Is it too early to book airfare to Rome?
Dec 29th, 2005, 09:59 AM
#1
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Is it too early to book airfare to Rome?
I have a family trip planned for June '06. I've already booked accomodations(thanks to all of your input). Is it still too early for airfare. Everything I can find from Dallas to Rome is around $1100. When I search for dates 3 months from now tickets are around half of that.
Should I keep my fingers crossed it will come down from $1100 or is this wishful thinking?
If anyone has seen a better fare,please let me know.
Thanks
Should I keep my fingers crossed it will come down from $1100 or is this wishful thinking?
If anyone has seen a better fare,please let me know.
Thanks
Dec 29th, 2005, 10:02 AM
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Dec 29th, 2005, 10:23 AM
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rp,
I checked a few of the consolidators for you, and they are in the $1000+ range too. When booking my airfare a few weeks back, a representative from 1800flyeurope mentioned that he expected to see some airfare "sales" the second or third week of January. I would wait until then and see what happens. For the moment my favorite sites for US to Europe airfares are 1800flyeurope, airfare.com, mobissimo, sidestep, onetravel and cheapinternationalflights.net
Good luck,
Whitey
I checked a few of the consolidators for you, and they are in the $1000+ range too. When booking my airfare a few weeks back, a representative from 1800flyeurope mentioned that he expected to see some airfare "sales" the second or third week of January. I would wait until then and see what happens. For the moment my favorite sites for US to Europe airfares are 1800flyeurope, airfare.com, mobissimo, sidestep, onetravel and cheapinternationalflights.net
Good luck,
Whitey
Dec 29th, 2005, 12:06 PM
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I just checked go-today.com and it looks like they are more about the whole tour package. I put in for a flight plus car rental and the flight was still $1100--thanks for the tip anyway
Dec 29th, 2005, 12:54 PM
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Okay, I'll play the Devil's Advocate here. Our family was toying around with the idea of waiting for air fares to drop for our June,2006 JFK-VCE, FCO-JFK flights (nonstop both ways). Well, the air fare rose from $1,100 to $1,500.
I realize we are flying open jaw, and that may have had an impact on the fare, but these were the perfect travel days with the perfect flight times (optimizing our time in Italy), so the reservations were made back in September. I winced when I saw my credit card!
Since we are a party of 10, the increase in fare right now would amount to an additional $4,000 on top of the $12,000+ already paid.
Sometimes these posts are like sound bites because people only have so much time to allot to posting/answering questions. You really need to prioritize your family's needs for these flights, and maybe you will be able to make a decision.
I realize we are flying open jaw, and that may have had an impact on the fare, but these were the perfect travel days with the perfect flight times (optimizing our time in Italy), so the reservations were made back in September. I winced when I saw my credit card!
Since we are a party of 10, the increase in fare right now would amount to an additional $4,000 on top of the $12,000+ already paid.
Sometimes these posts are like sound bites because people only have so much time to allot to posting/answering questions. You really need to prioritize your family's needs for these flights, and maybe you will be able to make a decision.
Dec 29th, 2005, 01:16 PM
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Over the past eight years, I've seen the fares go down in February. Sort of like the stock market, the same th ing MAY not happen this year, but I sure as H__ would expect something lower than a $1100 RT coach fare.
Dec 30th, 2005, 04:51 AM
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I've traveling at least twice a year to Europe for the last 15 years (May/Nov) and invariably have noted the fares for early Summer drop during the period Jan-March.
I am a bit confused on your go-today response. There are options for air + lodging for June that start at $1000/per person. While I am aware you already made lodging reservations, I was just wondering how flexible are you as there are some very atractive offers inclusive of air + lodging. As far as car rental, I would definitely stay away from renting a car while in Rome. For day trips either rent for a day or use train/bus. Much easier. By the way, my best friend took her family of four to Italy (15 days) last June and after much research ended up taking a tour.
Have fun!
I am a bit confused on your go-today response. There are options for air + lodging for June that start at $1000/per person. While I am aware you already made lodging reservations, I was just wondering how flexible are you as there are some very atractive offers inclusive of air + lodging. As far as car rental, I would definitely stay away from renting a car while in Rome. For day trips either rent for a day or use train/bus. Much easier. By the way, my best friend took her family of four to Italy (15 days) last June and after much research ended up taking a tour.
Have fun!
Dec 30th, 2005, 07:49 AM
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Thanks for everyone's input.
Viajero2--Tours are great for some, but we are really looking forward to doing this trip on our own. I've been planning for the past 6 months and finally made our accomodations based on all the posts here.
Rome-Hotel Giardino
Florence- Residenza Il Villino
Siena-Pallazo Ravizza
We are renting a car after we get to Siena
Even if the prices drop to $900 inc. taxes I'll jump on it.
KathrynT-- I'll let you know if I find a better fare. Where are you flying from?
Viajero2--Tours are great for some, but we are really looking forward to doing this trip on our own. I've been planning for the past 6 months and finally made our accomodations based on all the posts here.
Rome-Hotel Giardino
Florence- Residenza Il Villino
Siena-Pallazo Ravizza
We are renting a car after we get to Siena
Even if the prices drop to $900 inc. taxes I'll jump on it.
KathrynT-- I'll let you know if I find a better fare. Where are you flying from?
Dec 31st, 2005, 05:56 AM
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rparrot--- by no means think that I am pushing a tour on you. I have NEVER taken one. My point was that for a family of four there is a good chance there is a tour package (air + lodging) that would be a better value than trying to arrange all on your own separately. The fact is that my best friend did tremendous amount of research, even made air and hotel reservations on her own, until she came across with a tour package that was a better deal by far. That's all. By the way, have you tried calling Alitalia or American Airlines? They may be able to do something for you. Why not?
Jan 1st, 2006, 07:33 AM
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Checking into flights now for a March trip. Need to fly into Rome, and prefer flying out of Naples. How much time should I allow between flights to clear customs/immigrations? Trying to minimize connections.
