Balto

I've been looking at the exorbitant fares for flights from the U.S. to Italy next June, and I'm wondering if there is any conventional wisdom about waiting it out for a few months to see if the ticket price goes down.

We would definitely prefer a non-stop flight, but the only non-stop from any airport in the Washington-to-NYC corridor (we're in Baltimore) to our most convenient arrival airport - Pisa - is over $1,800, on Delta. Connecting flights are at least $1,500, which still seems quite high (and strangely, some of those $1,500 itineraries use same $1,800 flight from New York as their trans-Atlantic leg!)

I still have plenty of time, but don't want to cut it too close waiting around for a price reduction.

Any thoughts?

i_am_kane

I had the same problem and a Fodorite suggested that I call the airline directly and speak with a live person.

The flight I was tracking had gone up to $1,425, dropped to $1,360, When I called Delta Airlines, the rep offered me the flight for $1,100...I took it and never looked back.

It was good advice, and you may want to consider calling the airline yourself.

Dukey1

United just had a sale which actually ends today. NOBODY knows if air fares will go up or down and when there might be a sale..even the people here who used to constantly tell people when it "is likely to happen."

Fares outrageous? beats swimming

julia1

Yapta shows $1111 from Dulles to Pisa, routing thru Zurich, on Swiss, for dates in first half of June. Code share with United. You can track price drops on Yapta if you want to wait and see if anything better comes along. I doubt you'll find anything much lower if you wait though, unless the economy both sides of the Atlantic completely falls apart.

Balto

Interesting! Orbitz shows $1556 as the least expensive flight from Dulles to Pisa (in an itinerary using Delta's "$1,800" flight out of JFK). Never heard of Yapta, but I'll definitely check it out.

Christina

Air fares aren't just based on distance, but market forces affect the cost a lot. Which may be why a fare is lower for a connection than the nonstop as part of it (or maybe just a different time or seat).

I wouldn't ever buy a plan ticket this far in advance myself (unless you got some amazing deal, of course). When I buy for peak summer season, I start checking after January and finally bite the bullet after a few months if I really want to set my schedule. They may go up and down a few hundred during that time, which is quite a good percentage, actually.

$1500 doesn't seem that strange to me for peak seaon for Pisa. Last year flights were around $1200 from Washington DC to places in Europe that are a lot closer than Pisa (eg, London or Paris), during peak season. But I'd think you could get a few hundred off that.

julia1

Yapta.com I use it frequently to track fares from various sources.

Click 'include nearby airports.' The $1111 fare is actually into Florence.

Dayenu

Is Yapta connected to Kayak? For some reason, my flights (and both websites) look like carbon copies of each other.

bookchick

I've also used Yapta successfully. If you sign up for weekly alerts, they'll e-mail you once a week so you can see how fares are "trending" for a specific destination.

BC

JillDavis

bookmarking

bobthenavigator

Think like the airlines--it is all based on supply and demand.
If their flights are not filling fast enough they will adjust price 90 to 120 days out. Italy is popular in June--do not hold your breath.

scatcat

I am currently watching fares from Shreveport-Milan, return Zurich-Shreveport the first part of June. Prices do seem a bit high right now. I did find a fare on 1800flyeurope for $964.73 departing May 31. Might consider that except I have never uses that booking site before. I bought my April trip last night through Delta. SHV-MXP, NCE-SHV for $732.80!!! Happy with that!