Airfare to Italy. If you are looking to buy airfare from North America to Italy, there might be times when you would start thinking that airlines have gone crazy with the price of flight tickets, and that there are no cheap flights or discount offers available. This is the time when some "lateral thinking", coupled with a bit of knowledge of European air fares, might help.
Indeed, if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort and time to save money, you will be very pleased to know that European "no-frills" or "low-cost" airlines, such as easyJet and Ryanair, will take you from London to several destinations in Italy (Naples, Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Pescara, Forlì, Milano...) at times for less than US$ 30, and often for less than US$ 60.
One of the biggest expenses of any trip is the cost of an airline ticket – and, unfortunately, for many people visiting Italy from outside Europe, the cost is higher than you’d think it should be. You may have seen great bargain fares listed for flights to major European cities like Paris, London, or Amsterdam and assumed that flights to Rome or Milan would be similarly priced – but they’re usually not. For whatever reason (and there are many theories), flights to Italy from outside Europe almost always cost more than flights to other European cities.
But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your Italy trip. I mean, France and England are perfectly nice and all, but you won’t find Venice or the Roman Colosseum or The Last Supper anywhere else but Italy. You’ll just need to do a little more legwork to find the best prices on airfare to Italy.
Overall Tips for Finding
Cheap Airfare to Italy
To get the best tips for finding
cheap flights to Italy, your best bet is probably to look at the individual articles linked above for the specific city or cities you’re thinking of flying into. But these general tips will definitely help when you’re just starting to look at airline tickets to Italy, and they can also help you save money almost anywhere you go in the world.
1. Visit Italy during the low season – Every tourist destination has high season prices and low season prices – and Italy is no different. While people will visit year-round, the period of time from late Spring through early Autumn is always busiest in Italy. If you can be flexible and plan your vacation for anytime other than the busy high season, you are much more likely to get a good deal on airfare. You can sometimes even find deals where you pay half of what you would pay during the high season, so even though you may not get gorgeous sunny weather it might be worth it to carry an umbrella or a scarf if you can save that much money.
2. Fly into a different city in a different country – This trick can work in many cities in Europe, but it is almost a guarantee of lower prices when traveling to Italy (especially in the high season). By flying into another major European airport such as London or Paris and then booking a separate ticket with a European budget airline (such as Ryanair or easyJet) for the short hop into Italy you can sometimes save big money. This can take a bit more planning on your part because you are dealing with two round trip tickets that are basically unrelted in the airlines’ eyes, but if it can save you substantial amounts of money that could mean you have more money to spend on your Italian holiday.
3. Find out what airlines use Italy’s airports as hubs – Sometimes if an airline has a busy schedule in and out of one airport it will offer specials or deals on airfare to that city. This is not always the case, but it can be worth checking. Both Alitalia (Italy’s national carrier) and Ryanair (one of Europe’s biggest budget airlines) have hubs at Rome Fiumicino Airport, and Alitalia also has a hub at Milan Malpensa Airport. for example.
4. Schedule your flight to Italy for midweek – Weekend days are usually the busiest travel days because they are so popular with leisure travelers. Mondays can also be quite popular as they are popular with business travelers. So if you can book your flights for Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays you could save some money on your flight.
