Has anyone flown into the airport at Catania, Sicily and then flown out of Palermo's airport? What airline did you fly? Is it more expensive? Thanks for any help.

If you are flying on an international ticket, prices should be nearly identical. If flying on an Italian domestic flight from the Continent, Palermo should be slightly cheaper, though not by much. There is roughly the same frequency of service out of both airports.

Thank you. We will be flying out of JFK, New York in September. Should I book through an airline or is it better to go through a travel agent for a flight into one city and out of another?

I have used Homeric tours in Manhattan for my trips abroad (including my recent one to Sicily) they always get good consolidator rates. No matter where I look they always get me the lowest. They usually use Delta/ Alitalia. The only issue is that if you need to make changes or cancel, consolidator tickets have strict rules. Someone on here may be able to tell you how to go about just getting a cheap flight to Rome, and then you could book separate flights within Italy with an economy carrier. It could work out to be cheaper.

I am looking into the same itinerary for October. Actually I want to fly from Boston to Catania then Palermo to Rome then a few days later Rome to Boston. I looked on orbitz and searched for Boston to Catania and Rome to Boston. For my dates I found flights on Alitalia which stop once each way in Milan (so boston to Milan to catania then Rome to Milan to boston) for $758. I think that is pretty good for only having to stop once. I then searched for Boston to Rome RT (figuring that I could purchase a separate ticket from Rome to and from Sicily) and the cheapest flight I got was also on Alitalia for $719 and also stopped in Milan. at least from Boston, no non-stop flights to rome. I'm sure you have more options from JFK.

It is possible that the tickets from US to Rome will go down between now and the fall. I have no idea, though, what flights to and from sicily generally cost. Does anyone else? I would prefer not to fly Alitalia the whole way but if you, like me, are trying to head straight to sicily from the US and not spend a day or two elsewhere in Italy when you land, I would think it is better to book one ticket all the way to sicily in case the NY/Boston to Italy leg of the trip is delayed.

Also, where should I look for a one way ticket from Palermo to Rome? Oisa, hope this helps. if anyone can advise me as well, thanks in advance!

You need to price this itinerary both as a unified transatlantic journey, as well as separately for the Italian domestic segments. From Palermo to Rome, Air One (number two airline in Italy after Alitalia) has very cheap one way promotional fares, in some cases cheaper than the train! The FASTEST way from Boston to Catania is to fly Alitalia nonstop to Malpensa, then connect on Alitalia to Catania. From Rome back to Boston, there are no nonstop flights (Delta delayed inauguration of this nonstop flight to a date in the future), but you have many possibilities (connect in Malpensa, or JFK/EWR or LHR/CDG/FRA/AMS). Generally, fares are lower if you book the same airline in both directions. Alitalia/Air France/Delta are part of the same marketing system so I would check their fares in particular.

www.air-one.it

Also I would consider transerring back to either Catania or Palermo before flying out of Sicily: one way flights in Italy cost a lot, almost as much as a round trip, so you may end up paying amlost twice as much just to save you a couple of hours.

Thank you all for the helpful information. Now I will watch the fares for a well-priced flight. GAC, you are so knowledgeable about travel. I appreciate your sharing information and taking time to post replies to so many questions.

I just flew rt from Rome to Catania on air one -- only a 50 minute flight and the airline was quite good and cheap -- reminded me of virgin express.

Is air-one the same as Volare airlines?? Last September we flew Volare from Rome to Catania and then a week later from Catania to Venice for the then available non stop to JFK. We thought the flight was great and MUCH less expensive than what Alitalia was charging. If you are picking up a car from Catania airport be prepared for a long ordeal.

Air One and Volare are not the same airlines. Air One is a partner with Lufthansa.

To Sera:
Re Roma/catania Air One, can you book from US? Any/all info appreciated asap, am leaving 9 July. Thanks!

I booked thru expedia.com. I think it was something like $138 roundtrip.

And just an FYI: I think it might be listed as a Lufthansa flight (an Air One partner).