Hello Everyone,

Has anyone heard of any good airline sales/fares
to Rome or Florence for the Fall.... We are traveling in late September and are hoping the airlines will have a airfare sale next month..... Wishful thinking?????

Regards,

Leslie
Alabama, USA

David is our booking airfares expert - he knows all the tricks. I am sure he will answer you soon. All I do is go to www.expedia.com and do comparisons...

We're going at the same time. If you get any tips let me know however we're going from LA.

Has David not answered this thread yet!! He is co-moderator with me - what's he doing? Taking the weekend off? Working? I will email him immediately!! (He is spending all his time on that Italian Language forum!!)

It's nice to be loved......... I was actually cleaning my apartment yesterday, not to mention trying to respond to queries in Italian!

Hi all. Well, I hope that this helps. I haven't been looking for any airfares recently myself so I'm not totally up to date on what the scene is and I don't know of any airline sales for the fall (execpt for maybe Northwest -- see below). But I can share my method (and my madness, I suppose) with you...... I usually take a multi-pronged approach. It's time consuming, but you become educated in what's out there and what's a good buy and what isn't.

1 - check a number of websites. I usually check Travelocity and then some lesser known ones like Hotwire and QIXO. I've liked QIXO -- they seem to have come up with different things than some of the others.

I just did a sample comparison. I looked up flights leaving LAX on 9/15 going to Rome (FCO - Fiumicino) and returning on 9/29. The cheapest thing that Travelocity brought up was something on British Airways for $1036 roundtrip. When I entered the same info on QIXO, it brought up a number of different itineraries thru Northwest/KLM for around $935 RT. So different on line travel agencies have different ways of searching and apparently access to different fares. So I'd check around with a number of them.

2 - Sometimes I call Cheap Tickets. I make sure to get the agent I speak with to try different options -- different time departures, different connecting cities, flexible dates and especially different arrival cities. (Also keep in mind that, when booking travel from the US to Europe, there is only a minimal charge to arrive in one city and depart from another.) When I booked my trip there was quite a difference between fares from NY - Milan, NY - Florence, NY - Venice, etc. Sometimes some airlines have specials going. A couple of months ago British Airways was offering many specials. I think that Northwest is doing so at the moment. Earlier in the summer, Sabena, Swissair and Iberia were all coming up with cheaper fares than their competitors. I don't know if this is still the case. Things change by the minute in the air travel industry. But a good agent who will work with you at Cheap Tickets can yield something good sometimes -- but you might have to prod them with different alternatives.

3 - Call a few consolidators listed weekly in the New York Times Sunday Travel section. You can't miss them. They run ads every week advertising very low fares. Sometimes they truly have them. More often what's advertised is for very specific fares that have limitations -- like they only have them on trips starting by next Friday...... But they seem to have access to fares that are even cheaper than the ones advertised or the ones you can get over the internet. I booked with a consolidator this year -- NY - Bologna and returning Milan - NY. The fare was $792 including tax for travel in August -- I booked it in June. This was over $200 less than anything else I could find. If you book with a consolidator, I advise you to call the airline afterwards and doublecheck that your reservation is good and accurate and that you have seat assignments.

4 - Another option is Priceline.com. I've used them a couple of times and gotten good results -- but that's not always the case. When you put in a bid with Priceline, you must be ready to purchase. You cannot specify the time of day you wish to fly -- only the date. You can specify the maximum number of connections you're willing to have. Then you put in your bid and wait. They get back to you quickly. If your bid has been taken up by whichever airline, that's it -- you're booked. I know of friends who booked a pretty good fare with Priceline, but the itinerary was not great. They were flying from NY - Paris and their bid got picked up by Lufthansa. Fine. However, they had a 6 hour layover in Frankfurt in both directions. Not good. However, they got a very cheap fare. So you have to weigh out your options and tolerance level etc. When I've booked things thru Priceline, I've ended up with fares that are 30% less than the advertised ones -- not bad.

I'd advise anyone doing this to start lower than that and then bid your way up until you've reached an already-established limit that you've decided upon. For instance, with the sample LAX - FCO fare from above -- the cheapest rate I found on Northwest was $935. If you couldn't find anything better thru a consolidator and you are willing to take a chance on a less-than-ideal itinerary , I'd put in a bid on Priceline of $500 or so and see what happens. If and when it's rejected, bid a little higher and resubmit. Keep doing this until you've either landed a fare at a good rate or you've reached the limit you've established, for instance $750 -- because you feel that for $750 you'll take a chance on not getting a good itinerary (although you might get a great itinerary for even less of course).

