i have a quote of 800 for an open jaw ticket for late sept into early oct from NC to Rome and from Florence back to NC.
Should I still hold out knowing its still 7 months to travel date and wait another 3 months to pounce on a deal now so early?
What is the probability that such a fare will decrease? HELP>>LOL

I'm not a fare guru but this seems like a good price for the time frame. I would expect to pay that much from JFK at that time.

It doesn't appear that oil prices will be decreasing so only a disaster of some sort that scares people into staying home will have much effect on prices.

And when you learn all the other secrets of the universe....

there may or may not be a sale later on and anyone who says there will BE one probably just picked your pocket.

Are you feeling lucky? adventurous? have you looked for fares EVERYWHERe including www.1800flyeurope.com
www.onetravel.com

www.itasoftware.com ????

Hi R,

It's not a bad fare.

Have you checked www.kayak.com?

It is likely that your plane out of Florence will actually depart from Pisa.

FLR is undergoing renovations.

If your dates are a little flexible then wait. If you must go on those dates at those times, book it.

thanx for all the responses so far.
I guess i am a bit spooked ...I have been constantly watching fares since the first of the year and they have been steady.
YET just yesterday a fare I was watching shot up almost 300 bucks!eek
I know as a general rule the best deals should be about 60 days out from your departure give or take but at this early stage for a 300 bump 7 months out..ouch.
Perhaps with the focus on the Olympics being in Italy, the big bump up is an airline trying to capitalize eh?
Anyway, do you think as a general rule fares will get better or worse for late Sept early Oct?
thanx

Italy is always more expensive -- but I've no idea what fares from NC are like.

How about doing some baseline tests? How much to fly to LHR?

How much to fly between Rome and NC? You can always take a train between Florence and Rome -- unless you're in a rush. The train ride shouldn't take more than 2 hours on the fast Eurostar.

By the way, it's even possible to think of using Bologna as your airport, as Bologna is an hour from Florence by train.

Hi russwuf, if you are going to Italy in late Sept. to early Oct. the Florence airport should be operating. It is closed now for renovations. The schedule is that it is to be closed for three months. Even it the renovations take longer (which wouldn't surprise me) I would certainly anticipate it will be open by the time you go to Italy.

I would probably be inclined to grab the $800.00 fare. But I never have good luck getting the least expensive fare so quit worrying about it years ago.

Air fares are a great mystery. I think the bottom line is that if you are happy with the schedule and are willing to pay the $800, go for it. Sure, it could go down, but it could just as easily go up. I usually just settle on an airfare, pay for it when I find it, and quit looking.

Tracy

I am thinking about publishing a series of travel books...

titled:

yikes you should read this book

yikes this one is good too

yikes read about this country

yikes everything you want to know

yikes through the back door

yikes trip questions and answers

Do you think these will be popular with booksellers and readers?

Best wishes,

Rex

Well Rex the "Dummy" series of books sure seem to be so go for it.

And than when you finish those you can start a series with the word "Help".

how about this one rex.........
if you cant say something nice.
then dont say nothing at all.

Well, russ... you can just count on me to stay on message.

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34752553

russwuf, don't mind rex. He's the resident curmudgeon.

well this section of fodors is listed as "TALK"......If someone wants to ask a question then so be it. If you dont like they way they do it, their subject, etc. yada yada you dont have to reply ..its that simple.
I take it most people swap info to help each other out in a spirit of cooperation and betterment of everyone.
There is no need for belittlement of someones honest question.
Curmudgeon or not, someone has a high opinion himself for sure

My 2 cents: that's not a bad fare. Maybe not a fantastic fare, but not a bad fare.

Best of luck. Enjoy Italy.

Hi russwuf, I think the point is, and I believe that Fodor's strongly suggest it in their information section, that one does get more responses IF the title of a person's thread indicates what their question is (or that the thread is regarding a travel report).

If you have posted a title along the lines of "Open Jaw ticket price NYC to Rome & Florence to NY Q" you might have more knowledgable answers.

Personally, and I don't mean this in a rude way, if one wants to post a title as you did "yikes opinions needed asap" I might or might not click on the thread. Many will not..so you could possibly not get some valuable thinking and opinions.

Just think about the title of your thread..what in heavens name does it refer to? Just trying to help..please continue on as you wish.

I tend to think that the 800 is a good price. I see lower fares but that is usually during the off season. I think that October is still a popular time to go and I would be surprised to see fares much lower. Its hard to predict.

And I agree that this Rex person is mean spirited and must be miserable to live with. Very tiresome. His posts generally offer nothing but criticism - being the board curmudgeon is not something to brag about when there are so many other posters who are willing to add value rather than be a self- important, non contributory fool. Can you imagine spending one minute with the guy?

ttt