Lori03

I am planning on visiting Italy for the first time in May or June. I know that this is during the high travel season for Italy. I have been looking for airfaire and the cheapest flights for that time are over $1,000 per ticket. I don't want to wait too long to purchase my tickets, but I am wondering if the price will come down if I wait a little longer. Is airfaire usually a lot more in May and June or can you find some deals?

yipper

HI,
Last year I was hunting for tickets to Paris for June/July. All the prices were aboaut $900.00 from Boston. I put in my dates almost everyday on 3 web sites and in Febuary I got a price of $500.00 a ticket. Others have posted that Feb. seems to be a good month for fares. Start in January and every day look and be ready to buy when you see a good price. Good luck

Flyboy

We need to know where you are flying from. For many U.S. origins, that would be more than many of us would think is a good deal for a coach class seat. May and the first half of June will usually yield lower fares than that and while it certainly won't be as cheap as it is during winter and early spring, you will still be a little bit out in front of the high travel season which seems to begin around mid-June. Start looking now, but don't be surprised if the best deals are still a month or two away.

ecat

Hi Lori,

Yes I too looked in Aug. for SF to Rome saw the $500. range missed that waiting for 1 of my sisters to respond - went to priceline shortly after got a $660. fare and booked them!

Keep looking I think it could get better than $1000. Might want to do a price alert with Travelocity for whatever city you want in Italy.

Best, E

beanweb24

Try www.justfares.com. I've used them for tix to Italy and Belgium and have had decent luck.

kr

British Airways late to early june, prices go up big time around the 15th of june when the kiddies are all out of school. I booked London 350 round trip. I booked it last month. Than you can fly Easy Jet or Ryanair to a whole bunch of countries real cheap. Italy's around 80 us round trip from london

kr

Late May that is

RufusTFirefly

Unless something unusual happens, this is too early to buy tickets for the May/June period. Prices generally come down after New Years--normally 2 to 4 months before the actual travel month depending on a variety of factors.

MizzEve

I would check daily. I found a RT flight MSP to Rome in January for $272 on Continental. I waited ONE day to purchase as I wanted to confirm my lodging first. The next day the fare had risen to $378. I bought the $378 ticket.

Last summer I found a ticket for $800 RT MSP to Rome in Sept. I bought it right away as I heard that was a good fare. Within a couple of weeks I saw fares around $500 for the same timeframe.

I think that in the future, I will first determine how much money I want to spend/or can afford on a ticket, then keep checking fares until I find one in within my budget.

Lori03

Thanks for all of your input. I will be flying out of Los Angeles. I guess the consensus is that I should wait until Jan/Feb to book my flight for May and I will probably get a better deal. I was hesitant because I wanted to have my airfaire before I booked my hotel and I don't want to wait until Feb to book my hotel for May because I have heard that the hotels get booked quickly.

Cinart

Our family went to Italy 2 summers ago. We had enough miles for 3 frequent fliers, but had to buy 1. The fares were very high, in the 1,000 and up category. This contunued throughout the winter. What I finally did was get a travel agent to search for me. You have to pay a fee, but she checked the fare CONSTANTLY. I'm sorry to say that in the end, I had to pay a high price--but she very very diligent about it.
So overall, I would get and agent, and play the waiting game.
You didn't mention what city you were flying into. If your itinerary is flexible. (Milan, Rome, Venice, etc.)you might have better luck.

ecat

Lori,

You may also want to take a look at this site to compare prices. www.sidestep.com

You will need to download this site to have use of it. I've used it alot before I booked flights and it has been very helpful to me.

After it displays the various airline prices, I have always gone to that airlines website and see what price they have to offer direct.

Once again good luck!

Betsy

Lori, go ahead and pick your preferred trip dates and book your hotels. You can fine tune your hotel reservations after your flights are firm. Just be sure to ask about change/cancellation policies before you book. Airfare is likely to be less expensive in May than in June, so I'd choose the last week or two of May.

Veronica

Lori, I also want to fly from Los Angeles to Rome in May. Actually www.justfares.com is offering $710 on Delta for May (and only $410 if I go at the end of this month).

tpl

Try booking airfare with a major carrier (i.e. United) in and out of CDG, then book your Italy leg separately through Alitalia or AF. You'll likely have to change planes anyway. The first carrier will transfer your luggage if you have tickets for your connecting flights.

ecat

Bean & Veronica - Thanks for the justfares site, I've added to my
travel links.

Lori IMHO on the last postI would avoid CDG if you can it's a pain in the a**.

nicenancy

Thank you - just the info I happened to need. You are all so very generous and I appreciate you!