Hi,

My husband and I are in our 20's and are planning for our first trip to Italy and Greece this May. We want to fly into Venice (from Austin,TX), fly out of Athens (back to AUS). So far, the cheapest fair we could find is $900 (northwest)! We've tried all the major airlines, expedia, travelocity, cheaptickets, economytravel, etc. Even if we do round trip from DFW to ROM or VCE, it's $850! Friends went to Venice last summer and tickets were around $500. Are we just hitting back luck? Wondering if any of you could share how you got your tickets at a reasonable price. We'd be happy with $700 or so.

Thanks in advance!

I assume you have also priced it on www.onetravel.com and www.itasoftware.com

I'd usually recommend mobissimo but you cannot search for open jaw itineraries on that site as I recall.


Here's an alternative but before doing so factor in the time and "hassle factor" that might be involved.

Fly to London and take a budget flight from there. I know for a fact that EasyJet serves the Athens-London Gatwick route; perhaps you could find a cheap flight from London to Venice.

BUT make sure you are REALLY saving enough money to warrant the extra time, etc., involved.

Hi, wind, it's always good to meet a fellow Austinite on the board.

The price you found really isn't bad for an open jaw ticket. I think the open jaw ticket is a good idea because there is value in not dealing with the time and hassle of going back to the city you flew into. Also you must remember that the price of crude oil has jumped dramatically since last year which has increased the price of jet fuel, hence the fare increase. I seriously doubt you'll get anyting for $700 from Austin. You could check flights from IAH or DFW and determine if the savings is worth the drive, but I still don't think $700 is doable.

Intrepid's idea for going to London and taking a budget flight is an option, but my personal opinion is that it wouldn't be worth the extra time and trouble. However, I still encourage you to look into this and decide for yourself if the savings justifies the hassle.

Hi wind,

For such short notice, I think that $900 is a good price for AUS/VCE ATH/AUS.

I paid $857 US to go Round Trip DFW-ORD-FCO FCO-ORD-DFW

March 21-March 28

It strikes me as a really good price for that itinerary at that time of year.

We just booked a open jaw flight last night(Atlanta to London in late May, Milan to Atlanta in mid June). $800 total on Delta. We dealt directly with Delta (No consolidator, No website). The same flights were $660 two weeks ago, $750 two nights ago, and $800 last night (oh well).