I just found a web site www.sky-tours.com where I can get a round trip jfk to Milan for $466(includes tax) for Oct. I thought that the cheaper flights are mid to late summer. This sounds pretty good to me. What do you think? Has anyone heard of them? Also,I have heard some negative stuff about ALitalia ie planes & mechanical trouble. Any input?

I would jump on that fare now. I read<BR>yesterday that the airlines will probably cut the number of flights should a war begin with Iraq, causing<BR>airfares to increase in price. I usually travel in October and my ticket<BR>the past three years has averaged $800,<BR>Atlanta to Rome and Atlanta to Florence.<BR>I have flown Alitalia on the leg Paris<BR>to Florence and also Milan to Florence.<BR>Both trips were fine - no complaints.<BR><BR>

Thanks. My only concern now is &quot;sky tours &quot; or should I not be concerned?

If no one gives you feedback on them, use the Better Business Bureau website. Perhaps there is info on them there. And 466 is a decent price, I've seen lower, but for October that is OK.

Thanks RAR. I'll check them out on the web site right now.

This is a petty matter, but doesn't everyone here want help ASAP? I consider it lacking in simple common courtesy that you didn't use a header like &quot;Need to make a decision quick on a very good JFK-MIL airfare, and wondering about the integrity/reliability of a company called skytours.com&quot;<BR><BR>Not so much scolding you, but I figure that your generic message header might attract the attention of other newcomers.<BR><BR>Hoping to show how (I think) it should be done.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

Ouch Rex ! That sure felt like a scould to me! Forgive me but I got YOUR attention as well as a few very helpful people that saved me a lot of money, which is not petty to ME. The price of the ticket doubled in the short time since I 1st posted it. Thanks to those that did respond ASAP you saved a great deal of money.

Yes, I tried to wrap my remarks in politeness, because it is not my intention to scold but to inform.<BR><BR>Yes, you did get my attention - - and one might say by trickery - - after all, I had nothing to add about shy-tours.com, though I might have responded to a reference to a &quot;very good fare&quot;, out of genuine curioisty.<BR><BR>I just have a (hopefully minor and polite) ongoing crusade against UNinformative messasge headers.<BR><BR>It has earned me a reputation as arrogant and the self-appointed police here(one of many). My goal is to post useful comments, and I do so (at times) at the expense of what would be the &quot;nice&quot; thing to say, or something aimed at making myself &quot;popular&quot;.<BR><BR>The key thing is that you got a good fre. I saw that it was gone (I think) even by the time I posted. For others not so lucky, may I recommend the cheap fares forum of www.eurotrip.com as a good &quot;radar&quot; site for bargains similar to the one you found today.<BR>

Dee,<BR>That's a good price for the time you're going, even a little low. Don't know about sky-tours.com though.<BR><BR>Alitalia out of JFK is on par w/other carriers - I've flown them a couple of times to Milan with no complaints. I understand they're upgrading to new equipment out of JFK starting this summer.<BR>hth,<BR>

you were scolding , rex, and being like the other group you don't like.. so stop it

I failed at my objective - - to inform without being rude - - so I accept your scoled, cigale...<BR><BR>I apologize for the wrong tone, and for not having figured out how to convey my intent without that tone.<BR>

Rex, I see nothing that you would have to apologise for. In my opinion, your initial post was justified, well thought out and correct.

I totally aggree that your comment was fine Rex. I am on this site multiple times a day and Rex has been the most help, always giving wonderful, precise information.

I guess this just goes to prove that it is not what you say but how you say it that matters in life.<BR>Due to my lack of experience (not &quot;trickery&quot with forums, Rex, I thank you for your guidence as I could have been clearer in my header. I would have been more receptive to your comment initially if you had left out the word &quot;petty&quot; as I was buying 10 tickets which amounted to quite a bit of $$$ that I could have spent or saved.<BR>All in all, a beneficial learning experience for me. Thank you.

I also thought about using sky tours and have the same thoughts. They have 350.00 round trip to Rome from JFK in September. Would love to hear if any one has used this service???

Skytours and Bestfares offer consolidator tickets and both have been<BR>mentioned alot lately on the Slow Travelers site. I don't understand the apprehension, as long as the flight legs<BR>and flight times are detailed and there are no surprises after you have <BR>purchased the ticket. From my past dealings with discounted fares, I would warn you to look at the connection times. It is not unusual on these fares to have either a long layover or a very short connection that might be impossible to make. But, for some of these ridiculously low fares, I might<BR>be willing to put up with a bit of inconvenience if I knew to expect it.<BR>

I meant that my complaining about your header is/was petty ON MY PART.<BR><BR>I am actually intrigued to hear that you could buy ten tickets on sky-tours.com - - unless some other &quot;gotcha&quot; appears in your experience, this sounds better all the time. Normally to buy from the airlines themselves means that you HAVE to go through the group desk. There are a number of advantages of doing that (especially if there is any uncertainty about the group increasing or shrinking a person or two) - - but the prices are RARELY the very lowest available (when you count sales and consolidator fares).<BR><BR>I hope you'll report back on the final pros and cons &quot;tally&quot; after your trip is completed.<BR><BR>It seems that you have done very well.<BR><BR>

I guess that my apprehension comes from my travel inexperience. The flight is non-stop from JFk 8:35pm Milan 10:35am.<BR>I have read their cancellation policy and was confused(again probably due to my inexperience)I was also expecting e mail confirmation and didn't recieve it.I guess I am just feeling insecure. My problem.

Hi Dee,<BR> You say you did not receive a confirmation.<BR> You should get a confirmation w/in 24 hrs, unless you booked on a Friday or Saturday. Then you should get the confirmation on Monday or Tuesday.<BR> Keep in mind that because you are booking for October the agent who processes the ticket is not going to worry about it as much as you are.<BR> I had a similar experience last month for September bookings.<BR>

Thank you very much Ira. I indeed booked on Sat. night. You have eased my mind. I shall not be concerned !