If you're thinking that if you wait, someone will start running a sale, unfortunately I can't advise you. I usually have that same instinct and then at some point (if I'm not finding a good sale), I'll just go ahead and book something......

That's about it. It's time consuming, but the better educated you are, the cheaper airfare you'll get. Any questions, ask me. I'm not a travel agent. But I've spent enough time booking flights.....

David

Hi, David and others -- how about including 'check with a good local travel agent' in your list of how to find good international airfares? Most agents have long used consolidators/discounters to find good fares for our clients - being very particular about which ones we will use in terms of reliability and reputation. And for things that a travel agent sells, there's a real person - who knows your name and to whom you are more than just the hundredth call that day - to contct and ask for help if you need it at some point, or need to make a change. A good friend of mine was looking for air into Venice and out of Rome recently (for December), and I asked him to run a test case for me and go check Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz on line while I checked my favorite consolidator. The consolidator and I came out the winner by over $ 100 (hee hee hee). This isn't always true, and there are often fabulous internet fares out there indeed; but a good local travel agent is worth a check!

True, Sally. Your point is well-taken. Personally, I'm just not in the habit of using travel agents. The one who I used to use went out of business and I've just been doing my own thing for a few years. But yes, I agree that having someone with whom you actually do have a relationship can be very valuable. And of course, many travel agents do excellent work in finding bargain fares.

People should go the way they feel comfortable. Sometimes getting the absolute lowest possible fare isn't the best thing.....

David

>>> People should go the way they feel comfortable. Sometimes getting the absolute lowest possible fare isn't the best thing.....
>>>
David -- SUCH a good point. Just like people don't usually buy THE cheapest brand of tuna fish available, or THE cheapest new refrigerator available, or THE cheapest luggage or lodging in THE cheapest hotel. We humans have learned to see value in things that surround pricing, and most of the time that serves us very well.

I recommend looking at The Daily Auction.com. Lufthansa has , I believe, quite low starting prices. The drawback is that the duration of stay is usually only ten days or so. Ciao. Dale

I just checked Expedia and came up with an $800+ fare from LAX to Rome or Florence.

You might want to look into a membership with Bestfares.com. I purchased my ticket (friends have memembership they paid I reimbursed) Los Angeles to Milan for $649.00 that includes tax round trip. The deal was actually booked as LAX to Paris and then 1 European country, so I have a 12 hour layover in Paris (what a shame!), then it's back to Milan for departure to LAX. I then went to Alitalia website and put in my flight information and the same exact flight was $1240.00.

Good luck in your search, if I see anything I'll let you know.

Cathy [EMAIL]null[/EMAIL]

Cathy,

I was just on the Bestfares.com site. Their fares to
Rome from Atlanta are quoted as $378.00 round trip.
This just seems just too good to be true... What do
you know about the company and is it really worth the
$59.98 investment to join them??? I wonder if they
really have a $378.00 fare?? That is great that you
got your airfare for the price you were looking for!!

Has anyone else had any experience with Bestfares.com??

Thanks!!!

Leslie
ALabama, USA

Leslie,

I had no problems getting my ticket after it was purchased from Bestfares. The friends who have the membership use it often and have never had any problems. They've also never had an issue with not getting an advertised fares, so I'd have to say if they are offering $378 round trip then they have it. Too bad it's not from the west coast.

Good luck in your search,
Cathy

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for giving me further information
regarding the Bestfares.com site. I really
appreciate it!!!! I am going to become a
member today!!!! Sorry the $378.00 fare is
offered from LAX....

Thanks again for the info!!!!

Regards,

Leslie

OOPS!! I meant to say "sorry the $378.00
fare is not offered from LAX"

Leslie

Cathy,

I have one more question for you - were you
issued a "paper" ticket or an ETICKET???

By the way, I have joined Bestfares.com
because nothing else could beat their fares
at this time.....

Regards,

Leslie

Leslie,

As a matter of fact I have my "paper" ticket out now. I really thought that the fares were great if you lived on the other coast and would join myself if I have to.

So when are you leaving? I'm departing 10-8 returning 10-28 and it's never going to get here.

Glad I was able to help,
Cathy

2 things. First, we booked tickets from DC to Venice and from Rome to DC for $610 during the British Airways sale a couple weeks ago - I think this was a pretty good deal for 2 one-ways. Second, while searching for this ticket - I saw the Bestfares.com deals - so I decided to join! I was very disappointed after I called them up and all the tickets for my dates (and for all surrounding days) had sold out a long time ago. SO - just a word of warning that maybe it is not all it is cracked up to be.

