The cost of flying to Italy or anywhere is often your largest expense. Airfares have been on the rise and baggage and seats are costing even more on top of airfares. There are some tricks to manage these costs and we talk about them in this video.
Lets list some ideas to help manage airfares:
Then sit back and enjoy your trip. Watch my VLOG on airfares:
– George Febish
Now we need to make an airline reservation. Airfares have been going up as the number of carries goes down (Us Air and American merger is now complete). We have seen airfares fluctuate all over the place. We were paying $1100 to $1300 per person for a roundtrip non refundable fare (Philadelphia to Rome non stop). Now it is hard to find these but they do exist. Off season you can get fares for $800 to $1,000. We have seen fares at $1,800 and some as high as $2,500 for non refundable. That is crazy!
Multiple stops are sometimes cheaper at $750 to $1,000 but can cost you an extra night in a hotel. We saw some that flew you from Philly to Charlotte and then the next day Charlotte to Rome. One discounted fare of $750 flew you Philly to London, London to Moscow and then back to Rome.
The European airlines are offering discounted fares within Europe. You might be able to find the cheapest airfare to any big city in Europe and then take a discount airlines to your Italian destination. If we chose to do this, we would spend a night or two at that city and see it. Then you are on European time and can continue to Italy.
Having a frequent flyer card can get you free flights but it takes a lot of miles (usually 110,000 to 130,000 miles per roundtrip fare). We use the Capital One Venture Card which gives you 2 points for every dollar you spend on anything with no limits. You can at any time redeem points for $.01. It becomes a discount on your account. It doesn’t have to be for airfare. That is a 2% kickback on your account.
If you plan to travel often to Europe as we do, you will need a card similar to this to help reduce overall airfares. There is a bonus program now that offers 40,000 points if you use the card and spend $3,000 in first 3 months That is a $400 bonus). You can easily do that by putting all your bills on the card and using it at every store you visit.
Airfare shopping is important and may be your most expensive single item. Experts say that booking an airfare between 20 and 22 weeks prior to your trip date will yield the cheapest fares. Being flexible on dates you travel can also reduce fares a lot. Leaving on a Tuesday or Thursday usually yields cheaper fares than a Friday through Monday.
Travel well!
George & Jo Anne
Subregions of Europe (UN geoscheme) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Have you been searching for cheap airfares to Europe with no success? Airfares are up and some are ridiculously high especially non stops. What can you do? Beware they are all the very similar but marketing tricks can suck you in. Buying your airfare a year in advance, when they are first available, can cost a big premium. There are some rules to know:
Doing your homework and being a little flexible can save you a lot of money. Maybe even your hotel costs. If you are going to be staying at hotels in Europe use services that will discount hotel fees to get your airline dollars.
George & Jo Anne
Do you fly non-stop or do you try to save a little on a stop or two? We get airfare deals in email all the time. Most are scams. You see the sucker price and say to yourself, “WOW what a great price to Italy!” Then you click on the price and all the listed airfares are higher. You have been suckered! We fly non stop Philadelphia to Rome. Many flights with stops have extremely long layovers. The last thing we want to do after an 8 to 10 hour flight is wait in some airport for another 8 hours to catch a connecting flight.
Our non stop gets us to Rome and then we have a 4.5 hour drive to our home in Italy. Yes we could fly into Naples or Salerno and be much closer but again we are sitting in an airport for longer than the drive time. Besides getting off the plane and renting a car starts your adventure. Driving and looking at the sea and mountains is exhilarating. We can see many small towns on the mountain sides around us.
We usually stop at an Auto Grille on the Autostrada to get something to eat and stretch our legs. All in all, the time goes by quickly and we are in Italy. Soon we are taking the exit for our all town and our anticipation heightens.
George & Jo Anne
We get really tired of the airfare scams going on in the airfare business today. Basically all the discount sites offer the same airfares as the airlines except at last-minute when seats are unsold. The discount sites offer good deals in packaging hotels in with an airfare. We get emails about airfares from Philadelphia to Rome all the time. The normal fare is between $1200 and $1350 roundtrip per person. The emails state airfares as low as $750. If you click and go to the site there are never any $750 airfares. There may be $950 which is still good, right? Wrong! These airfares have long layover stops in some city. Some layovers are as long as 11 hours. After a 7 to 8 hour trip, do you really want to sit in an airport for 11 hours and then fly another 2 to 3? To us it isn’t worth the savings. We can go non stop to Rome from Philadelphia in 8 to 8.5 hours. Then we are in Italy ready to rent a car or take public transportation.
You don’t want to start a vacation of a lifetime with a horrible travel itinerary. If the savings are important to you, then stay at the city your plane lays over in for a few days. This way you’re not stuck in the airport and you can begin your vacation. Some airlines may up the price if you get off in the layover city. Check first.
European air trips are long for most Americans that have never flown over the pond. There are ways to make the flight go by fast:
Before you know it breakfast is being served and then you are landing at your destination. Enjoy your travels.
George & Jo Anne
I fly between the US and Europe a lot. Airlines only post pricing about 11 months out so you don’t have a lot of time to plan your vacation at work and make reservations. Typically prices are posted high at first. They then drop and can then go up and finally drop as the departure date nears. I use US Air from Philadelphia to Rome a lot. It is a non stop flight and they use comfortable planes. Pricing for this trip can be as high as $2100 for couch non refundable and as low as $1200. I can usually get it around the $1200 end of the scale. Sites that offer discount airfare have come-ons that say Philly to Rome $896. When I click on ad there is NEVER a fare for $896 but there are fares for high $900’s. This is a good fare until you realize it makes one or two stops and you can spend 9 to 12 hours in lay overs. Sometimes it is a night stay somewhere. This raises the cost if you get a hotel or makes for a very uncomfortable trip if you stay at the airport overnight.
For me, I want non stop on all my flights. Get me to Rome as quick as possible so I can get my car and start traveling the beautiful Italian countryside. While the cheaper flight would have me in some European airport stuck behind security, I could be having a panning and glass of wine in a beautiful hill-top town.
George & Jo Anne
The Cilento National Park is one of Italy’s largest parks. Jane Dunford writes about Italy’s Cilento Region and beautiful it is. Italy is a beautiful country, full of beautiful areas and cities. The large main cities are a must to see. The smaller mountain cities must also be seen. Areas like Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast are very beautiful and full of tourists. The client region is one of Italy’s best kept secrets. They have kept it for themselves. The Germans have found it and it is one of their favorite summer resort areas in Italy.
The Sea is beautiful, the mountains are awe-inspiring. The beaches are sandy and have been awarded a Blue Flag designation. This is the highest rating a beach can get. Restaurants are not as expensive as Tuscany or Amalfi but are just as good. The local wines are fabulous. This is the southern part of the Campania Region. It is home to Bufala Mozzarella (Buffalo Mozzarella). There is a road from the autostrada south of Salerno that heads south to Agropoli. Along this road a many bars, restaurants, gas stations, etc and many bufala mozzarella stores.
Getting there is easy:
You will need a car once there as everything is a drive.
George & Jo Anne
Buy The Book – Food For Thought – An Epigenetic Guide to Wellness, online at: Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Book this BLOG is based on
Recent Comments