Is it too late for good airfare in Apr.
 

Hello to all
I'm in shock at what they are asking for direct flights Jfk to Rome!
Only 3 airlines fly direct to Rome, Continental, Alitalia, and Delta.
Continental has no sales, Delta wants $1100
and Alitalia wants $1058. I need to fly on Apr. 1, 2004 and return on Apr. 17, and it seems all the bargain fares are already booked for the above airlines!
Is it too late for Feb. air sales?
Will they drop prices closer to the time I'm leaving?
websites I've tried: orbitz, autoeurope,travelocity, expedia, air gorilla, and a zillion other sites.
Thank you for any help you can give me.

Still plenty of time, many airlines just came out w/Feb. specials. Just keep your eyes open. You may have to give up the direct flight idea though.

You might want to check www.go-today.com. They have their Italy fly and drive (airfare from JFK to Rome + 7 days car rental) for $749 for those days. If you can leave one day earlier, it looks like you could save $200. I think you can extend the return flight at no extra charge, and these prices are before taxes and fees.

Also consider hotwire or priceline, though there you do give up the non-stop requirement. They may give you non-stop, or it may have 1 stop.

air france has a flight for $382 during that time frame. of course, it's not non- stop but i gotta believe that going directly to the airline webpages, you'll find some super saver fares (particularly leaving from JFK).

and i just found a delta direct flight to rome from JFK (on delta's website in black and white) for $418.

you gotta use some initiative and diligence when dealing with airfares!

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!
Jennifer
I already looked at gotoday.com and I saw the flight and car deal but the car is to small for 4 adults and I have already booked with autoeurope for 15 days.
Subcon
I really need a direct flight, I am hoping that if I wait something will come through. I've been to almost all the airline websites and I won't take two or three flights to get to Italy. And their charging $850-950 anyway. Most of the bargain flights come as booked for Apr. 1st.

Subcon
How did you get that price? I've been on Delta for 3 weeks now, checking every day for sales?
Where did you see the fare? Was it under sales? I even called Delta and they said all reduced fares were booked for that day.

Just checked again and the fare you mentioned is to Milan. I don't see anything listed for Rome except out of Atlanta.

Orbitz says Delta has non stop flights that day for $769

go to "special offers"

there is a subset "special fares from nyc/ jfk"

scroll and scroll and you'll find your $418 fare to rome.

and don't let the computer tell you they're booked. call delta direct (i normally call at about 6am). i'll bet 50/50 that you'll get your seats.

good luck.

Airfare prices are just as stable as the stock market. They find all the suckers that think purchasing early = cheaper prices then they lower the price to fill some last minute empty seats. April is right around Spring Break time so don't think about any deals around that time anyway. I usually book my trips 3 weeks in advanced and always find a deal. I would say you should gamble and wait a few weeks before booking. I think I waited a max 2 weeks to book my flights from Ohare to Rome and Schipol to Rome.

kerrie - Even if you've already booked a car rental somewhere else, if you can get an air/car deal for significantly less than air alone it's worth buying. Just don't pick up the rental car. :)

But, the deal that subcon found is much better anyway, if you can get it.

Subcon
I appologize my mistake! I went back too Delta and lo and behold! there was another area that you could go into. I checked and when you book the flight it comes up as $1553 per person, so I called Delta again and the seats are sold out. I'm not having very good luck with this.
Grimmy
I will go to the other website and look at the $749 but I'm sure that will be closer to $950 by the time they add all the taxes and surcharges!
Bigfeat
I think I'll take your suggestion and wait and see if I can get a better price. MY feeling was always that the closer you get to leaving the more they reduce the price to get the planes full.
Well, thank you to all you have given me some useful suggestions
Thanks again Kerrie

i give up...

Well, my New Year's resolution is to become psychic (work-related :p ), but the best I can guess is that you are out of luck if your dates and willingness to take a non-direct flight are truly not flexible. *shrug* You might just have to pay the high fare or not go.

I think it's too early for good airfares. give it a few weeks or even a month.

Just another thought, do you HAVE to travel out of JFK? What about Newark? Continental has direct flights from Newark to Rome on the dates you specified for $821.12 (this includes taxes, by the way).