Yup, that is unfortunately what happened to me.
Even though they are STILL advertising their $378.00
round-trip from Atlanta to Florence, there was nothing
available for around the dates that I wanted to go
and I was trying to be flexible.

Needless to say to say, I am disappointed and hope
there is an airfare sale soon because I still don't
have tickets for the trip....

Regards,

Leslie

There are ads in today's NY Times from Continental, United, and US Airways re: fall sales. It's less expensive if you book on the airlines' site for all of them.

Sample fares (each way):
United DC to Milan $251
San Francisco to Paris $297

Continental LA to Milan $356

US Air Boston to London $197.50

Leslie,

I'm still getting my feet wet at all this but one site that's gotten some good reviews on the AOL board is www.justfares.com. One nice thing is that they have an "open jaws" function. For instance, you can get a quote on flying into Rome and out of Florence.

You can also work with different departure airports to see if the fares change. I know for me it's frustrating when I see ads for the low fares from LAX. I live in California but LA is an eight hour drive away. Try your nearest major airport first and work your way out using concentric circles. You might find a bargain.

Good luck!
Michael

check out orbitz.com. i just booked ptld/or roundtrip to milan for 660$$!!! after seeing nothing to italt for less than 1100$ until last night. I think it is continental and united that are offering the fares

I just bought tickets NYC to Venice for $550/ea. plus tax, ($60ish dollars) from a consolidator in NYC, Pino Travel for travel in Sept. They beat ALL of the on line fares I could find, and I searched extensively. In my opinion on the best on line places to look are onetravel.com, or any online consolidator that uses the patheo.com search engine (as opposed to easysaabre or whatever its called) aatoztravel.com is one. Venice and Genoa were $50/cheaper than Rome/Florence/Milan, and Pisa was $50 more than they were. My tickets are on Sabena, but I think there are also some good deals left on Swissair and Lufthansa. You will almost never get the best fares at expedia, travelocity, or orbitz for int'l travel, for long, complicated, reasons that have to do with the way int'l fares are regulated as opposed to domestic, but if you are really interested in the reasons go to this link http://www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html to read more about it.

You are most likely to get the best fare if you travel Mon-Thurs, it costs $20 more each way to travel Fri-Sunday, and if you can be flexible about your dates. But if you are renting a house or flat, remember that they usually book Sat. to Sat. And don't forget about taxes when you are comparing air fares, some places show it with, some without, and it's around $65-70.

And this is a bit off-topic, but relates to the overall price of the trip, if you are planning to rent a car for more than a week, it might pay to fly into Zurich, southern France or Germany, because the car rentals are cheaper there (esp. Germany) and driving down. Italy has some of the most expensive car rental rates in Europe.

As to whether rates will suddenly go down, who knows? If the airlines decide they haven't booked enough seats for fall they may suddenly cut fares, but then again they may not. You can never count on it, but you can't rule it out. It's always a gamble, especially if your really committed to going at a certain time. Otherwise, if you want to fly really cheap, buy a ticket for November.

Happy searching

I agree with you on the car rental costs - but this year we had to rent in Italy and the quote I got from AutoEurope was as low as what we usually pay renting in Switzerland. $36/day for a mid-size car. It seems like rates are always changing. In previous years it was always around $50/day for a car in Italy.

That said, you can usually get an automatic in Switzerland for only a few dollars a day more - in Italy there are only a couple of models that come in automatic (either very small or very large, if memory serves me).

You got a great airfare to Italy!! Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the tips Jennifer. It is usually a lot
cheaper to fly out of NYC or DC then out of Atlanta
which is where I am flying out of .

I have just requested a quote from Pino Travel,so
we will see what happens. At this point, I am ready
to throw in the towel and wait until mid-March which
is when we would have the opportunity to travel again.

Before everyone says "yuck" to March, that is when we
traveled to Tuscany on our last trip, and it was a
bargain from the airfare to the rental. The added bonus
was that the weather was perfect and we hardly ever
encountered other tourists!!!


Regards,

Leslie

quote:

---

Before everyone says "yuck" to March, that is when we traveled to Tuscany on our last trip, and it was a
bargain from the airfare to the rental. The added bonus
was that the weather was perfect and we hardly ever
encountered other tourists!!!

---

Leslie- I'm glad to hear that. My saintly parents have volunteered to come be substitute parents for a week in early Spring, and Larry and I are considering a brief trip to Venice and Rome. I was once in Italy however during Easter, and it was really crowded. Need to check the calendar...