Susan

Hi everyone,<BR>I'm watching the airlines for airfare travelling between DC to Rome (Aug 31) and returning from Florence to DC on September 23. When do all of you experts think it will start going down. It's up over $1,000 right now....I saw a post that said people were getting flights for May that were around $600 - am I going to have to wait till 2 months from departure date? That's a little scarey!<BR>Thanks in advance

Tina

Susan, I initially booked my trip to Italy arriving & leaving from Florence <BR>until I saw the ticket prices.When I <BR>booked arriving/leaving Rome,the prices dropped to half(around $600).I have a <BR>feeling your prices are so high due to <BR>your departing flight from Florence.Try <BR>leaving from Rome and see how that affects the price.Just a suggestion! <BR>Tina

Teri

Susan, <BR>I just returned from Italy and paid something like $675 for roundtrip economy from San Francisco to Rome and <BR>then returning from Milan to SF. I got it through Alitalia (check their website). It was a small plane (767) but new and the crew was very competent. <BR>Have fun.....

ben

The prices to Italy go up on June 16 or right around there. Check and see when the high season ends. You might get a better airfare if you can leave in the middle of Sept. Try a consolidator. Look on the web. I was quoted very similar price with arriving and leaving from a different ciy. Time of year is major. <BR> <BR>Ben

Rex

I do not mean to be rude or condescending to anyone, but Susan is asking about airfares for a specific season - - summer, spiiling over into september - - and the cost of air travel in March or June or November are relatively irrelevant to her. <BR> <BR>It's like asking the cost of a Louisville hotel room Derby weekend. What they cost last month isn't really relevant. <BR> <BR>You may need to prepare yourself, susan, for the possibility that the air travel you want will NEVER drop below $1000. Chances are, there will be sale fares that offer you a better possibility, but those sales might exist only for a three day blink - - in early, mid- or late June. <BR> <BR>Since air travel from London to Italy can be had for $200 - - on http://www.europebyair.com or http://www.ryanair.com or maybe http://www.iflybritishmidland.com - - you might want to monitor WAS-LON sale fares. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Mary

Susan, <BR> <BR>I am planning a similar trip at approximately the same time. You might consider flying into Milan and taking the train southward. I was amazed at how the fares dropped when flying to Milan as opposed to Rome and other destinations. And, the train is fairly inexpensive, I understand. <BR> <BR>Good luck.

Brian Kilgore

Lst summer I needed round trip air travel from Toronto to Lucca, Italy (just outside Florence)formy daughter. We did not have a lot of notice, and needed to buy tickets within two weeks of departure. <BR> <BR>Our best deal -- remember, we were very budget conscious and willing to make our daughter do some extra work to get to her destination -- was forher to take a charter into Nice, and take the train to Lucca. Afterwards, gettingher home was a challenge, and, in a move to combine a mini-vation(she was working in Lucca, singing in an opera)with her work, she took the train to Paris to catch a chartger home. <BR> <BR>Air fares plus train fares were hundreds of dollars less than air fares to and from Florence, or to Rome and back from Florence. <BR> <BR>I don't know details of US charter carriers, so can't be more specific. And it probably would cost too much for you to fly to Canada and then frly from here toEurope, but,if you have the stamina, currency exchange rates might make this pay off for you. The trick would be the DC-Canada airfares, which might eat up any savings. <BR> <BR>Regardless, the trick is to find second-level destinations in Europe; big enough for charters, but not popular enough to demand the highest fares, or really popular destinations, where volume keeps the fares down. <BR> <BR>I think going back to Rome might save you hundreds of dollars compared to leaving from Florence. <BR> <BR>BAK <BR> <BR>BAK

Sab

I booked my roundtrip flight on Alitalia from New York to Rome this May way back in November. The lowest price I managed to find after 3 days of heavy research was Lowestfare.com at $800 taxes included. I can't understand how people are finding these cheap flights from DC or San Francisco. Unless flying from NY is significantly more expensive then from anywhere else in the US. <BR> <BR>I do agree with others about flying roundtrip to Rome, it does bring the cost down. <BR> <BR>Best of luck!

Rex

to the top for Susan... <BR> <BR>This was not "lost" at all. it was only 127 deep. But you are not to be blamed with a search engine that (now that we are back to the old format) doesn't work - - and no easy way to look at more than 50 at a time on the lefthand side. <BR>

Mark

Susan, FYI -- I searched for tickets for my upcoming end of April trip to Italy. I was looking to (Newark -- Milan / Rome -- Newark) and I couldn't find anything lower then $950.00 round trip. I finally broke down and called a travel agent to see if they could do better $$. To my surprise I was quoted a price of $675.00. I told her I'd call her back on Monday to confirm and pay for the tickets. When I called back she pulled up the fare and it had dropped to $475.00 which I booked immediately! She apparently was able to reserve me seats through a charter company that purchase blocks of seats on Continental and resells them. <BR>Give it a try. <BR>Good luck

scigirl

It is probably cheaper to fly into Rome rather than Florence. You can pretty easily take the train from Rome to Florence once you have arrived. Comparing the prices for each will allow you to decide if the cost difference is worth the inconvience of flying through Rome. <BR> <BR>Tavelocity allows a search for all fares between certain dates, and then you can check availability for the particular dates you want to fly. I search for a listing of all fares between August and September D.C. to Rome: <BR> <BR>http://dps1.travelocity.com/selectai...152001&LANG=EN <BR> <BR>Many fares were under $800 - but I will leave it to you to check for availability on those fares. <BR> <BR>Other websites you may want to consider are qixo.com which searches many other travel websites and consolidates the information down for you - I've found it to be reliable and consistent. If you have flexibility in your travel dates you might be able to find a lower fare just by changing your dates of travel by a day or two. <BR> <BR>I recently bought a ticket to Beijing through tiss.com and found the fare to be almost $1000 less PER TICKET than any other ticket I could find elsewhere. Again, this may require some flexibiliy on travel dates. With tiss.com you can check the website and phone them to get an agent to look for flights for you - I found that a little easier than navigating their website. But, unlike hotwire or priceline, you know the airline, flights, etc. before you buy. We ended up with a really good flight schedule on Japan Air and a good class (although economy) of tickets that will allow us to get ff miles. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps. And, if all fails and you end up with a more expensive ticket than you'd like - by the end of the trip you will have wonderful memories of Italy and will probably have completely forgotten about the couple extra hundred you might have spent getting there.

Susan

Thanks everyone for your comments. <BR>I did think it was lost, Rex, thanks for moving it up for me. Somehow I lost my "Fodors Groove" with the site problems. <BR>Mark, what's the name & number for your travel agent? <BR>

Mark

Susan, I will email you with that information. <BR> <BR>Mark

carol

Hi Susan, <BR> <BR>When I started looking for round trip flights for NYC-Naples in mid-May, I varied my departure dates by 24 hours, and my departure times by 2-3 hours and found at least 5-6 different prices ranging from $453-$856 on the Alitalia website for the same economy seats. I don't think you'll find as cheap a price as $453 because September is high season in Italy and May is shoulder season, but I'll bet you find one for less than $1,000! The moral is to be persistent once you access a site, and be flexible enough to vary your departure dates and times a bit.