My family is going to Italy this year - 5 of us, from New York
We are flying in to Rome on Agust 26th and out of Florence September 10th.

Best fares that I am finding with one connection are $1200 to $1300 a piece.

Is this normal or is it because I am booking so far in advance?

Should I wait until 2/3 months before trip?

Hi b,

www.kayak.com has 1 stops from $1000

You will also find lower rates if you fly Mon-Thurs.

The last 2 years I have seen sales with flights in the $700 range for Sept. Also, you should be able to get a direct flight from JFk to Rome, this is a big plus for me. I would wait a few months. Alitalia currently has a sale fare for $711 for NY to Rome but only for travel through April. On the flights that you are looking at how full is the plane. If most seats are available I would definitely wait.

My friend and her husband flew from Pittsburgh to Rome in early September 2010 and I know they paid $836 total each.

So hopefully you would be able to do a little better from New York.
Good Luck.

Thought you might want to know about the "watching to see if the plane is getting full" experience I had: I watched, I 'checked' and when the prices rose a bit I went ahead to book fearing they would rise higher. When I actually got to the spot where you can pick your seat I was mighty surprised to see it nearly full...not what had been indicated on the pre-booking screens. Non-stop is also my preference although it is a bit more expensive. Happy travels!

Go a lot from the US over there.

www.farecompare.com www.kayak.com/buzz tips for saving.

Aug is peak time in peak travel season Sept/Oct

departures yield lower prices cheapest airport in for me

usually MXP(Milan)savehundreds usually train cheap from there

best I have found this year www.continental.com so far

from $600 pp use their One Plus CC rack up scads of FF miles.

What I do have fun,

I'm getting depressed! I have booked and paid for our trip to Italy June 22-July 3. We go from Miami to Florence with a plane change in Paris on Delta. Same on the way home. The cost was $1767 per person!