tracy

I am looking for airfare to Rome from Cincinnati in June for 5 people. Rates are $1000 plus. Per reading the message board, I have been waiting for them to come down (have been looking for a month), but now am getting worried. Do you think they will still come down, or should I go ahead and book now before they go up more? Thanks!

tracy

topping

cruiseluv

My experience in past years for the summer months for travel to Spain from Newark NJ was that rates didn't come down until Feb or March. That was for Spain not Italy and obviously it doesn't mean that this year it will be the same. I'm again looking at going to Madrid this summer and rates are at the 900+ level. Last year I paid 750.

AceKing

Have you tried priceline.com? We were able to get tix back in November for considerably less than the going rate. We're flying into and out of Rome in June which sounds like what you are looking for. The biggest drawback to priceline is that you do not know which airline it is until after purchase and you cannot change the tickets and cannot upgrade either.

tracy

The only problem with Priceline is that I need one ticket to go a week earlier, but come back on the same date as the other 5 tickets. So, I can't use Priceline since we are leaving on different dates, and cannot guarantee that we will all be flying home together. Anyone else have any suggestions?

rex

See my (recycled) answer on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34549844

And believe it or not, don't forget to look at fares frmo Dayton, Lexington, Columbus, Louisville or Indianapolis.

And last of all - - any interestin a spring get-together in the IN/KY/OH aera (our "second annual")?

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana

martytravels

Another option is to book the airfare as part of a tour package. The package airfare is usually quite a bit lower than purchasing the airfare individually. For example, I paid $660 for a Detroit-Madrid, Paris-Detroit airfare last year thru Northwest Worldvacations and the only requirement was that you purchase at least 2 nights hotel OR some Best Western Advance hotel units OR rent a car thru NW WorldVacations. No problem at all!
The lowest fare had I booked the airfare alone was about $770.

mdtravel

Fare sales are inevitable, but you are going at peak time. Watch the rates and when you see on that is at or close to your squeal point, buy it. Then keep watching and if it drops by more than $100 (the change fee for most airlines) rebook it. I did that with my Paris trip in May of 05.

tracy

Any new insight into airfares? Also, we are thinking of stopping over in Paris on the way home. Can I fly from Rome to Paris, and then back to Cincinnati a few days later for no (or a small) additional cost?

Thanks!

ira

Hi tracy,
>Can I fly from Rome to Paris, and then back to Cincinnati a few days later for no (or a small) additional cost?<

Try http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm

rex

<<Can I fly from Rome to Paris, and then back to Cincinnati a few days later for no (or a small) additional cost?>>

On the same airline, it might cost you substntially more (i.e. the Paris-Rome segment on your transatlantic carrier might not be cheap)...

... but simply buying an open jaw ticket - - i.e., into Rome and abck out of Paris could be a good bargain - - and then shop separately for a carrier Rome-Paris. There used to be volareweb.com but they went out of business, and I predict that the route is up for grabs for a while. Keep abreast on www.whichbudget.com