Category: Saving Money on Italy Travel

Italy Airfares? UP or Down? Plan Ahead

Last year I flew to Milan for a bike tour. Because of all the stuff I needed to bring, I had to have luggage in both directions,

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It was not a bad price, $488.00 from Miami, non stop. I spent about $60 for better seating so I could get off the plane quickly, and that was worth it.

 

This year my wife and I are traveling light, carry on only,

 

Basically the same flight with out the extras.  I purchased these tickets on Sept 20, and $389.00 Non Stop Round Trip from Miami is excellent. 

 

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Today that same ticket is $$$610.14.  That is a $120 increase, still not a bad price to Italy during the shoulder season.

Plan ahead and shop early when you see a good fare.   Use Google Flights, or Google Flight Matrix from ITA. Here is the link http://matrix.itasoftware.com

Keep track of prices and when you see a reasonable price, grab it.  In 2016 we flew to Florence vis Dusseldorf on Air Berlin (now defunct) and tickets were $900 each. Air Italy offers many deisitnations and origins. Miami, New York, San Fransico, Los Angeles. Check it out.  Keep in mind there are VERY low fares in Italy to other cities.  Alitalia is offering €39 one way fares from Milan to Catania, and €46 from Milan to Rome.  Compare a cost of $747 on Air Italy direct vs the $483 plus about $90 for the Milan to Palermo/Catania flights. 

 

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Air Italy and Miami Inewrnational

 

 

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Duomo, Milano

 

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Bargain Airfares To Italy

It s that time, lower airfares for fall travel. Just booked my fall trip for my wife and I. 

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Now is the time for searching the fares. My two tickets cost less than one several years ago. No baggage, but we travel light.

Try Google Flights, Momondo.com, and be flexible.  Use the flexible dates that can lower your trip quite a bit.

 

My flight is on AirItaly which I used last year and was very pleased with them.

 

Good hunting.

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Saving Money On Car Rentals

Car rental rates have soared in the last several years.  Even using  sites like Kayak and Priceline you tend to get some high rates.  Some time ago I saw a reference in the New York Times to a site called Autoslash.com.   I tried it earlier this summer and was able to get a very reasonable rate for the July 4th week in Hartford, Connecticut.   previously my best rate for the week was about $400. I ended up paying $241 and got the car from Hertz. That was a substantial savings thanks to AutoSlash.

I have booked a 21 day rental in Sicily and did quite a bit of shopping.  I searched Hertz, Auto Europe, and Avis.  Each gave me rates that were in the  $800 range. AUTOSLASH 2 2017-08-11 at 4.04.39 PM.jpgAUTO SLASH SAVINGS.jpg Hertz got down to about $760 and it was looking better. I got a quote from AutoSlash and found that they could get me a $747 rate for the same period and they would continue to search for updates to the rate. Hertz is the provider.

Now  for the really good news! We leave on Tuesday and today I got an email saying they checked rates and it went from $765.51 to $305.89.  This is a substantial savings.  Note the original quote I got was $747 but Hertz raised it. When I brought this to the attention of AutoSlash they contacted Hertz and got the rate reduced.

Give AutoSlash a try and compare with other search engines. Hotwire, Hotels.com, Kayak have been helpful to me in the past, but not have reduced the rates after booking.

You do not pay up front!  Also keep in mind many credit card companies will cover your CDW which can save you several hundred dollars on a rental.

I have no affiliation with any site mentioned above. P1010826.jpg

Always good to have some tape. In Palermo a driver strayed into my land and hit the mirror. He then continued as if nothing had happened.  Luckily I had some tape and we survived.  I rented with Europcar and got it through InItaly.com.  They covered the damage  but still charged me $100.   That is why credit card CDW is better. BUT read your credit card agreement throughly.

 

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