Hagan

We'd like to go to northern Italy and Switzerland in mid to late September, but the fares still seem so high. Has anyone found any deals out there? We live in central Florida and will probably have to fly out of Dulles or New York.

Mamamia

A. Check about CONSOLIDATORS' fares. These are wholesales who purchase chunks of seats, and sell them at 25-30% below what the airlines would sell them to you. BUT only European airlines work with them.

B. If you plan to rent a car, fly to Switzerland first (Swiss Air) and rent a car there (we use Auto-Europe, a wholeseller). Much cheaper than renting the car in Italy.

avalon

When would one expect the fall fares to start to come down? They seem to still be offering summer specials and it's almost the 4th of July.

rex

Probably worth your while to post this question, and monitor info on the Cheap Flights forum of www.eurotrip.com

Don - - and others there - - have their "ear to the ground" better on that forum than any other web resource I have ever seen.

Best wishes,

Rex

JandaO

I found a wonderful flight Seattle to Amsterdam, Rome to Seattle for $811.94.
I think I will wait to see if it goes under $800.00. I am tempted to buy now because it is the non stop Seattle-Amsterdam flight that I like so much.
Do I buy now and get exactly what I want or do I wait and possibly get it $50.00 + cheaper. We bought the ticket in July in 2001 and got the good flight for $748.00. What would you do?

jmp

Hi,

Thanks to this site I found a fare of $401 for NY-Rome in October on American. I had to change my return from sun to monday, but I think it is worth the savings. I had previously seen fares in the $800 range.

Call: 1-888-223-5555 or check their website www.autoeurope.com

The only drawback that I can see is that you can't change the ticket without heavy penalties.

Hope this helps!

Bootman4U

As to the comment about "consolidators" above and the assertion that "only european airlines work with them" is incorrect. Expedia, Travelocity, etc., are basically doing the same things the old bucket shops or consolidators were doing illegally and that is moving seats for airlines at less than the published fares. I would also check the local lareg newspapers such as the Miami Herald to see if anyone is consolidating and moving seats from the Florida area...for that matter, sometimes the remaining consolidators can get you acheaper fare even if there office isn't in central Florida and it might be worth a phone call to find out. HOWEVER, I would definitely cross-check the fare quoted against a sight such as Sidestep or the others to make sure you are getting what is THAT DAY the lowest rate. If seats do not move on a particular flight the airline's computer will constantly and automatically change the fare as it works against the airline's break-even point in terms of capacity..which is why buying a ticket early does not guarantee the lowest fare.
I would definitely try to fly after the 15th of september which used to be the date when the airlines considered the season to be over and fares dropped..however these days that may have changed.

JandaO

WOW !! I just went to Orbitz.com and found the flight I want for $712.00.
I am buying it NOW !!

elaine

I recently read that it is a good idea to try calling airlines after 11pm each night whether you want discounted fares or even frequent-flyer points seats. Seats they have been holding expire at that time, and are suddenly available.

Hagan

Thanks for all the replies. So far, all I'm getting are fares in the $800-$900 range, at best. I'm going to look into pricing a flight into JFK, then looking for fares out of New York. Will let you know if I come up with anything. Rex, thanks for the advice about the cheap flights forum, will definitely check that out now.
Joyce

Owen_ONeill

If you really get stuck.... look for a cheap fare to London and then get a seat on Ryanair from London to Rome. They're a UK or Irish based airline patterned after Southwest Airlines business model. They have a big cash stockpile and are slashing prices lately to grab business from Easyjet. If the fare to London is right it could be a good alternative (if a bit of a hassle). Right now the London - Rome fare is being sold as a big loss leader - price is $4 US each way before all the taxes and fees are added on (that is NOT a typo - yes it is less than $5).

Nidwaldner_Chris

Ryanair is a real stickler for the one allowed 15kg check-in and one allowed 7kg carry-on weights. Charges are 6E per kilo over those limits. Easyjet also flies to Rome from London Stansted, and is a little more generous (20kg check-in and 5kg carry-on). So these no-frill airlines are only a bargain if you can keep somewhat close to the baggage limits.

rex

I can report at least some variance in that "stickler" thing on baggage allowance - - and I wonder if it is more strictly followed when you depart FROM Stansted, as opposed to flying TO Stansted. We were prepared for it on our flight from Graz to Stansted last month; for five of us, our carry-ons were 7, 8.5, 8.5, 9.5 and 11 kg - - and our checked bags ranged from 14 to 16.5 kg. Based on the signs at the airport, we decided that we better check the two heavier carry-ons and they never asked us to weigh the other three. And we were not charged any over weight for our checked bags as we were good for the allowance of five people combined.

Admittedly, this is only an an anecdotal experience - - but thought I would throw it out as they are painted as so draconian sometimes on this issue.

dln

We found airfare to Rome from Indianapolis for $719, including all the airport taxes and surcharges, at www.cheapseats.com. This was at least $300 cheaper than anything I was able to come up with elsewhere. (For early September travel.)

I tried to find good airfare by typing in "cheap airfare" and variations thereof on Yahoo. I plowed through more sites than I could stand! However, I found the best recommendation from a guide book on Italy that I had checked out from the library. It was in the first section, the one that tells you how to plan your trip--the "getting there" section. All guidebooks have that, and I'm ashamed to admit I usually gloss over that part in my anticipation to get to the meaty stuff about tourist attractions! But in this case I was glad I looked because there was a good list of websites which eventually led me to the best airfare.

dln

Just to add this: my parents live in Naples and they drove to Miami to take advantage of a cheap airfare. The route flew to Zurich and then changed planes to Italy.

johnchas55

FYI: In Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine, June edition, he advises waiting until a month before departure and he predicts drastic reductions in summer and fall airfares.