The best fare I could find from Fort Lauderdale to Rome and then Milan to Fort Lauderdale was 950.00 per person May 3rd to the 13th, 2001. Is this a decent fare for this time of year. Would it be too riskey to wait until the new year to see if fares come down.Or should I just bte the bullet.

That airfare is awful; I can't imagine it'll get worse, but it might get better. Now, according to airlines, if you buy a ticket, and the fares drop, they are supposed to refund the difference less $50-100 in fees. Check with the airline offering this fare, and find out what that fee would be. <BR> <BR>Is this airfare thru the internet, or have you contacted a travel agent and consolidators for quotes?

This is a fare from Delta on the net. I just seems crazy that fares now are 500-600 but for may its 950-1200

Welcome to the new financial reality; tourist season now extends from May through October. Give us babyboomers another couple of years, and all year long will be tourist season. <BR> <BR>Right now thru about March is low season so that's why the cheap fares. I'd spend some time checking out consolidators to see what they offer (Italy always has higher airfares than France or England or Germany).

I booked my flight through travelocity, and spent $606.00 Round trip. We just got back after 10 days. If you are at all flexible with your travel dates, this may be the way to go. If you are not familiar with Travelocity, you need to set up a free account. Then go in to "Find Fares" and when it asks about your dates, it says "I'm flexible with my dates"... click this and it will help you find dates around the time you are looking for, and find you the best fares. This is how I did it and saved a ton of money. If I came back one day earlier or left one day later on the outbound to rome, it would have cost me another $400.00. But, the other post is Right... Late Spring is beginning of Season, avoid august, as this is when most Italians go on vacation, and nothing in Rome is open.

Thanks for the confirmation. looks like I have to bite the bullet.$950.00/per. in May it is.

We did the trip last year, and found the most competitive rates were in January. I'd wait at least until mid-month. Or if you have to spend that much, try to get in on a double your frequentflyer miles promo.

Vic, I'd really hold off awhile. As Elvira says, that fare's not likely to get worse, and it may well get a lot better. You have plenty of time to book for an early May trip; at least wait unitl mid-January and see what the fare sales are doing. You might also make a habit in the meantime of visiting www.bestfares.com and checking out their "News Desk"; they keep track of international fare sales. Also try TISS.com. <BR> <BR>You'll be kicking yourself if a $600 or $700 fare shows up in January or February. No need to leap five months out.

We just bought tickets for $500 each through USAirways from the East coast. USAirways has secondary site on their main website that posts cheap airfairs for last minute travelers. Or, you might save a lot of money by taking a flight on Southwest to Pittsburgh and flying USAirways to Rome. Both carriers seem to be in fare battles in certain markets that might make it worth it for you to travel an extra hour or two. Good Luck!

Vic: I'm having the same problem trying to book tickets for April, but the problem is flying out of Reno! Fares from the east coast should definitely go cheaper than what you're looking at now. Wait until mid-January. You might also want to consider moving your dates back 2-3 days so you'll travel mid-week instead of on weekends.

Thanks everybody. I will wait until mid Jan. and see if fares come down at all. As some people have said hopefully rates won't get worse.

Vic, <BR> <BR>Check out: <BR> <BR>www.tiss.com <BR>www.travelocity.com <BR>www.cheapairfares.com <BR>www.thedailyauction.com <BR>www.skyauction.com <BR>www.bestfares.com <BR> <BR>You can find reasonable airfare on all of these sites. But you must research a lot for that great deal. Something you may want to consider is flying into a cheaper city, like Brussels, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt, etc. You can get reasonable Inter-European flights. That combination might save you some money. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps. <BR> <BR>Carey