How to get cheap flights to italy
Sep 27, 2015, 6:56 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Washington,DC
Posts: 14
How to get cheap flights to italy
My girlfriend and I are going to Italy and would like to know when to purchase our tickets from IAD-->Italy (possibly Naples?) any pro and cons in flights and purchase days would be greatly appreciated. I'm fairly new to this site and finally have been saving up for an Italy trip (both our dreams).
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
Sep 27, 2015, 7:24 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
"When" is a tough question. In my experience, fares to Italy have more to do with the season at the destination than the time of year you're buying them. Late spring through summer is peak tourist season there, and fares will be roughly at their highest. Winter tends to be lowest. Beyond that, there really aren't any rules about how far out to buy airfare anymore (that I'm aware of). You can always use Google Flights to keep an eye on fares.
I will tell you this - generally the cheapest route to Italy is JFK-MXP because of the heavy competition on that route. Delta, Alitalia, Emirates and American all fly it. If you can economically position from WAS-JFK on a separate ticket and landing in Milan works for you, those fares will generally be the cheapest non-stops to Italy by quite a bit.
Other than some seasonal service that I might not be aware of, the only direct US-Italy options are going to be into MXP (Milan) and FCO (Rome). I think NAP and PSA used to get some seasonal direct service but I'm not sure that they still do. If you want to fly into another city in Italy, you're going to have to connect. In that case, if the lowest possible fare is your primary objective, keep an eye on Turkish Airlines' fares out of IAD. You will have to connect through IST, which means flying past Italy and then backtracking, but they do tend to be competitive on fare, offer service to a number of secondary Italian cities and my understanding is that their coach product is very good (including edible food). At least one way you'll have to overnight in IST, which if you're into it, is an opportunity to see the place where Europe and Asia meet.
Another option is to accumulate frequent flyer miles (or transferable points) and fly an award. That's a good option if you're going off peak (not summer). In that case, it's hard to beat AA's 40k round trips in coach, off peak Oct 15 - May 15. I have one of those booked this December.
I will tell you this - generally the cheapest route to Italy is JFK-MXP because of the heavy competition on that route. Delta, Alitalia, Emirates and American all fly it. If you can economically position from WAS-JFK on a separate ticket and landing in Milan works for you, those fares will generally be the cheapest non-stops to Italy by quite a bit.
Other than some seasonal service that I might not be aware of, the only direct US-Italy options are going to be into MXP (Milan) and FCO (Rome). I think NAP and PSA used to get some seasonal direct service but I'm not sure that they still do. If you want to fly into another city in Italy, you're going to have to connect. In that case, if the lowest possible fare is your primary objective, keep an eye on Turkish Airlines' fares out of IAD. You will have to connect through IST, which means flying past Italy and then backtracking, but they do tend to be competitive on fare, offer service to a number of secondary Italian cities and my understanding is that their coach product is very good (including edible food). At least one way you'll have to overnight in IST, which if you're into it, is an opportunity to see the place where Europe and Asia meet.
Another option is to accumulate frequent flyer miles (or transferable points) and fly an award. That's a good option if you're going off peak (not summer). In that case, it's hard to beat AA's 40k round trips in coach, off peak Oct 15 - May 15. I have one of those booked this December.
Sep 28, 2015, 1:19 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 32
Flying out of IAD is not going to be cheap. My boyfriend and I are also based in DC but we're going to fly out of jfk we just bought tickets for $641 rt/person jfk-fco through aer lingus for new years. But aer lingus and turkish airlines seem to have the best prices. Check their sites and orbitz. They had some decent prices. I used Skyscanner to start my search. I didn't buy from the links on their sites I just used it to figure out what sites to look on.
