Airfare to Italy (Rome)
 

I would like to take a trip to Rome next spring. However, I am daunted by the price of airfare. I plan to go in late April/May and so far tickets I've found on various sites (e.g. flycheapabroad.com, etc.) are running in the $900 range. I've seen others post about getting some great prices, so I'm wondering how others have gotten those great deals. I'm flying from Kansas City (not an international/hub) airport. Any tips? I'd hate not to go because of airfare prices.

$900 sounds pretty reasonable for May, at least from my part of the country (Pacific NW).

The much lower prices are probably for low season - Nove throught most of March. After that prices are a lot higher. You can keep looking and hope for a sale - but that sound reasonable to me for a non-hub city.

Have you seen better prices from major hubs - and do you have any discount airline to get you to one of those hubs?

dee, I wish I could feel more optimistic about the airfare prices but I've been watching for a month or so for fares to Rome from Baltimore for early May and haven't seen anything under 940.

I have the luxury of several airports near us and I'm still not finding the lower fares I've seen in past years. Last year for a trip in May I bought tickets in January for 650--Baltimore to Paris---I guess this year I'll be really happy to see anything under 800.

We went to Amsterdam this October and I waited as long as I was comfortable and never saw what I would consider a good price. I bought our tickets the end of August for about 750 each--for a time period I always considered "off season". I may have to change my airfare expectations to a good price being anything under 900 for us this May ;;) Good luck, Deborah

I think it is still too early for April/May. That website you mentioned looks OK, but nothing special. I would add Kayak.com, Yapta.com and Bing.com travel sites to your list of travel sites. All allow you to specify flight criteria then sign up for alerts on those flights. Also, they're pretty easy to use, and you can test out different times of the year, different days of the week, etc... A little patience and a little flexibility can go a long way. I would look at $800 range for your trip, and I would expect to see flights in that range by January/early February. At least, that's what my research suggests ;)

For some reason, Rome is always higher than Paris, London, etc. $900 isn't too bad, but it's still a little early. If you can drive to a hub airport, you will probably save about 10-20%. Another idea - some 'package deal' agencies(like europeandestinations.com) often sell combination airfare & auto rental cheaper than you can get them separately, and you only need to rent the car for a day or two. Keep trying, and you will probably find a better deal. It often takes a LOT of surfing to land a good deal.

Thanks for all of the tips. I don't plan on purchasing any time soon...so I can be patient with booking/researching. Thanks again!!

Try Sunset Travel! They're based out of Chicago, which I know is another hub, but I have gotten fares at least a few hundred cheaper, ESPECIALLY in off season. I think it's sunsettravel.com but could be slightly mistaken. Anyway, I've had good luck with their Chicago/Rome fares so it's worth a hot. Good luck!

No advice to give on airfare but do try to stay away from Alitalia airlines. On strike for my last 2 flights.
First one worked out okay as I was transferred to another
airline but second one (a mo. ago) caused an overnite stay @ fleabag hotel w/questionable dinner.

I've beem checking prices for the same timeframe but from the east coast. I'm finding low $700's. 1800flyeurope.com has consistently better prices than the other sites I'm checking (Kayak.com; Vayama.com) and is easy to use.

I am going from JFK to Naples and home from Rome at the beginning of May. On Thanksgiving, Aer Lingus had a one stop each way for $655. I grabbed it because you basically have to change to get to Naples anyway. Both before that day and after it was $855. I suggest checking the airline sites as well as the travel sites. Maybe Christmas day will also have cheaper offerings. You never know. Good luck.

We flew to Rome from Austin, TX at the end of Sept through vayama.com after I tracked the fares for almost a year. It was $568 RT.I saw it, bought it and never saw anything as low again. Try them.