How to Find Cheap Airline Tickets to Italy

If you are like me, planning a trip is just as enjoyable as the trip itself. Looking for tickets, planning itineraries, finding the perfect places where to stay... I can (and I often do) spend hours on the Internet looking for information, reading reviews, and making decisions.

The most difficult decision seems to always be the one about air travel, especially if you are traveling on a budget and care to save as much money as possible on the plane ticket in order to have more money to spend at your final destination.

So, for you, here are some tips for finding the best airfare:

Travel During Off Season

Travel in October, November (not during Thanksgiving week) or at the beginning of December, or at the end of January, and in February, March and April; not only your airfare will be cheaper, but also your lodging. In addition, you will experience Italy without the hordes of summer tourists that usually start descending upon it in June, and you will avoid the unbearable heat of July and August.

Traveling during off season may not be an option for everyone: teachers, students and families with young children must plan to travel when school is off, during the holidays, spring break, and summer. These are all peak-period times for air travel and finding really cheap tickets becomes more difficult, but not impossible. Read on.

Leave and come back during midweek

You will see substantial differences in fare if you are able to leave and comeback Tuesday – Thursday rather than on a weekend, especially on Sunday.

Check Alternate Airports

Check ticket prices for flying into another airport in the general area of your destination. There are, at times, big differences in price. Of course. make sure to calculate the cost of ground transportation to your final destination and total travel time.

For northern Italy, sometimes flights to Milano Malpensa, MPX, have the best price by several hundred dollars. The Malpensa airport is very well connected, and you can board the train to the beautiful Milano Stazione Centrale (Milano’s main train station) just beneath the airport. Once in Milano, you will be able to take a train or bus to just about anywhere.

View of the magnificent Alps from the Malpensa Airport, about an hour outside of Milano

In addition to cheaper airfare, you might find that there are more direct flights from the US to the bigger airports, so even if you have to spend another 3 or 4 hours traveling by train or bus to your final destination, in the end total travel time might actually be the same.

Consider Separate Tickets for Two or More Legs of your Itinerary

Depending on where you are traveling from and to, it may be advantageous to buy separate tickets from your departing city to a main airport from which you will board the direct flight to Italy. This will save you money especially if you belong to an airline loyalty program (which you should) or have a credit card through which you accrue miles for every dollar spent (which you should have) and you will be able to use your miles to fly to a main hub, like New York or Chicago, and then buy a round trip ticket from that airport to the final destination. Of course, be very careful about giving yourself ample time in between connecting flights, keeping in mind that on your way back you will need to get through immigration and customs, so plan accordingly. The danger of buying separate tickets is that if your first flight is late and you miss the connecting flight, the second airline is not responsible for finding you another flight and might charge you a fee to change your flight plans.

Use your News App to get alerts for news about airtravel!

Follow the Topic “Air Travel” on your News App

If you use Flipboard, Yahoo or Google to read news headlines and stay informed, use the app settings to follow news about “air travel” and be alerted if an airline has a flash sale.

Use Google.com/Flights and Skyscanner.com to Find the best Price

These are my go-to websites for finding the best airfares. Read the next blog post to see how you can use their features to maximize your savings.

Valeria

How to Find the Best Airfare To Fly to Italy