Based on preferred travel dates for our party of four, I have narrowed down flights thusly, based on price/convenience/schedule:

Option 1: US Air $1126 total p.p.
9/19 Orlando/Venice
12:20p - 8:55a (3hr51min layover in PHL)
9/26 Rome/Orlando
11:15a - 8:15p (2hr45min layover in PHL)


Option 2: Delta $1057 total p.p.
9/19 Orlando/Rome
1:23p - 8:25a (1hr52min layover in ATL)
9/26 Venice/Orlando
1:05p - 10:04p (2hr35min layover in ATL)

Worried about what would happen with Delta's bankruptcy outcome...Are others out there booking with Delta months out..?

DL is fine. The question isn't whether they will shut down (0% chance), but whether it's going to be a standalone DL, or will it be bought out by USAirways, or will it be forced into a merger with Northwest.

Whatever happens, some sort of DL will be flying you to Italy.

Travelnut, I didn't realize you live in the Orlando area. Are you on the west or east side? The reason I ask is we live in Debary, in Volusia County, and are going to Italy in March, flying out of Daytona.

For months I had been automatically entering MCO as a departure, and then I started putting in DAB just to compare. Surprise, it was cheaper! I bought our tickets on flycheapabroad.com, as they consistently had the lowest fares for DAB as a departure city to Europe. I entered your travel dates on that site with DAB as the departure city and got a fare of $795.87 into Rome and out of Venice, with one stop each way in Atlanta.
As for Delta, I don't think you have anything to worry about, as they are actually adding new routes and planes. Our flight is with Delta to Atlanta, then Air France to Europe. Sure hope this helps you, it could be quite a savings for four of you!

Always difficult but don't forget that Venice is slowly sinking into the sea...why wait?

Hey, Dukey - was that meant for the "Venice or Prague" post..?

Hagan, thank you for that info - I will check it out. I don't live in Orlando but some family members live near there, so we're planning to fly out together from Orlando.

If people are that comfortable with Delta, I will give them more consideration. The flights for my week have a lot of availability on the seating charts, whereas the USAir flight's AB or FG seats are dwindling.

I know its nice to have the tickets, but don't you think the fares will be lower in
3 or 4 months?

Not really. I just booked an April trip (Amsterdam/Brussels/Paris) and seats were nearly sold out. Higher demand and fewer flights is going to keep prices up there. September is not a low-season or even shoulder-season anymore, and we have very restrictive dates for the trip (no flexibility). I also have an aversion to 2 stopovers, and certain airlines.
So I will have to pay a bit for being particular (or 'peculiar').

Hagan and Travelnut..I'm in Maitland and had never thought to use DAB! I'm going to look into it