dukegirl

Hi! We will be going to Italy this Sept, and are looking to purchase an open-jaw ticket from JFK to FCO and then leaving from VCE back to JFK. I have been monitoring airfares since last year and the prices haven't moved from $1000-$1100 on Alitalia or Delta. We prefer a direct flight.

The planner in me is getting nervous, and would like to purchase our tickets soon. Should I wait? For how long? Does anyone have any experience as to when Sept fares are expected to go on sale? And, what is considered a good fare?

Our friend who is travelling to Italy next month purchased his tickets in March and said that he had trouble getting his first choice in flight times because some flights were sold-out. I don't want to wait too long and risk that either.

Thanks for any help in advance,
Jean

rex

Not to be the pessimist - - but flexibility is your best bargaining chip - - and insisting on the nonstop flight might mean that you see the prices now at as they are likely to get (especially on a weekend, and especially in the first half of September).

You can watch to T-90 (maybe even 60), I think - - they might not get better, but I don't know that you will get stuck with worse, either.

Best wishes,

Rex

ira

Hi dg,

Have you checked prices at http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm?

dukegirl

We will be going in early Sept, and prefer a non-stop direct flight because my DH is afraid of flying so we like to minimize the number of take-offs and landings.

Ira - thanks for the website. I'll check it out.

Linda431

We fly every Sept or Oct and I've never seen the super sales like they sometimes have in the summer. I have seen fares of arount 700, but you have to grab them quickly.

I just checked the load on our flight to Rome this coming Sept and there are only a handful of seats left in coach. Which tells me that particular flight will not go on sale.

Linda431

Let me add that a travel agent just told me that since the pope died, there has been an enormous interest in travel to Rome and they are booking many more trips there than usual.

suec1

We have "crossed the pond" several times in Sept. - trying to get good airfares for that month has been trying. Supposedly it is "shoulder season", not the peak summer months but we have paid summer, or close to, prices. One year we waited until July and got a bit of a break, not much, only to see a great sale on the route in Aug. but that's cutting it too close for me! We also like to fly direct/non-stop so we usually end up paying a higher price than if we were more flexible. I'd suggest checking daily and waiting a bit longer - can you look to see how sold out the flight is? (Orbitz shows this, not sure Delta does). I've heard that there are lots of folks traveling to Europe this year, that plus high fuel prices doesn't bode well for fare sales.

Weadles

This week, The Today Show featured a new low-fare website based in New York which is: newyorkairfares.blogspot.com

Supposedly, you can find some really decent discounted prices on this site. Please post back and let me know if you find anything good!

Linda431

You can check availability on Delta here: www.benedelman.org/travel/dlseats/

vanman628

Hi dukegirl:

Our group of 4 is doing the exact same trip (first time in Italy) in middle to late Sept. & I experienced in Feb. and March, what you are now going through. I saw then that seats were filling up fast, and the fares were around $790 at that time. We decided to book and before I could pull the trigger, in 4 days the fares went up $40. We ended up with Delta from Orlando to JFK to FCO and returning from VCE for $833.

I used Orbitz to check the lowest fares because they are one of the sites you can price open-jaw tix on for multiple airlines. On the day I booked, Delta.com was lower than Orbitz. I looked last week at our exact flights and saw they were around $1,000 and was flabbergasted.

If I can help with any info for your trip, please email me at:

[email protected]

Best of luck!

Van
Orlando