Nov. Cruise book air to Rome now or wait?

[SkiRacer]

I usually book my own domestic air but I have never been to Rome, for best air prices, should I book now or wait? Same question for hotels in Rome? Our cruise leaves Nov.6 for Florida. Joan

[CruiserBruce]

At this point, the cheapest fares are probably already gone. If you wait longer, fares will likely increase.

[jasl]

We are leaving in October, also to Rome and our flight has been booked and paid for. It is seldom that the fare does go down and I would suggest you check out Kayak.com for a variety of prices and make your choice.

As to hotels, try and book one which you can cancel without penalty, then when you see a lower price, just cancel and re-book.

Good luck............

[CruiserBruce]

Hotels are a little loser in this sense, but I am not sure how long you think you can wait. You are 5 months out now. Rome is a popular place.

 

If need recommendations on hotels, come over to the Italy board here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

[Twickenham]

I usually book my own domestic air but I have never been to Rome, for best air prices, should I book now or wait? Same question for hotels in Rome? Our cruise leaves Nov.6 for Florida. Joan

 

Two points basically exclude you from profiting from most if not all seat sales:

 

-You are on a TA cruise, meaning you need one-way air to Rome. Much different than R/T air, and your options for decently-priced air are more limited;

-You have specific dates due to the cruise.

 

Checking on ITA Matrix (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/) searching the beginning of November, I came up with a one-way SLC-FCO on LOT for $763 - this is via ORD and with the infamous 22-hour layover in Warsaw, which for me would be a plus:). Alternately, you could do SLC-JFK on Delta, then JFK-TXL-FCO on Air Berlin for a total of $792.

[SkiRacer]

Thank you for all the great info. I will book today.

[Budget Queen]

I am on the same cruise.

 

No one can predict the future on flights, but Rome in November is hardly peak season. :)

 

I've seen several late booked, cheap fares in prior years, in this timeframe- all over Europe and the UK.

[KirkNC]

Can't imagine fares will get cheaper, rising oil, less planes flying, economy slowly improving.

 

Kirk

[chipmaster]

My 2cents is always look no later than 6 months you are pretty close to that. You are lucky you aren't in the peak summer season so I suspect both supply is limited but as is demand too. Thus the big jumps in price will come as lower ticket categorys sell out.

 

I'd book now, shouldn't cost more than a grand IMHO.

 

I usually book my own domestic air but I have never been to Rome, for best air prices, should I book now or wait? Same question for hotels in Rome? Our cruise leaves Nov.6 for Florida. Joan

[UKBayern]

I agree with all thoughts on air fares. Hotels sometimes have the same, but sometimes a different attitude than airlines. There are hotels who start pricing low and end high (most chain hotels like Holiday Inn, Hilton, etc do this). There are also hotels who generally have the same rates in certain months, but will be OK with lowering the rates last-minute if they see demand if low.

 

November is far from peak-season in Rome. Last year for us it was no problem at all to find a good deal in Rome pre- and post-cruise when we booked our cruise 10 days in advance. We do however have no big demands, do not insist on a certain chain or a certain area. Of course, the popular places will still sell out pretty quickly. If you are willing to look beyond the channels most Americans on CC normally use (TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc), you can find good deals last minute.

[new salt]

For hotels in Europe we tend to use Venere.com which I believe is an Italian company.