes included), flying via Pittsburgh (thus, surely it is USAir - - they don't identify the carrier) for MCO-LGW. I feel certain it should be possible to lock in SOME kind of LON-Italy roundtrip for under $100 on Ryanair (if not now, then sometime this summer).

For example, there are five departures daily London-Rome on Ryanair, and even if you didn't want the most economical choices offered (for timing reasons), there are still &quot;higher&quot; fares of only 55 GBP (taxes included), <i>roundtrip</i>

Or does this seem like too much hassle?

PLMN

Hi rex. Thanks again for trying to help me. I do appreciate it.

I have posted so many items on this crazt trip that I forgot exactly where everything is.

I have stated somewhere that I MUST fly out of the US on SUNDAY Oct 3rd. And I must fly out of Italy Saturday Oct 16th. This has to do with my work vacation schedule.

I have investigated at the suggestion of many helpful people the possibility of flying into England and then out of England on to Italy. It does seem there are some possibilities for fares being lower in total. However, with the discombubulated (sp?) itenerary and this (not my folks) novice international traveler it seems it would be worth the extra few bucks to book my passage all at once, not split things up. I was told that this way if for some reason I miss a connection or something I have better recourse to be given a seat on another flight. If something were to happen where I would miss a connection and I booked evertyhing individually it would be up to me to try to secure another seat somehow. Im' not willing to do that.

Any additional info certainly appreciated.

Flyboy

This is an interesting thread for people who like to fool around with routing and fares, but since only PLMN knows the exact dates in question, it will continue to be very difficult for anyone to give precise advice.

Here's what we know:

1. Two people want to fly to Rome from an unknown (U.S.) point of origin and meet up with a third person who is originating from Orlando on an unknown weekend date in October. This date is firm.

2. After meeting up and touring through unknown places for an unknown period of time, the three people want to depart on the same day at around the same time to return to the U.S. from Florence. (&quot;Florence&quot; sounds like it may be tentative as the departure point for the return trip, but the date is firm for this, too.)

3. For the return, one person is going to New York, one to San Francisco and the other to Orlando.

While it is POSSIBLE that there is something going on with the dates that you have in mind that would cause a lot of seats to be already sold, I'm guessing that's not really what the problem is. What is far more likely is that the lowest fares that will likely be available for those dates simply aren't out there yet.

Just for the heck of it, maybe you ought to look and see for yourself. For example, I have tickets for specific dates in November that are award tickets. If I wanted to BUY one of those seats right now because I just couldn't stand the suspense, the airline's booking engine tells me that the lowest fare is &quot;H&quot; class at a little over $600. I'm almost positive that I'll be able to buy it for $150 or more less than that at some point between now and my trip. I will then re-deposit my miles for a $50 fee and go on a paid fare. How do I think I know this? Well, I checked the seat and class availability on a search engine and I KNOW they've got lower fare class seats available. They're just not selling them yet, for whatever reasons they might have. I've got my seat, one way or another and if I end up switching to a paid fare, the $50 will have been my insurance premium.

Here is a way to have hours of fun finding things out about what your various options are right now and what they COULD be, going forward:

http://www.flyaow.com/classavailability.htm

Go to the &quot;AMEX ITN tool&quot; and start plugging things in to see what you come up with.

Since I sometimes book things involving people with different points of origin, I will suggest to you that it will make things easier if you can get everyone on the same final leg on the trip over and on the same first leg on the way back. Trying to match up times and meet in airports before or after different flights isn't all that an exact way of trying to get things done. It's tough enough when everything is working according to the plan and on schedule. It's a real drag when that's not the case.

Moreover, why have everyone sit with strangers on their flights when you can sit together and have that be part of the adventure? For a few hundred bucks a pop in savings, maybe it's worth it. But if traveling much of the trip together, checking in for the return flights, going through customs and handling airport transfers can all be facilitated in a practical itinerary for similar fares, why not do it? (It sure beats sitting around in airports waiting for people or flights.)

Remember: flexibility is the key to traveling economically. The more conditions you place on your trip, the fewer options you will have and the more expensive it is inclined to become.

It sounds like your parents are the ones who have the &quot;majority interest&quot; in this trip, as well as some experience in international travel. They're going to have to commit to something at some point for you to match up your arrangements. Maybe your best role is simply to alert them to deals as they come up, agree about approaches to some practical issues and then decide together when it is time to pull the trigger.

Flyboy

Whoops! I see other facts were introduced into the equation while I was typing. Good! Now we're getting somewhere.

clevelandbrown

I'm going to keep using my two-month rule until it doesn't work. I know more people are flying this year than last, when 9-11 was still fresh in our minds. But I also know the airlines have plenty of seats available, and have no incentive to offer a discount on an October ticket now, when they are fully aware that some people who are concerned about not getting a seat will pay today's higher prices.

