Best time to book flight to Italy

[Anyislandwilldo]

Our departure airport will be Chicago O'Hare.  Looking for when will be the best time to find the best price on flights to Italy.  Cruising next year Sept out of Civittechia.  thanks. 

[CCWineLover]

46 minutes ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

Our departure airport will be Chicago O'Hare.  Looking for when will be the best time to find the best price on flights to Italy.  Cruising next year Sept out of Civittechia.  thanks. 

We booked our flight to Rome (out of SF) last March.  Been watching and the prices have gone up steadily during the summer.

I guess you have to figure how much you want to "gamble" that they will come down again.  With so many Americans traveling, that might not happen as demand is at all time highs and doesn't seem to be slowing down.  Normally I would say book 9-11 months out or 4-5 months out.

Do you feel lucky?  🙂

 

[MeHeartCruising]

I generally find the best price point for flights to Europe at about the 9-months out point.  But you truly never know for sure.

[CruiserBruce]

This is commonly discussed on the Cruise Air board. There is no "best" time. With dynamic pricing on airlines, there is zero way to predict when the fares will be "best". You do your research, find a price you can live with, purchase your tickets, and don't look back.

 

If you can swing an extra day or two, you might find cheaper pricing on some days of the week, as opposed to others.

[Anyislandwilldo]

Thanks everyone!

[Ditch]

We recently used miles to fly to Rome and back through Barcelona.  Booked 325 days out, but saved over $5700.

[CCWineLover]

7 hours ago, Ditch said:

We recently used miles to fly to Rome and back through Barcelona.  Booked 325 days out, but saved over $5700.

What airline and from what starting city?  One way?  Bus Class?

[mapleleaves]

 

 

This year I flew Tucson to London on May 1, $825 RT.  Economy on AA .  I started looking at flights/prices last summer and booked mid Dec when prices started to climb.

(I booked my London - Pisa flight separately as I can usually find better deals with european carriers.)

 

I'm planning a trip for mid May 2024 and have just started looking at flights/prices.  The exact same flight I took this yr is $1050 RT in 2024.  Not a good start.  I typically book in Dec or Jan, but it depends on what's happening with the fare.  

 

I'm definitely a budget traveler. Fly to London or beyond nearly every yr.  Economy seats, And I only travel with a carryon suitcase so no luggage fees. 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by mapleleaves

[CCWineLover]

29 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

 

 

This year I flew Tucson to London on May 1, $825 RT.  Economy on AA .  I started looking at flights/prices last summer and booked mid Dec when prices started to climb.

(I booked my London - Pisa flight separately as I can usually find better deals with european carriers.)

 

I'm planning a trip for mid May 2024 and have just started looking at flights/prices.  The exact same flight I took this yr is $1050 RT in 2024.  Not a good start.  I typically book in Dec or Jan, but it depends on what's happening with the fare.  

 

I'm definitely a budget traveler. Fly to London or beyond nearly every yr.  Economy seats, And I only travel with a carryon suitcase so no luggage fees. 

 

 

 

Yes we are looking at May 24.  Inflation is up and so is demand. Thus prices keep skyrocketing.  Have not seen it like this before an we fly a lot.

have to decide if I can take the gamble and wait.  I don’t see demand decreasing post Covid and oil prices are higher.  So will probably just go head and not look back.

[Ditch]

On 8/13/2023 at 6:10 PM, CCWineLover said:

What airline and from what starting city?  One way?  Bus Class?

American Airlines, Premium Economy, Multi-City, RDU 

[-Lew-]

We have found that booking business class using miles about a week after flights become available on United offers the best pricing and seat selection.  Our itinerary is BTV → EWR → FCO.

 

Our most recent transatlantic flight experience booking with United was as follows:  When flights were first released, at 11 months out...air miles required were obscenely high...over 500K miles per person.  After about a week, cost dropped to 175K miles pp...we booked at this point.  After about a month the flight cost rose to 245K pp miles where it remains to this day.

 

I book with United after transferring the miles I need from my Chase Sapphire Reserve account to my United MileagePlus account.

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

We have found that booking business class using miles about a week after flights become available on United offers the best pricing and seat selection.  Our itinerary is BTV → EWR → FCO.

 

Our most recent transatlantic flight experience booking with United was as follows:  When flights were first released, at 11 months out...air miles required were obscenely high...over 500K miles per person.  After about a week, cost dropped to 175K miles pp...we booked at this point.  After about a month the flight cost rose to 245K pp miles where it remains to this day.

 

I book with United after transferring the miles I need from my Chase Sapphire Reserve account to my United MileagePlus account.

Excellent post. It reflects my process as well, which is why I frequently say one needs to start their research before the actual seats become available, so you see price trends like described occurring, and have an idea what might happen when the seats I need come available. 

[Galveston Cruiser]

1 hour ago, -Lew- said:

We have found that booking business class using miles about a week after flights become available on United offers the best pricing and seat selection.  Our itinerary is BTV → EWR → FCO.

 

Our most recent transatlantic flight experience booking with United was as follows:  When flights were first released, at 11 months out...air miles required were obscenely high...over 500K miles per person.  After about a week, cost dropped to 175K miles pp...we booked at this point.  After about a month the flight cost rose to 245K pp miles where it remains to this day.

 

I book with United after transferring the miles I need from my Chase Sapphire Reserve account to my United MileagePlus account.

I agree the air miles needed start out way too high.  I check continuously and search various routes.  Booked Houston to Venice business first with UA miles on Lufthansa (preferred international carrier) for less than 80,000 PP for October of this year.  Booked another flight from Bologna to Houston next June for 88,000 PP - again flying Lufthansa business class.

[sasandy]

We will also be flying out of Chicago September 2024. Our cruise also leaves from Civitavecchia.

[-Lew-]

18 hours ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

I agree the air miles needed start out way too high.  I check continuously and search various routes.  Booked Houston to Venice business first with UA miles on Lufthansa (preferred international carrier) for less than 80,000 PP for October of this year.  Booked another flight from Bologna to Houston next June for 88,000 PP - again flying Lufthansa business class.

 

Those lower mileage requirements are available for our city pairs also; however, only for 2-stop itineraries.  We prefer 1-stop in the US so we pay the higher price in miles.  I note those lower cost itineraries include code-shares with  Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti, or Brussels Airlines.  We've flown Lufthansa and Austrian a couple of times transatlantic and would do so again if offered by United on a 1-stop itinerary.

[Galveston Cruiser]

6 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

Those lower mileage requirements are available for our city pairs also; however, only for 2-stop itineraries.  We prefer 1-stop in the US so we pay the higher price in miles.  I note those lower cost itineraries include code-shares with  Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti, or Brussels Airlines.  We've flown Lufthansa and Austrian a couple of times transatlantic and would do so again if offered by United on a 1-stop itinerary.

It all depends on service and your destination. There are not always direct flights from a European hub such as Frankfurt or Paris.  We fly non-stop to Europe,  Once there we don't mind a connecting flight or two as there are multiple inter Europe flights but only one daily international from Houston to a hub.

Less miles used equates to more travel.

[Softball20]

We booked our business class tix to Rome and then back from Barcelona as soon as they went up for purchase. We used miles, which were crazy high and have continued to go up since I booked.  I had to book from two separate accounts - mine and my husband's - and the miles prices literally went up by about 20k miles between one purchase to the next in a matter of minutes.  They are almost double now.  This was on American out of CLT and back to MIA then SAV.  It's convoluted, but it worked. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Softball20
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