My friend and I would like to go to Italy the first ten day of September - we are pretty much locked in with those dates bc of our jobs. However, the ticket prices we are seeing are for $1450 for a non-stop and we definitely want to do a non-stop so we get the most out of our time there. However, when I look at historical ticket prices, they show it's in the $800s. Does anyone have any insight to why the ticket prices are so high and if they will come down? Has anyone flown there directly for $800? thanks!

You need to post cities.

Non-stops are always higher fares than those with stops. I've never thought the loss of time due to a layover (which I certainly try to minimize with careful flight selection) was worth the added premium for a non-stop flight.

when i was shopping for airfare to italy in september, i found that the first two weeks of september were much higher than mid to late september departures. early september is probably considered the end of the summer season, which explains why it's in the $1000 range. i got my non-stop airfare (open jaw - jfk to rome, venice to jfk) for $790.

pay attention to the historicals you are looking at. the $800 could be with stops or the average price for the month, not the dates you specified.

Without knowing where you're coming from it's difficult to comment. Have you looked at Kayak?

(But, for perspective, $800 even NYC to Rome in high season is cheap - people have been reporting much higher fares for this year.)

Sorry- we are flying from Chicago, Ohare into Rome.

citychicny - did you get the 790 for the first two weeks or the mid-late sept timeframe?

i got it for mid-late september.

You can't seem to go anywhere in Europe in high season this year without paying at least $1,000. I am trying to go to Paris in early June and we can fly from Minneapolis, Chicago, or Boston (NY if it were really a lot cheaper) and everything in June from those cities is over $1,000, sometimes WAY over. I have been getting tickets to Europe for June for years and have never paid more than the $800 range. But I am waiting and looking every day for that little fare sale. Keeping my fingers crossed.