sbrooks

Hello all,

We're planning a family trip (5 Adults, 2 Kids) to Italy from Late June to Early July, 2005. We're flying into Rome and returning out from Florence (only a $10 fare difference than flying r/t to Rome!). I would appreciate any input on how much you all paid and on what airlines? We have 3 Adults flying out of SFO - San Francisco and 2 Adults, 2 Kids flying out of IAH - Houston. I am getting $990 out of Houston on Air France. However, I would be interested in hearing from everyone. Thanks!

Traveler863

Sbrooks,
I'm speaking from the East Coast for airfares. Generally they are high in the $900-$1100 ballpark for summer travel. With a sale I've gotten fares around $750, once with United when they flew nonstop to Milan (a strange fare 8 months in adv, never went on sale again) and on American with a normal sale though sold out fast into Rome. Good luck, you may do well also with British Airways or Air France sales....typically sale season is anytime between now and March for summer fares, check daily. Good luck and have a great trip!

Jocelyn_P

We're flying RT from Tulsa to Rome in late June for just over $1000 each on American. I may have been able to save a few dollars had I waited for potential sales, but I had one ticket free (Capital One miles) and I wanted good connections, which can be harder to come by, flying out of a smaller airport. You may want to see if there's any price difference by moving up your dates a few days and keeping it all in June.

Good luck!

LoveItaly

In June I have usually payed around a $10000.00 or so from SFO to Venice.

Now that is for 21 days. Have payed much for a longer trip to Italy.

LoveItaly

Yes, are you looking, by any chance, for middle of the week flights? Sometimes that is cheaper. Play around with the different dates if you can. Of course a lot of people have vacation time and have no choice as to their flying times. Good luck!

Another thing, if you can check the airline website after 1:00am on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday mornings sometimes you will find cheaper fares.

Traveler863

Loveitaly,
I think that was a typo 10000.00 or you typically fly first class?

Yes midweek (Mon thru Thurs and in some cases Wed) is generally cheaper than weekend flights by typically $50 each way.

Not heard of general times of the week to check fares because it varies by airline. Rule of thumb, if you are seriously looking to go somewhere and you have approximate dates then you need to check daily and hopefully you can be flexible should a sale be only valid for departure say only a day or two before your planned trip....returns generally aren't too much of a factor unless they exceed 30 days.

sbrooks

Thanks everyone for all of your great input and advice!!! Jocelyn - I looked at different dates as you advised and will continue to do so as there is no difference at the moment. Love Italy - I totally check on Tues and Wed mornings....it's so cool that you mentioned that b/c I've heard that also!!! Yeah, I am looking mid-week also. I'm so excited to hear from people as this was my first post on this site. Anybody else wanna make me happy by posting their thoughts?

sbrooks

Traveler,

Sorry...just got your message after I replied. Yes, I will check daily as well for those nasty one-day only sales. Thanks!

Also, to everyone, are kids' fares still 75% for under 12?

Traveler863

sbrooks,
I'll share part of a lengthy conversation I had with United regarding group fares and kid discounts was part of that. They are getting tighter with it...used to be almost any fare even deeply discounted ones you got kid discounts but thats getting slimmer. I have also checked other airlines such as Delta sales for Europe and there is no kid discount. Of note, my group rate conversation with United was not for kid rate reservations...an off the cuff question which they answered, unrelated to groups. With group rates you do not get kid discounts at all.....but there's huge benefits for groups of 10 or more. Good thing.

LoveItaly

Traveler 863, at first when I read your post I thought "1st Class?, Huh?" Well yes I guess I did make a "small typing error, by about $9,000.00. Good grief!

On that subject I would like to make a comment.

In the 1970's we went to Italy for the first time. The R/T tickets were $950.00 each. Now that was a lot of money back then. However we did go for 2 months versus 21 or 30 days. However, with the inflation rate, the cost of gasoline now etc. etc. no wonder all the airlines are having financial problems. Just wanted to share this with all of you.

Happy travels to all

DeeDee

I, too, have been watching airfares to Europe (So. Germany or Zurich) for several weeks expecting to see something less than $1K from West Coast.

