Airfare cost to go to Venice, Italy

[sherin65]

We are cruising out of Venice, Italy in June of 2020. Airfare prices have recently started to open up. We will be flying from Chicago. Does anyone have experience with this type of flight? How much we should expect to pay? Prices right now are a range from 1000-1300 for economy fares, but I'm wondering if I should hold out for possible sales or price reductions. I know Venice might not be an airport that has a lot of daily flights, but I want to try to find out how to get the best deal.

[Zach1213]

There are two sides to this coin. One, as you said, is that flights just opened...and I rarely find lowest fares to be right when they open. BUT, you have a few things going against your hope that fares may drop:

 

1) High season

2) Strong US economy = more people wanting to travel = more demand on the supply = higher fares

3) Venice is a popular tourist destination that does attract well-spending Americans, but does not have many nonstop flights, so there is a lot of demand for those seats which can push fares higher

 

You also don't state if $1000-$1300 is roundtrip or one-way, which will impact our opinion on if that's a "good deal" or not.

[iancal]

I would say that those fares are high.  Plus, it is very early to be shopping for June 2020 pricing.

 

You might want to shop some alternate cities such as Milan or Rome.  Very easy to get to Venice from Milan by rail.  Indeed, you can take the train from Milan Malpensa airport into Milan Centrale and then switch to a Venice train.  Or do an open jaw into an alternate city with a return from Venice.  Lots of options.

 

We are flying next month open jaw and returning in Oct.  Toronto-Athens, then London-Calgary.  Booked a month ago. Fare was $735 cad ($560 USD).  It was just over $1100 cad when we shopped it in the March/April time frame.  Economy on Transat.    We travel overseas fairly frequently.  We find that fares are typically high 11 months out.  After that anything can happen.  We understand what an average fare is and what a good fare is.  When a good one pops up we hit the buy button.    

 

Have you checked cruise air?

Edited July 31, 2019 by iancal

[sherin65]

The prices I've found actually seem to be increasing fast. The range I mentioned above is for round trip pricing.

 

Thanks for the tip about alternate cities. I will look for those as well.

[iancal]

You might want to try looking on google.com/flights or matrix.itasoftware.   We find the latter very good because of the flexiblilty to vary departure dates, etc.    You will be able to see various routes, prices, etc.   For discount fares within Europe we like skyscanner.

Edited July 31, 2019 by iancal

[Gardyloo]

There is almost never a big benefit by purchasing airfare when the ticketing window has just opened.  Prices tend to follow a fairly predictable pattern - start high, then fall slowly for several months, then climb through the last three or four months before flight date.  It has to do with the airlines' very sophisticated (and very secret) "revenue management" or "yield management" programs, which take numerous factors into account - competition, historic demand, even the price of fuel - and then revise their pricing day by day, even hour by hour, to ensure that the airline extracts the maximum profit out of every ticket.  

 

What I would do is start monitoring fares using something like ITA - http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ - and if you see something that you like, go for it and then don't look back.  

 

For example, if you were booking for early September this year (i.e. 10 months before your trip) you'd be looking at round trip fares on SAS via Copenhagen for around $770, or nonstops on American for just over $1000.  You could even get away as cheaply as $724 on Aer Lingus via Dublin if you were traveling two weeks from now.

 

Bottom line, early birds don't always get worms.  Sometimes they get cats.

 

 

[alidor]

Contact a good travel agent.  I am one and have just booked people from Chicago to Venice and back from Rome for $792.00 each for travel next May.

[Zach1213]

42 minutes ago, alidor said:

Contact a good travel agent.  I am one and have just booked people from Chicago to Venice and back from Rome for $792.00 each for travel next May.

 

May and June can actually be very, very different pricing schemes for flights between US and Europe. Especially if you're in early/mid-May, you can see prices drastically lower than June as that's when the highest demand for US-Europe travel is. I would put money on the fact that your lower prices have to do with when you are going rather than that you booked through a travel agent.

[alidor]

No, because I was getting the same $1000 plus figure if I just booked through the regular airlines.

[Zach1213]

25 minutes ago, alidor said:

No, because I was getting the same $1000 plus figure if I just booked through the regular airlines.

 

Perhaps your travel agent booked you on a special fare, such as the cruise line fares. Those lower fares are often in exchange for very, very different terms and conditions. So, OP, if you find a travel agent offering significantly lower fares, be sure to ask them why and then decide if it's the best choice for you.

[FlyerTalker]

27 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

Perhaps your travel agent booked you on a special fare, such as the cruise line fares. Those lower fares are often in exchange for very, very different terms and conditions. So, OP, if you find a travel agent offering significantly lower fares, be sure to ask them why and then decide if it's the best choice for you.

 

And if your travel agent can't tell you if there are any differences in fare rules and T&C, or can't/won't tell you what they are:

 

Get a new agent that's more than an order taker.