Last year we flew to Venice in May for about $450, and to Paris in October for about $525, each time buying about two months before the date of the flight.

While the $450 fare worked, it caused a lot of worry, because I had bought it through on of the multi-airline sites, and they had put together a continental flight to Paris with an Italia flight to Venice, and coming home a BA flight to London with a continental flight to the states. The connection times were marginal, but I risked it, and worried about making connections for about two months. During that time, I kept getting emails that my flight had been cancelled, as apparently continantal and Italia don't communicate, and I would call the multi-airline site and they would check into it and call back and say all was well. To top it off, continental gave my wife FF miles, but not me, and I had to beg and plead to get the miles (they were apparently right in denying the miles, as the low price of the ticket meant it wouldn't qualify. They only relented because they had given my wife the miles, and hoped to keep us as customers.) The amount of uncertainty involved in that flight is why I always recommend buying tickets from an airline site.

Flyboy

&quot;I always recommend buying tickets from an airline site.&quot;

Amen.

suze

Like Flyboy, personally I buy direct from the airline by phone or website (I search on Expedia etc. first to find the exact route/flights I want).

When you don't have flexibility - PLMN needs specific dates and destinations - I don't monkey around looking for rock bottom ticket prices.

Be careful doing your own itinerary that you don't end up flying (for example) into Heathrow and connecting out of a completely different London airport (time, money, hassle).

I have not paid more for an &quot;open jaw&quot; ticket (into Geneva and out of Paris last time) than arriving/departing the same city.

rex

Okay. Using your exact dates, the fare is even better MCO-LHR on www.1800flyeurope.com - - though it does require the (dreaded, by some) transfer from LGA to JFK - - still with over 3 and a half hours, that seems painless enough.

Or $685, via Atlanta, with the (much preferred - - by me at least) later departure time of 6:55 pm, and an excellent connect time of 1 hr 20 minutes, arriving LGW at 11:10 am - - nice(r) late(r) departure from LGW to get home too.

As for the issue of missing a connection in London - - I actually do that this is a risk - - and thus I build it into the itinerary. I think this is a valuable strategy for less experienced travelers. Get accustomed to the time zone change in an <i>English-speaking</i> country - - and then fly to Italy one or two days later with no jet lag on arrival there (for the most part). The combination of language disorientation and transatlantic overnight travel can be very disconcerting for some less experienced travelers.

I would probably even recommend the same on the return. You have to sleep <i>some</i>where the night before you head home; it can be as cheap to sleep in England as it is in Italy.

This approach is geared to saving money, not necessarily maximizing convenience.

And re-reading the original question now, I see that your dad is NOT <i>in</i>experienced with regard to traveling to England - - so maybe this will not sell with him and your mother.

One final note - - in the &quot;what-the-heck&quot; department, I decided to try MCO-CDG for your exact dates, and it's even cheaper than London! Available at $535 (with a long-ish layover at BOS). Who wouldn't trade a few days in Paris for one or two fewer days in Italy?

If nothing else, perhaps others (reading this) can use a strategy similar to this for their own plans.

PLMN

Oh my g-d. This is confusing

I have to get out my flow chart for some of this.

As for meeting up at some point and flying together my father does not want us to be all on the same plane if g-d forbid it crashed. I know royalty and some corporations will not allow certain management to fly together for the same reason. My own company will not allow upper management to fly together.

AAFrequentFlyer

<b>PLMN</b>

Get real. Many here gave you some good advice and you just keep on adding more and more conditions.

People like you should get a travel agent.

PLMN

Dear AA Frequent,

That was very rude. Would it not have been nicer if you said &quot;perhaps a travel agent would be of some help?&quot;

What makes you think I am not taking the sage advice of the people who have posted here? Who says I am adding conditions? I never indicated that flying other than individually was an option.

A travel agent would have been a wonderful thing if I could have found one in my area that was willing to work with my mom and dad.

Have a lovely day.

turnercindy

PLMN, I agree with you. I also considered going thru London, switching to Ryan Air, and flying on to Rome. But with Murphy's law, something would go wrong. And I don't think anyone mentioned that it's a 1 hour shuttle from heathrow to the other London airport. But I did find a great fare from www.iberia.com. Fare for your dates round-trip to Rome is currently $607, including taxes. I think you'd have to call to see about the open jaws. I will say that I've heard that the staff can be quite rude, but IMO, the price difference is worth it.

PLMN

thank you very much turnercindy. I will check it out now. Have a great day.

PLMN

Well turnercindy I checked Iberia. If I were to fly Orlando to Rome and then Rome to Orlando it is what you said. I called them on the phone to ask about open-jaw and sure enough it was $400 MORE.

Makes me want to change my fly out plan. I think I have an idea though and I am going to try it out. Let you know and thanks again for the great info.