i am going on a trip to italy in May. and i need to book my airfair as soon as possible..actually i would like to book it.

what arilines are a good and bad..

thank you

Hi pat,

Go to www.mobissimo.com for RT or http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm for open jaw and buy the lowest price tickets.

What are your options? You don't say from where you're traveling. I think most people would first determine which airlines fly the route they want, then pick the ones with the best price, then the best flight times. When flying in coach, they're often similarly bad.

Patjim,

I have flown to Italy using Lufthansa and British Air. Both are extremely comfortable and clean airlines. Lufthansa is better in the sense that you usually have a layover in Germany or somewhere that is not too long before you transfer to your next plane for Italy. British on the other hand usually has longer layovers in London and most of the time you will have to take a bus from the airport in London to get to another airport in London to catch your next plane. It's not hard, but it can be stressful when you're in the midst of all of the traveling business. The airports in London are Heathrow and Gatwick, I forget which you arrive at first and which one you have to take the bus to in order to get to your connecting flight. This is the only downfall of British Air, but if you dont mind catching a bus to get to your connecting flight, they are an awesome airline with a great and friendly staff and their planes also have little tv's built into the back of each seat so that you can tune into a variety of movies while flying. This is an awesome feature because on other airlines you just get the headset that you plug in and you have to focus your eyes to the tv in the front. Everyone gets their own tv on British air. Overall, both airlines are great. British Air has really good prices and I'd probably use them every time if I didnt have to transfer between airports for my layover. But like I said, it's not that bad, and that is probably why their fares are a little bit lower sometimes because of this type of layover and having to take a bus to get to the next airport.

I like British Air, but have no idea if they would work for your itinerary (where you are starting from, where in Italy you want to end up?)

You can go to any general booking site like expedia.com and try out different routes, times, dates. It will show you many possible airlines and give you an idea of prices.

You can then buy your tickets instead directly from an airlines, go thru a consolidator, use a travel agent, book it off expedia, etc. etc.

Also I consider the flight times and connections (as well as which particular airline). I don't like too many stops, long airport layovers, too short of connections, so carefully read the details of tickets you are looking at.

Whatever the least expensive non-stop flight is. We all have different priorities.

My favorite is USAirways nonstop Philly to Rome. Least favorite is Air France where either you miss your connection or your luggage does not make it to Italy or both.

Casale-Abruzzo Villa
http://www.angelfire.com/film/casale

The airline that has the cheapest fare when you want to go.

Where are you going from? That would have alot to do with whom you fly on.

oh my gosh you guys are the greatest thanks for all the information.

our dates are

May 29th from LAX...to Rome
then we depart June 8th from Venice..

we will be three days in Rome, Three in florence and three in Venice.
thanks everyone.

I don't know how it will be (and will let you know when we return at the end of March) but we are flying via Alitalia from DC to Milan to Rome and then back from Venice to Milan to DC. It saved some intercountry travel to depart from another city. We are using Delta points via their partner Alitalia.

thank you Damama. have a great time

go to intratours.com we are flying into venice and back from rome. 579 dollars talk to hortensia

I did that same trip a few years ago. My preferred airline to Europe is Lufthansa. They have great schedules and strive for "on-time" departures. Service is professional, although not overly friendly. You also won't find a lot of frills or extras but they do feed you well and have clean modern aircraft.

Connections on Lufthansa are likely to go thru Frankfurt or Munich which are the two easiest terminals to navigate, especially Munich. Londons Heathrow is a nightmare and Paris is a confusing mess in comparison. The only other airport I would recommend for connections is Amsterdam, which is very modern.

Another option of about the same length is on Air Canada thru Toronto.

Here are a few things I recommend...

1. Make your connection to Italy in an airport in Europe. They are much more interesting than US airports. If you have a delay would you rather be stuck in Washington Dulles or Munich?

2. Look for price but go higher for convenience.

3. Allow plenty of time between connections. Remember, whatever airport you land in in Europe will be when you clear immigration for the European Union. I think you will need two hours as a minimum.

4. On your return allow no less than 2 hours for your US connection. No matter where you arrive from you will need to pass through immigrations and do a second level of security screenings for your USA flight. I remember that in Munich, Frankfurt and Paris, this was done just before you get to your gate area. In Germany they usually hand search you (yes really).

5. Passing thru Munich? If you can stop for a day or two its a fabulously clean and friendly city!

6. If at all possible you can take Air New Zealand from LAX to London and then connect in London to Rome. ANZ is a great airline. The best I ever flew.

7. No matter what people tell you, do get a smart idea and try to buy your ticket in segments, anotherwords buying one ticket for you transcontinental flight and another for your European flights. If you miss a connection and hold two different tickets, you are screwed! If you miss a connection on an approved "round trip" ticket, you are covered. Also flying to and from the USA you get a better luggage allowance then inter-Europe flights. On a round trip ticket to and from the USA you get an allowance of 2 checked bags on all segments of that ticket, if you buy a seperate inter-europe ticket it is likely that the baggage allowance is only 1 bag with lower weight restrictions.

8. The train from Rome to Venice is a nice trip. It long but bring a picnic, take a nap, relax and watch the scenery go by. Also there is nothing more impressive than pulling into and walking out of the Venice train station. It's like no where else in the world.

9. Rome is an amazing city. Be sure to visit my websight that I did after my last trip. Its a bit dated but most info is still good. Especially some restaurants and the tips.

http://richardab.home.comcast.net

or

http://richardab.home.comcast.net/Fl...e/Arrival.html

10. Visit the websight

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego

This site will give you the best fares and routes for your travel dates, then you can call the airline to purchase.

Oh, and once you get there, HAVE FUN!

patjim,it looks like that we have the same itinerary and the same dates..I arrive in Rome May 29th and will be in Venice for 4 days ..Afterward I am going to La Belle France for 2 weeks.

Here is some more advice (some may be redundant with earlier posts) -

1) Although price shouldn't be the only consideration, the days when using Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. were always less expensive than going directly to the airlines are over. If the difference is only a few dollars, I will go with the airline. In the event of a problem, I am only dealing with a single organization, rather than two that keep telling me I'm the other companies problem.

2) One important factor in my choice of airline is whether or not they offer 2xNx2 seating for the "over the water" portion of the flight. My wife and I prefer two seats to ourselves (window and aisle - no middle seat). Many airlines have 3xNx3 seating for transatlantic flights.

3) Other factors for airline selection are business and labor issues. I wouldn't buy tickets on an airline that is bracing for a strike or in financial difficulty. For example, US Air would be risky choice (of course, May is not far off and you may decide to risk it if the price is right - but expect some anxiety everytime you hear their financial difficulties mentioned on the news).

4) The long layover mentioned above is even more important if you are connecting through a smaller airport (e.g., Charlotte, etc.). Most flights to Europe depart the US during an early evening window of only a few hours. If you miss your flight, you may not get out until the next day. This is especially true if the airport does not schedule many flights to Europe.