We're planning a trip to Italy for this September, and I started to check airfares and was surprised at how high they were. We're flying from NY to Rome, and returning to NY from Venice. Fares I saw were about $1300 each. I then found a fare on Delta, non stop each way, for $860 each.
I've never flown to Italy before, so I don't know if that $860 is still high and it's too early to book yet, as I'm sure there will be some sales.
Can anyone who's made a similar trip give me some insights into what the "normal" cost would be? Thanks for any help.

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34469655 - - posted by someone who got $712 from EWR (Newark) in September as well - - and that was also NYC-ROM/VCE-NYC

Note that using more generic airport "codes" will allow you to retrieve multiple airports if they are considered "co-terminals".

thus...

NYC for New York (not JFK or LGA or EWR)
CHI
LON
PAR
ROM
etc...

Best wishes,

Rex

yes, you are way early to be booking your flight. june would be a better time to start shopping for september flights.

also the open jaw itinerary works against finding inexpensive airfare. sometimes it's cheaper to train or even fly back to your entry point and avail yourself of a reduced round trip fare.

we fly from atlanta to europe generally twice a year and have never paid more than $450/500 RT (and frequently less). the new york area hub is almost always less than atlanta.

good luck!

Hi subcon,

Mind telling us where you got the $450 fare out of ATL and what time of year you went?

That's a very good price.

An open jaw itinerary is not inherently more expensive than a round trip ticket. It would depend on the cities and fares available to/from those cities at the time of booking.

You will seldom find discounted fares on popular routes until 120 days prior.

I would disagree that you should "not start looking until June". DO start looking later this spring. Your best deal may come in April or May.

Thanks all.

I'm pretty sure you will be able to get something below $600 if you wait, and maybe well below $600 if there's a sale. I almost never book my flights more than about a month and a half before departure, and usually do it later than that.

ira...

i generally use air france and lufthansa from atlanta. we normally travel over the christmas and spring breaks as my wife is a teacher.

while lufthansa is more hit or miss, AF constantly has seasonal super saver fares. below are their current promotions From atlanta excluding taxes

Details
Amsterdam $354+ Terms and conditions
Book
Athens $494+ Terms and conditions
Book
Berlin $330+ Terms and conditions
Book
Brussels $404+ Terms and conditions
Book
Bucharest $564+ Terms and conditions
Book
Copenhagen $411+ Terms and conditions
Book
Dublin $522+ Terms and conditions
Book
Helsinki $431+ Terms and conditions
Book
Luxemburg $404+ Terms and conditions
Book
Madrid $454+ Terms and conditions
Book
Milan $430+ Terms and conditions
Book
Nice $416+ Terms and conditions
Book
Oslo $408+ Terms and conditions
Book
Paris $416+ Terms and conditions
Book
Prague $474+ Terms and conditions
Book
Stockholm $411+ Terms and conditions
Book
Fares shown above are valid for travel Monday through Thursday. Fares are slightly higher for travel on other days of the week.

this was copied from their website.

ira...

as i recall, you're a georgia resident and dependent upon where in the state, you might also avail yourself of cheapo flights out of orlando (virgin, british air) or charlotte (US airways...for as long as they stay in business).

Thanks for the information, subcon.

FYI, a friend & I are going to Europe end of March and paid about $300 for our flights from Houston & also from Orlando to London.

We then got (2) one way flights from London to different locations in Italy for the equivalent of $30 (incl. all taxes)a leg (Ryanair & Easy jet). When I bought the tickets, British Airways was having a special of $100 each way from any gateway city to London. (the other $100 is taxes).

Point is, specials are run all the time...I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a ticket and you might want to look at other European airports if cost is a major factor.

For us, this worked out great Good luck!

Try Go Today at http://www.gotoday.com/

They often have excellent specials.

I assume you've tried the usual Expedia.com and Travelocity.com? If not, you may want to check those too.

Good luck.