<p>I am planning a trip to Italy, starting on September 15th.</p>
<p>My dilemma is whether to buy the ticket now or wait. Prices have definitely gone up in the past couple of weeks. They went from around $780 to around $850 on the flight that I am OK with (it has really long layovers, but all the direct flights or flights with 1 stop are over $1000).</p>
<p>I wonder if I should give them time to go back down and buy later. If so, ho much later?</p>
<p>Or, will prices just keep going up?</p>
<p>Are you flexible on your dates?
Are you flying both into and outbound from Rome?
If you need to start booking accommodations then do not wait.
You’ll have fewer choices for hotels at lower price rates if you wait.</p>
<p>According to a news report I heard recently, the best time to book a European ticket is two months before travel for non-peak periods…the price for the non-stop should be around $880 when it drops…</p>
<p>You can set up a price alert on [KAYAK</a> - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once](<a href=“http://www.kayak.com%5DKAYAK”>http://www.kayak.com) for the next month or so for the direct flight; I would imagine the one with layovers is jumping around due to to the fact that it is more than one market…</p>
<p>I am not really flexible on dates.</p>
<p>I am flying both in and out of Rome (my departure is about two weeks after the arrival).</p>
<p>I don’t need to worry about accomodations too much, as I am going to be staying in hostels and already have them pre-booked with a refundable deposit.</p>
<p>My only concern is to book the flight when it’s at it’s cheapest, but I don’t really know when that would be. I don’t want to wait until the VERY last minute, but other than that, I am open to suggestions.</p>
<p>It’s a tough call. $850 for a round trip flight to Italy (IF that includes taxes and fees), on the specific dates you want, on a flight you’re comfortable with…is a pretty good deal. Sure, sales might come up here and there, and you just might miss them. If you know for sure you’re going and the dates won’t change, yep, I’d jump on it. Airlines seem to be getting rid of capacity, and early enough you might be able to pick out decent seats. It’s all a gamble, but the worst that could happen if you buy it at that price is you might pay $100 or so too much. If you wait, you could pay far more. Then again, I hate booking too early because life has a way of changing things for you.</p>
<p>We are 1/2 way thru our trip right now. RT Charlotte to Rome was going to be 1100 1 or more stops, to 1250 (nonstop). On the advice of a travel agent friend we looked at flying into Milan and/or Naples and paid $850 for an “open jaw” ticket, flying into Naples and out of Milan. So far, so great!</p>
<p>Also, there is a great website (dont have the url handy) that gives you a calendar with fares on each date over a range of dates. The website powers most of the travel websites but is not a travel agent website, ie you cannot purchase tickets from them, it only gives you fares, flights and fare codes.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here can tell you when, or if, prices will go down. Airlines adjust the prices of the tickets constantly based on how quickly they’re selling tickets at particular prices for particular flights and trends. I wouldn’t assume the price is going to go down as you approach the flight date - it usually doesn’t unless they can’t fill up the flight and drop the price to get it filled up. There’s a good chance that the increase in fares you’re seeing for a particular flight is because the flight’s already getting filled up. Trying to save $50 might end up costing you $200 - for example.</p>