I just opened an email from Gemütlichkeit's newsletter with a "Europe Travel Alert" that reads:

"Air Fares: With the strong euro, transatlantic airlines expect an unprecedented number of European visitors to the U.S. this summer. As a result they have devoted much of their seat inventory for sale in Europe. One industry source told me some July and August Lufthansa flights are already sold out and forecasts a shortage of seats available to the U.S. market, especially in high season. Coupling that info with Gemut.com air department's experience over the past 5 years, the earlier you purchase transatlantic air tickets, the less you will pay and the better chance you have of getting the desired dates, city pairs, and prices. Those traveling in high season SHOULD NOT WAIT until April or May in hopes of a sale. Yes, there have been - and probably will be again this year - brief windows of opportunity where one might save $50 or $100 per ticket. What's much more likely to happen, however, is instead of paying, say, $1000 for a high season ticket now, you'll pay $1300 to $1500 later on. Of course, if you can travel before June 14, when the high season starts, you'll also save even more money. The Gemut.com air department has access to several consolidators and specializes in Lufthansa. Click here for an emailed quote or phone 800-521-6722.

We expect fares to be marginally above 2004 - added fuel and security costs - and to remain firm through summer; the demand is there."

I am thinking that I may go ahead and book with this news. I have read other Fodor posts with the info about the heightened travel to US by Europeans (which makes sense with the strong Euro). Any opinions on this??

WillTravel

DeeDee, that could be true but that reminds me of something a travel agent told me last January. I wanted flights to London in July. She said that flights were unlikely to come down in price, because of the Olympics. Never mind that I wasn't going near Athens, and that the Olympics were a month later. She said that nonetheless this was true for all of Europe. I didn't buy the tickets, but a few weeks later I did, saving a total of almost $600 Canadian per ticket over the rates at which she had claimed were very unlikely to drop. I'm suspicious about this idea that there are already full flights. If you know how, you can get an idea how full any given flight is to determine is this is true (I don't remember the exact process, but it is discussed on Flyertalk).

For anyone who is interested in getting the best flight prices and so forth, I would suggest reading Flyertalk.com and the Cheap Flights forum at http://www.eurotrip.com .

Betsy

Traveler863, could you post the info that United gave you about group fares, especially the part about "huge benefits for groups of 10 or more"?

RufusTFirefly

Two years ago we paid $490 each including fees and taxes for Saturday flights in mid-June from Baltimore to Frankfurt and back. If we had been able to travel mid-week, it would have been $441. But the airlines were desperate at that time.

I think it's now a crapshoot with so many possible variables between now and June that fares could be anywhere from $500 to $1200 for the same trip this year.

ballbuster

I'm planning to go on a trip to Europe, fly in to London, fly back from Rome from Houston in late May and Continental is only 630$ with the first flight being non stop and the second with one stop(newark)

ballbuster

I would recommend buying a roundtrip fight to London Gatwick and then taking easyjet or Ryanairto Rome or Florence. I would expect it to be around 800$

sbrooks

Thanks, I didn't know about RyanAir (every time we go to London, we have family take us around). However, my husband doesn't think it would be a good idea to do the whole Gatwick to Stanton thing.

I'm getting only one decent fare into Rome and out of Florence on Air France. My parents and sister are having to pay an extra $500/person if they want to go into rome and out of florence (as opposed to rome r/t)....that seems ridiculous but I will keep checking for a bit and then decide to purchase soon, I guess. Since they aren't travelling w/kids, they may just go back to rome. How far is it from Rome to Florence (or vice versa) and how much?

suec1

It is an easy train ride back to Rome - they would probably want to travel the day before their flight out unless the flight departs Rome noon to mid afternoon. The Rome airport is chaotic. SueC1

rbnwdln

We've spent a week on the net trying every possible connection to get to Rome for less than $1000 in June and no luck. We would like to fly from Minneapolis but are willing to fly to NYC to see our kids and fly from there but it is SO high. We are flexible with dates in mid-late June. I will just keep watching the fares. We have NEVER paid that much to fly anywhere. Our trip may be off. (

kismetchimera

sbrook,
the children pay full price now. The discount's days are over, unfortunately.