BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello,
My friend would like to travel to Italy in the middle of September, Rome or Venice preferably, but also would consider other places and she is looking for the web sites with cheapest rates for airline ticks from LAX or LAS. Any advice? Thank you.

Yahoo Farechase can be helpful. It searches a bunch of sites to help find the lowest fare. I would assume LAX to FCO(Rome) would be cheapest, but other options are worth trying.

Also a site I use a lot for comparing fares is www.kayak.com
i love it

I'd steer clear of Alitalia - they are on the ropes financially - who knows if they'll be operating or not come September. It's sad because I've always had great flights on them.

As for how to find a cheap ticket way in advance: I'd research all the usual sites, Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, etc - then also talk to a few local travel agents, who sometimes have their own special deals. It helps to call agents after you have a feel for average prices from the web. If you have any connections to travel agents in Europe, try them as well - sometimes they have even better deals. Bottom line: there is no easy answer - it typically takes lots of research. good luck.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of flying into Venice, although I've only had one trip where that made financial sense, unfortunately. It's a great airport, and as far as I'm concerned there's no sweeter way to start a trip in Italy than by taking a boat from the airport to your hotel. Simply marvelous stuff.

I second a few things mentioned here - Alitalia is teetering on the brink right now, so it's probably a good idea to steer clear of Alitalia flights (even if they sound like a great deal; it's not a great deal if the airline goes under before your trip). Also, Rome is probably going to be your best bet for the most choices and the cheapest flights, although airfare to Rome isn't cheap, either.

Generally speaking, flying to Italy costs more than most people think it should, especially as compared to nearby France or Germany. So although you'll have more options flying into Fiumicino in Rome, it doesn't hurt to check flights to Venice and Milan for deals. And if you've got a little more time than money, you could also look for a steal of a deal into Paris or Frankfurt or even London and then get a separate flight from there into Rome or Venice on one of Europe's budget airlines. It's a bit more of a hassle logistically, but can sometimes be the difference of a couple hundred bucks. And that's nothing to sneeze at.

Air New Zealand has an amazing special from LAX to LHR for $672 round trip with taxes. That's the cheapest I found by far. (I just bought my ticket for mid September!) From Heathrow, you could get to Gatwick and take an airline like Easyjet to Venice (about $125) or Rome (about $135). Otherwise, I'd keep checking Kayak, as suggested. Good luck!