Rome in February- will Olympics be a problem?
 

Hello! My husband and I are considering a week in Rome for our February vacation (18th-25th). Normally it would seem that this is a cheaper time to travel, especially coming from NYC...but will the Torino Olympics pose a problem?

I know it's not that close, so I'm not concerned about lodging as much as inexpensive airfare. Right now flights from NYC are at best $500, but I'm hoping to do better.

Please share your opinions or experiences.

Thank you!

<<Right now flights from NYC are at best $500, but I'm hoping to do better. >>

I predict that there will be an upward blip in the demand for all travel services (hotel, air, you name it) for all of Italy during almost all of February as the world finalizes its plans for Torino.

Just stop and think about it... how many people want to go to one Winter Olympics at least once in their lives. Now how many, how often, will get a chance to go... at the same time... to one of the world's most favored destination countries?

It can only drive up demand.

It's not like the supply of hotel rooms in Italy will suddenly increase for one month.

Supply and demand. Gravity. Evolution.

Simple fundamental factual truths.

Best wishes,

Rex

I'm not convinced that there will be a greater demand for travel to "all" of Italy because of the Olympics in Turin.

I am also not convinced that many folks haven't already secured their air tickets.

Fuel prices may do as much as anything to drive the cost of air tickets in the next few months.

The airlines have known about the dates of the Olympics for quite a while now and I think that little "blip" in prices Rex is talking about was built into all the ticket costs for the Olympics period from the day the first date was available for booking.

In Italy in February, there will be thousands of hotels either empty or closed for the winter. If the Winter Olympics really result in a flood of visitors to Roma and the south, then hotel owners will, I'm sure, take advantage of them, but it seems quite implausible to me. Torino is much nearer to many places in France and Switzerland than it is to Roma.

Thanks all! I continue to keep an eye on prices, but I appreciate your opinions thus far.

I posted a price of 560 here a couple of weeks ago, and the advice I got was to grab it. Luckily, I ran into a sale and got 498 (everything included) for the first week of March.

I think your price for February is quite good, IMO, and if your dates are important to have, I say grab that fare.

tuscanlife, that's interesting to note...when looking for honeymoon flights for last May, I was seeing deals at about the same rate for Rome, so I assumed for a winter flight we'd surely find a deal at some point, particularly out of New York.

Would anyone like to weigh in? I know this is a much-discussed topic, but perhaps it will be helpful for others as well..

I'll weigh in. For February vacation week, when you have zero flexibility and everyone travels the same week, I would take the $500 fare. It may not get any better, but even if it does there may not be availability on the exact dates you need.