Mamma Love
Thanks for the info, I'll see about that Continental flight. I may have to book it after all but not until I'm sure I can't get anything cheaper. You have all been so helpful. I do appreciate your time and consideration. I'll post when I decide what I'm going to do. Who knows, I could be lucky tommorrow!

I've seen other posters talk about 1800flyeurope.com with success. I just checked your dates and the flights are $633. However, they fly out of Newark (must be Continental); they may be direct but aren't non-stop; and you don't see who is the carrier I guess til you purchase.

They differ from Priceline as they tell you the departing and arrival time so if you're familiar with carriers and their schedules, you may be able to guess. (It's easy here in Dallas when it's a non-stop anywhere.)

I have been on the standard internet sites looking for airline travel to Rome from Atlanta for a month - with lowest price so fas $821 - now today thanks to this site I checked out 1-800FlyEurope for $565 !!! I'm so excited and now scared. Has anybody else done business with them ? They "can't" issue a paper ticket - so what are my concerns here. Any info would be appreciated. This internet is so cool - some tiny bit of info and off you go on another direction...

Hi Kerrie,

http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm has EWR/Rome for $827 inclusive.

If you don't mind a 1 1/2 hr layover in Amsterdam, you can take KLM for only $530.

This thread is a good example of working for what you get. Obviously one must try as many sources as possible, and as often as possible to get good fares, etc.

Thanks to all who continue to contribute great info for those who want everything to be easy.

Hi, I like to check web sites that I found recommended here on fodors. www.qixo.com and downloading www.sidestep.com consisitently came in with the lowest fares. The sidestep program is quick to download and it pops up to compare prices each time to go to a travel site. It helps to compare. The other one that is convenient is www.smarterliving.com. You go to their site to "air" and link to "compare fares". It brings up a Booking buddy that has multiple windows with all the common sites expedia, orbitz etc and you put in your info once and clink on each window and it brings up fares. It saves a lot of time becaues you are going to these sites on this screen without donig each one individually. You will like it. Good luck Rosetta

Marcielee,

I have been e-mailing the person who told me about 1800 and her success with tickets to Brussels and saved $200. I'll e-mail her and see if she can reply. She's an avid traveler and and she didn't express any concerns to me

I think I'm tmh's reference . . . the 1800flyeurope.com site was one of Frommer's deals of the day and it did save us over $200/per ticket on flights from DFW-BRU . . . and they are on American!

We have e-tickets, which I happen to think are GREAT, the flight times are GREAT, the price was GREAT . . . don't know what the "concerns" might be . . . Frommer has never steered me wrong.

I'll buy from anyone, anywhere that offers me a good route, a good price, and my favorite airline.

Good luck with booking your trip at a price you like.

Sandy (in Denton)

It's pretty easy to figure out who the carriers are with 1800flyeurope.

* Do your search on 1800flyeurope.
* Then, go to orbitz.com and look for flights with the same arrival and departure times. If for some reason orbitz.com doesn't have it, try itasoftware.com .

I've used 1-800flyeurope many times with no problems.

One year, they beat BestFares with direct flights (on American, with the recently added extra leg room) at convenient times Boston to Paris AND (I booked by phone) gave another 10% off for same day booking AND offered reasonably priced trip insurance.

In my opinion, you are better off without a paper ticket. Usually, all you need to check in and obtain a boarding pass is your name, but I always have the paper ticket handy.

No matter HOW you book, it's best to phone the airline directly to ensure that you have confirmed seats. And, phone again a week before and a day before.

Whenever you want to fly on specific dates, want direct flights, want particular airports, it is very dangerous to keep waiting for sale fares.

Cheap seats are "leftover" seats.

djkbooks

Thanks for the advice. This is one of the things I've been worried about. I need 4 adult tickets, all four don't have to be together but it would be nice if I could get 2 and 2. I will go to 1-800flyeurope and see what they have.
Everyone has been so helpful, I really appreciate it!

You might try travelocity.com. They had very good prices when I was checking on flights to London from Houston Bush. I ended up buying tickets from British AirWays site for $538.00 total,& saved a few dollars. I know that Travelocity is a reputable site because my daughter and son-in-law use it to fly home form England to visit.

I just checked Continental. NOn stop round trip those days are $851