The mid March prices were around the same as well when I checked. (We're both in college so I was looking for spring break time)
The mid March prices were around the same as well when I checked. (We're both in college so I was looking for spring break time)
Last edited by earynnm; Sep 28, 2015 at 1:26 pm
Oct 5, 2015, 8:52 pm
#5
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 6km East of EPAYE
Programs: UA Silver, AA Platinum, AS & DL GM Marriott TE, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,582
keep an eye on Turkish Airlines' fares out of IAD. You will have to connect through IST, which means flying past Italy and then backtracking, but they do tend to be competitive on fare, offer service to a number of secondary Italian cities and my understanding is that their coach product is very good (including edible food). At least one way you'll have to overnight in IST, which if you're into it, is an opportunity to see the place where Europe and Asia meet
Oct 6, 2015, 7:36 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
Yup, they always seem to be very competitive ex-BOS as well. If I didn't have a 3 year old, I'd be all over it. But the added flight time and basically an overnight both ways is more than I want to do with a little kid right now. In a couple of years, we'll do it for the stopover and see Istanbul.
Everything I hear and read says TK has great catering, even pretty good in coach. Pretty good move on their part if they're proposing pax backtrack from IST to the rest of Europe.
Everything I hear and read says TK has great catering, even pretty good in coach. Pretty good move on their part if they're proposing pax backtrack from IST to the rest of Europe.
Mar 9, 2017, 12:41 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Washington,DC
Posts: 14
Flying out of IAD is not going to be cheap. My boyfriend and I are also based in DC but we're going to fly out of jfk we just bought tickets for $641 rt/person jfk-fco through aer lingus for new years. But aer lingus and turkish airlines seem to have the best prices. Check their sites and orbitz. They had some decent prices. I used Skyscanner to start my search. I didn't buy from the links on their sites I just used it to figure out what sites to look on.
The mid March prices were around the same as well when I checked. (We're both in college so I was looking for spring break time)
The mid March prices were around the same as well when I checked. (We're both in college so I was looking for spring break time)
Mar 9, 2017, 1:27 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 17,435
Also, as mentioned on another thread in this forum, you really don't have to worry about where you land in Italy. Just find the cheapest fare - which normally is indeed East Coast to MXP, but not always. Then buy tickets on a high speed train from where you land to where you want to be. There may be a train or bus ride from the airport to a central city station. MXP to Rome by train is about 4 hours (includes getting to Milano Centrale Station from the airport) Naples is about an hour from Rome by high speed train. The high speed trains (called Fresscia) require reservations and you select your seat as you book. 2nd class is fine if you're not trying to work. And if you buy early, the super economy fare (advance purchase, no changes allowed) is really a good deal. The tickets open up for sale 4 months before departure.
I've done this, specifically from MXP. Not being on a business trip or particularly interested in "haute" shopping, but the fare was significantly lower than any other ticket to Italy. Also non-stop. In fact, it was low enough that I was able to take a room near MXP (since the low fare had an inconvenient arrival time) for less than flying into FCO. There is a website called Rome2Rio on which you can model transport options between cities.
Also don't overlook domestic flights (they'll show up on a Rome2Rio query). Recently, I found that an Alitalia flight from NAP to LIN (regional airport near Milan) was 20€ cheaper than the train fare. Not to mention being 4 hours quicker (including airport time and the shuttle to Milano Centrale).
Time spent planning transport in advance, especially nailing down your connections, is the single most important component to traveling (relatively) stress free.
Take care of that and believe me Italy will take care of charming you.
I've done this, specifically from MXP. Not being on a business trip or particularly interested in "haute" shopping, but the fare was significantly lower than any other ticket to Italy. Also non-stop. In fact, it was low enough that I was able to take a room near MXP (since the low fare had an inconvenient arrival time) for less than flying into FCO. There is a website called Rome2Rio on which you can model transport options between cities.
Also don't overlook domestic flights (they'll show up on a Rome2Rio query). Recently, I found that an Alitalia flight from NAP to LIN (regional airport near Milan) was 20€ cheaper than the train fare. Not to mention being 4 hours quicker (including airport time and the shuttle to Milano Centrale).
Time spent planning transport in advance, especially nailing down your connections, is the single most important component to traveling (relatively) stress free.
Take care of that and believe me Italy will take care of charming you.