The costs!
 

I really want to go to Italy in June. (June is my only window of time this year; if I can't go then, I'll have to wait until Christmas at the earliest).<BR><BR>But the airfare costs have been much higher than I expected. I've been tracking them since January, thinking I might be able to fly for under 800, but no. The closest I've seen was a trip to London for about $750. Everything else (including flying from &quot;nearby&quot; airports) has been between $900 and $1500. (I'm coming from Seattle)<BR><BR>This is the first time I've ever looked at airline tickets to Europe - can I expect it to get worse or better in the next 2 months? Am I just going to have to suck it up and pay over a thousand to get there? Is there any hope for me?<BR><BR>Thanks

What city are you flying from?

I don't know what part of June you were planning or where you were going in Italy. The later, the more expensive. Weekends are a little more too.<BR><BR>I just picked June 7th to Jun 20th, A couple of search engines and US Airways kept coming up cheapest for SEA to FCO (Rome). So I went to the www.usairways.com site and plugged in those dates and airports. I got $847 per ticket, for a single plane change in Philadelphia. More than the hoped for price, but less than the $900 -$1500. Prices could drop too before June, but it's a gamble.<BR>

Try www.evacations.com<BR>try www.quixo.com (or is that qixo?)<BR><BR>Also try Eurocar.com -- they have some good packages of airfare + car rental (You wouldn't need a car for Rome, but it is wonderful for Tuscany, Umbria, etc.)<BR>

Hi<BR> Try http://apps.flights.com/<BR> They have SEA/FCO for about $800 including taxes and fees in mid June on USAir.

Try AutoEurope.com. Seems like they offer unusually good rates.<BR><BR>Good luck

Orbitz lists flights from Seattle to Rome, leaving Saturday may 31, returning Saturday June 14 for $852. <BR><BR>Consider going to Priceline and bidding substantially below that and see what you get. When prices have been high, we've done that and have saved quite a bit. If you can live with not knowing the airlines and loss of frequent flyer miles, it's often worth it.

Try bestfares.com or Justfares.com<BR><BR>Good Luck!<BR>BC

I found Seattle to Rome in June on Air Canada $742.00

Bestfares is offering $689 roundtrip to Rome from Seattle (even offering a free stopover in London!)<BR><BR>http://www.bestfares.com/travel/desks/story.asp?id=97628<BR><BR>Also, check Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. every day. I randomly found RT tickets from Dallas to Paris yesterday for $470 w/tax. The day before the same route/same airline was $792 and today it was $792 again. Weird, huh? <BR><BR>Just goes to show you that there's little rhyme and/or reason to the airline industry!<BR><BR>Good Luck!<BR>Jennie

I got SF-Brussels Paris-SF round-trip (June 10 - Aug. 6) for considerably less from a consolidator. They were cheaper than Orbitz for this open jaw ticket. Tel. 800 544-3644.

(Over the past 10 years) I've done 4 trips from Seattle in summer to Europe (various combinations of London, Amsterdam, Geneva, Paris)... I fly British Airways' overnight flight thru London. I normally give ~$1200. I have never 'shopped' it too hard because the ease of the nonstop overnight flight and relative reliability and comfort of BA make it worthwhile to me.

See if Gotoday.com has a hotel/airfare package to Rome. You might be able to better any airfare you could find on your own by buying a package.

I'd check Travelzoo.com. They are listing some deals for travel to Italy: Ex: If you travel thru June 15th, one company is offering R/T from Chicago to Rome for $238... Travelzoo helps by doing some of the search for you.

The trick for me has been to check the major three every day - Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity. As Jennie pointed out, rates mysteriously occasionally drop for a brief window, and you need to be there to pounce. When I was looking for tickets for our September trip, rates seemed not to go below $800, when suddenly one day there was a $477 fare ($565 with fees and taxes) on Travelocity, for just a couple of days.

<BR>Just punched up BA home page and with dates leaving Seattle 28 May and returning 9 June, price is $686.00 all taxes included.<BR>That's to London. Just re read your post and now see you want to go to Italy!! SORRY!!!!

Thanks for the responses, everyone. <BR>I'm going to give them a try.<BR>