 

 

[alidor]

I AM a travel agent!   Been doing this for about 43 years - so, yes, I do know what I am doing....

[Zach1213]

19 minutes ago, alidor said:

I AM a travel agent!   Been doing this for about 43 years - so, yes, I do know what I am doing....

Ah, I misread your original post. So how were you able to get it so much cheaper? 

[Artisticgirl]

I am having the same dilemma.  I'm on a Celebrity Constellation cruise leaving June 12, 2020 and I have been looking at airfare on Celebrity flights.   There is a great direct flight from Alitalia for $1099 round trip flying into Rome and leaving out of Venice from Miami.   Problem is there are very few flights listed from Venice on June 22 and the few they have posted are 11:20 in the morning.  I'm trying to figure out how much time is needed  and how I get from the Cruise ship to Venice airport.  I dont think I want to leave that early in the morning.   I thought the $1099 was a pretty good price for direct to Rome.  I am flying out on June 10th as I want to spend June 11th near the Trevi fountain to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary.  I was engaged at the Trevi fountain.   I'm really struggling deciding when the best time to book is and trying to coordinate all the logistics.  UGH, 

[iancal]

IMHO, it is REALLY early to book, unless of course you happen to snag a great deal.   Keep shopping from time to time.

 

Is there a big rush to book now?

[ducklite]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

And if your travel agent can't tell you if there are any differences in fare rules and T&C, or can't/won't tell you what they are:

 

Get a new agent that's more than an order taker.

 

 

I wish I could give this one about 20 likes.

[ducklite]

The ONLY reason I sometimes book as soon as windows open is to get particularly good seats that will be gone if I wait more than a few days.  I've got a TA flight coming in a few months where I snagged the starboard bulkhead seats in economy which offer almost 4' of legroom for only an extra $107 per ticket--well worth it for the overnight leg of what will be 23 hours of start to finish travel.

 

(Or if I'm trying to use miles and reward seats are open.)

[TruckerDave]

4 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Ah, I misread your original post. So how were you able to get it so much cheaper? 

They probably have to change planes in Vladivostok or something. 😉

[alidor]

No, they only have to change planes once in a very international city and they fly a non-stop home.

[sherin65]

Thanks for all of the information. There isn’t a rush to book now, but i don’t have much experience traveling abroad. Last year, I booked right when flights opened to Barcelona because they were less than $500 r/t. 

 

Alidor , I would like your contact info.

[FionaMG]

17 hours ago, sherin65 said:

We are cruising out of Venice, Italy in June of 2020. We will be flying from Chicago.

 

You might want to take a look at TAP Air Portugal who have very recently started operating between Chicago (ORD) and Lisbon using their new Airbus 330 neo aircraft. Connection would be in Lisbon with the option of a free stopover there of up to 5 days on either your outward or return journey, if you have the time to spare.

Their prices are usually very competitive, unless you happen to be travelling at a time when lots of Portuguese people travel (which June isn't).

I just took at look at some random dates in May and there are prices showing up around $700 round trip with a 23 kg bag included, although admittedly the connection times could be better.

[alidor]

Sherin65 - thank you for asking me for my e-mail but I don’t look for business on this site.  I realize there are quite a few not so good travel agents out there, but there are many that are wonderful and know what they are doing.    Check in your area.

 

I get frustrated when I see what people talk about on this site and realize that most of them honestly don’t have a clue about getting air.   They talk like they are experts, but, believe me, they are not!   Anyway, every so often I have to put my two cents in!

[Zach1213]

5 hours ago, alidor said:

I get frustrated when I see what people talk about on this site and realize that most of them honestly don’t have a clue about getting air.   They talk like they are experts, but, believe me, they are not!   Anyway, every so often I have to put my two cents in!

 

Oh please. My question was how you were able to get flights for $792 that were over $1000 through the airlines. Either you weren't comparing the same flights, or there were differences in the tickets themselves resulting in that significantly lower fare.

[alidor]

Zach1213 - I don’t care if you believe me or not but I did and it’s with reputable airlines with only one-stop to Venice in an international city.  The people are ticketed already.   I see on here ALL the time where people think they can get good deals and, maybe they are, but OFTEN I know there can be better prices.   And, this is on major airlines with major routings.

[Zach1213]

9 minutes ago, alidor said:

Zach1213 - I don’t care if you believe me or not but I did and it’s with reputable airlines with only one-stop to Venice in an international city.  The people are ticketed already.   I see on here ALL the time where people think they can get good deals and, maybe they are, but OFTEN I know there can be better prices.   And, this is on major airlines with major routings.

 

Okay then. I'm not questioning your routing or airlines used, I'm questioning how you were able to get it so much cheaper than the airline itself unless it wasn't a comparable ticket. It's extremely unusual for an airline to offer the same ticket (meaning the same flights and same T&Cs) for substantially less through another vendor/travel agent. That's what I was getting at...I never, ever doubted you provided the flights at a lower cost, I just wasn't sure how.