My husband and I are planning a trip to Rome for late June 2004 and I was hoping for advice on flights.

We have found high prices online (via Orbitz, Expedia, etc). The lowest I have found is approx. 1,100 pp.

Can anyone tell me if this is average or too high? Seems high to me...

Thanks.

Yes, that is high.

I paid $750 total for two (into Venice out of Florence from the West coast; I'm not sure that this fare was common, I got an extrodinarily good deal).

There should be air sales in the first few months of the new year - check for those frequently. I would imagine you should be able to find something around $400 (give or take) from the East coast to Rome during an air sale.

Otherwise, wait until a few months prior to your planned departure.

Also, I have found it to my advantage to also call the airline directly, and/or visit their website. Sometimes Expedia, Orbitz, and the like, do not have the best deals. (They quoted me $1200 p/p and I was able to secure my tix, with the benefit of an air sale, directly with the airline on the same day as the higher Expedia/Orbitz search.)

That is a bit high. Although you are traveling in high season, from Philly you should be able to get down to about $700-$800.

It is too early to get those prices, though. I'd wait a little longer.

FYI: I picked random dates (mid-week) toward the end of June on Travelocity and got back prices from Philly to Rome of $972, including the taxes.

Karen

You should be able to do better. For that time of year I would consider anything under $600 a great price, but since there isn't much competition on that route and you are looking at peak travel season, $1100 is not out of line with recent years' fares. Keep watching the usual sites, and watch USAir closely-- you may get a better fare from them directly. Also search using several alernate dates; fares can vary by hundreds of dollars from one day to the next. Buon viaggio!

I agree that it should be possible to find lower. If you can't get it below $850, it would be worth your while to check into other intermediate gateway airports into Europe and then a low-cost intra-Europe to Italy - - if saving money is worth that kind of effort to you.

And besides here, take a look at the Cheap Flights forum of www.eurotrip.com

Best wishes,

Rex

We almost always fly out of Philly to go to Europe because it is a USAirways hub. Our tickets (coach) to Rome in January cost about $700 for the pair. We stay alert to USAir's advertised sales in the Philadelphia Inquirer. We also check costs on the internet. In truth, late June is high. However you might still luck into a sale. Then there is the last minute approach--seeing what you can get 3 or 4 days before you want to leave (admittedly something I'd NEVER try). Finally, I have never for any trip domestic or international found a better deal on Orbitz and Expedia etc. than I have by searching indvidual airlines.

Good luck! Ellen

I had really good luck with a newly found ticket website recently. Round trip from Frankfurt to Chicago for $360. The site is www.us-discount-travel.com My husband an I are stationed in Germany with the military, this was in an ad in one of the papers on post. So they're usually pretty affordable. They actually have a listing for a current rate from Frankfurt to Philly for $322, so try it out and maybe you will have some luck.

Hi eko,

I agree that you should be able to get tickets for about 650-700 if you wait until mid Feb.

I have had good luck at http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm

Thank you to everyone who reponded.

I love this site. Always filled with nice, helpful people.

I am flying out of philly to amsterdam and them from rome to philly 2 weeks later. I got the tickets off orbitz for $460, round trip with no stopping!! I reccomend buying you tickets late tuesday or wed. night. I looked at prices on orbitz and other sights and found that the plane tickets are the cheepest then