Flights to Rome for Feb. 2015 HELP!

[langleyfld]

Flying from Virginia to Rome in Feb. 2015

 

How far in advance should we book a flight with a good rate?

Has anyone booked a flight from the east coast to FCO recently and have rates changed that much? I checked last night and a flight with a decent flight time of 14 hrs. with 1 layover, was $1300.00, yikes!

 

Is a 12:30pm return flight from FCO to home doable?

[Twickenham]

Where in Virginia are you flying from? I have to say, that seems high for off-season.

[langleyfld]

Flying from RIC [Virginia] which is 30 mins. from home.

 

But we are considering driving north 90 mins. to IAD [Dulles]

-or-

driving south 90 mins. to RDU [Raliegh]

 

Yeah, i thought high too, given the off season for Europe. But its my first time, so what do I know. Thats why I rely on Cruise Critic, lol!!

[cruising cockroach]

I'd wait until September though check fares every day as February isn't exactly high season though if you have to fly on exact dates, you may not get the best fare. You never know if/when a sale may come up.

 

FWIW, flying from an outlying city connecting to a hub *may* be cheaper than flying from a hub directly.

 

1230p flight home is doable as long as you self-disembark and have arranged transportation. Procedures for direct flights from Rome to the U.S. are more onerous (own special terminal, more security) than flying to almost anywhere else.

 

I'd stay a few days. Rome is quite nice to visit in February - relatively few visitors, and January has even fewer!

Edited August 12, 2014 by cruising cockroach

[langleyfld]

We are staying 4 nights prior to our cruise from Rome. The hotel search was simple compared to airfare, lol! I booked our hotel this afternoon.

Thanks for responding...

[Twickenham]

If you're willing to connect in Istanbul, you can fly Turkish Airlines from IAD for $819 return. You would however only get home on the 8th, as their FCO flight that connects with the once-daily IST-IAD flight leaves at 7 am; thus, you can either add a night in Rome or overnight in Istanbul (which we did last week - it was fun!)