isu_steph

Does anyone have any recommendations when searching for International flights from the United States to Italy?? Probably arriving in Rome and possibly departing from Venice. I'm trying to find a good deal and didn't know if there were any great sites. Or if I should be contacting a travel agent. Any input??

J62

I use www.kayak.com

J62

Be aware that departing from Venice usually means a very, very early departure, which can cause logistics issues (getting a water taxi to airport at 5:30am for 7:30 am flight).

I don't have personal experience myself, but it often comes up on Fodors message boards.

isu_steph

thanks for that info. we haven't made a specific decision as to our itinerary. maybe it would be better to fly into venice and out of rome. we are trying to see as much as we can in a couple weeks and would like to avoid back tracking as much as possible. i've used kayak before... maybe i'll look into that again.

ira

Hi isu,

>..maybe it would be better to fly into venice and out of rome. <

much.

STUMBLEBUM

http://www.skyscanner.net every time!

namaka

Although I haven't used them, I saw a thread yesterday for 1800 Fly Europe with some great fares. You didn't say when you were thinking of going.

rex

<< Hi isu,

>..maybe it would be better to fly into venice and out of rome. <

much. >>

I remain a dissenter on this issue. Your first 24 hours in Europe is too often, a groggy, fatigued one, and memories of what you did or saw that first day are frequently clouded by how you feel. Venice is an awfully expensive place (for lodging) to spend that first "wasted" day.

Florence remains my first choice of best places to arrive n Italy. Even if you have to train from Milan to get there (provides a nap of just the right length). Milan would be another alternative, unless you don't want to go to Milan at all (it _is_ worthy of a day, in my opinion - - and with a "couple of weeks", Lombardy has as much merit as many other provinces).

Best wishes,

Rex

isu_steph

We didn't have any intentions of going into Milan at all. We do want to spend some time in Florence/Tuscany, but planned on doing that in the middle of Rome and Venice (or vice versa depending on where we plan on flying in). Our intentions are for a trip mid May 2008. This will hit my husbands break from spring to summer semesters and be close to our one year anniversary. All your input is great so far! Thanks! Planning on checking out www.skyscanner.net soon.

dosu

Someone else on this site mentioned http://www.itasoftware.com/ which I like for searching for best fares within any 30 day period.

isu_steph

You said within any 30 day period on http://www.itasoftware.com. We are wanting to buy our tickets possibly this summer. Some because it will help spread the expense of the trip and some because then we won't talk ourselves out of doing it for one reason or another. I'll keep this website in mind for last minute trips that we might plan though!

isu_steph

Just thought of this. Maybe my husband and I are approaching this incorrectly. Is there any rhyme or reason as to when you can get the best deals? I know some of it just depends on what time of year/days/busy seasons, etc. But are you better off as far in advance as possible? Closer to the flight dates? Any input?

rkkwan

Right now is too early to find the best airfare for May 2008 travel. Airlines don't release the cheap fares this early.

Wait until late fall, or even into late Jan or February to get the best deals.

isu_steph

Great! Thanks for the input. So we'll just save our money for now and prepare ourselves by searching for what we want to do until then. Any idea of what price might be reasonable to expect to pay for a ticket?? We are in Iowa and planning on flying out of Des Moines.

susiedq

I bought tix for our May 2007 trip to Italy in February and two weeks later the fares were $200 less for each ticket. They remained that low for some time.

Next trip, unless I see a very low fare, I will wait till two months before our flight.

I too have found that www.kayak.com does give the best fares.

isu_steph

Thanks for the advice! I'll put off buying tickets until a couple months out and probably stick with kayak.com. It's one of my favorite search engines!

isu_steph

susiedq
Just wondering about what you paid per ticket when you got yours in February for May 2007.

ira

>Venice is an awfully expensive place (for lodging) to spend that first "wasted" day.

Very pleasant accomodations can be had for 100E/nite dbl w/bkfst or less.

rex

Whatever you can find in Venice at a budget price, I submit that you can find it more plentifully in other Italian cities.

Not the perfect analysis, but this illustrates my point reasonably well:

Venere.com lists

286 hotels in Venice; 6 are under 75 euro

284 hotels in Florence; 46 are under 75 euro

Mid-range?

75-125 euro: 83 of 286 in Venice - - compared to 154 of 284 in Florence.

And Florence is not as inexpensive as many other mid-sized cities. Still, I am willing to keep the comparison among the "big three". Venice has the highest lodging premium; Florence the least.

There is a lot to love about Venice; I just wouldn't take anyone on a trip to Italy and put their first night on the ground there.

i_am_kane

I'm with Ira on this one. I've done it both ways Rome-Vence and Venice-Rome.

Last year we took our family of ten with ages ranging from 5-65 and we flew from JFK into VCE.

Not one person (including the 5-year old was groggy). It may help that we are all exceptionally healthy and fit. That first night in Vence after arriving at 9:30 a.m., we hit the beds at 10:30 p.m. after watching the World Cup semifinals on an outside plasma TV in Camp Santa Margherita.