Cheap flights to
Italy

Over the many years we’ve been tracking airfare, we’ve learned a few tricks. One is that, although there isn’t a specific day of the week or time of day when the cost of a plane ticket is somehow magically always cheaper, there is a period of time before a trip when fares tend to be at their lowest. For domestic trips, it’s 1-3 months before a flight. For international trips, it’s 2-8 months. We call this the Goldilocks Window.

There are exceptions to this general rule, though, mostly having to do with the inflexibility and timing of your travel plans. If your travel dates are set in stone, or you’re planning a trip during peak season or a big holiday, you’ll need to add a few months to the Goldilocks equation. Aiming for a summer adventure in Italy? Plan to book those tickets the winter beforehand. And keep in mind that last-minute bargains are uncommon. Airlines usually raise prices 21, 14, and 7 days before a flight, so book before those dates if at all possible.

There are some destinations that always seem to come with higher fares, even if you’re looking at dates all over the calendar. With places like that, you might save big on airfare if you book two separate tickets instead of one.

The idea here is to get as close as you can, as cheaply as you can, to where you ultimately want to be. Then, you’d book a short flight on a low-cost carrier, a train trip, or even a ferry ride to get to your vacation destination. We call this the Greek Islands Trick, which, regardless of the name, works just as well for places all over the world.

Let’s say you’re trying to find a cheap flight to Rome from New York, but the prices are all $500 or more. Zoom out on the map a bit, and you might find a great nonstop flight deal from NYC to Paris for $230 roundtrip. Even when you add a $60 roundtrip flight from Paris to Rome, it’s still a nice bit of savings (that you can put toward pizza and gelato). And yes, this kind of itinerary does require a little more planning on your part, but with savings that can frequently be substantial, it’s worth it.

This is sort of like the Greek Islands Trick but in reverse. The cost of airfare from different airports can vary widely, even if the airports are relatively close to one another. And we find surprisingly great deals on fares from all kinds of airports, big and small. If you’re only looking at flights from your home airport, you could be missing out.

If you’re looking for fares to Rome from, say, Philadelphia, you might see that nonstop flights are $1,200 or more—and even connecting flights are $900. When you’re considering alternate departure airports, though, you’ll be able to see that there’s a nonstop $530 roundtrip fare from New York’s JFK to Rome. With that kind of savings, the 2.5-hour drive to JFK from Philly probably won’t feel like a hassle.

Staying flexible as you’re making travel plans is one of the easiest ways to save money on flights as well as hotels and activities. Avoiding the peak tourist season helps immensely—lots of demand for flights means airlines can raise prices accordingly. But traveling outside the high season isn’t always an option—summer breaks from school tend to dictate the timing of many vacations, after all.

In some places, you can sometimes save a little bit on airfare if you book flights at the beginning or the end of summer (usually the first two weeks of June and the last two weeks of August), but keep in mind that Italy’s peak “summer” season is roughly May-September. Thanksgiving is an unexpectedly cheap time to fly internationally, as most people are taking domestic flights. Italy experiences shorter peak seasons around the Christmas, New Year's, and Easter holidays, too.

No matter when you travel, though, you can save on airfare if you aim for the days when it’s cheaper to fly (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays) and avoid the days when it’s usually more expensive (Fridays and Sundays).

Tracking frequent airfare changes can take an enormous amount of time—we’ve turned it into a full-time job, after all. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for airfare deals, so it’s a good thing there’s a way to let technology do the searching for you.

Set up a fare alert for the trip you’d like to take, and then when the fare drops into the price range you want, you’ll get an email notification. That way, you’ll be able to buy with the confidence that you’re getting a great deal. Just remember that if your travel plans are still flexible, you’ll need to set up an alert for each potential itinerary. Or, if you want to outsource the work to the experts, you can join Going and let us monitor all the deals from your home airport for you.

Italy has a number of major airports that serve as international gateways to the country. Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is the busiest, followed by Milan’s Malpensa (MXP), but there are 13 additional airports throughout the country that see 1M passengers or more per year. FCO is a hub for ITA Airways and a focus city for Neos, Ryanair, Vueling, and Wizz Air. MXP is a focus city for easyJet Europe, Malta Air, Neos, Ryanair, and Wizz Air.

Venice’s Marco Polo Airport (VCE) is comparatively small, but it also has some nonstop flights from the US. It’s a focus city for easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, and Wizz Air. Naples-Capodichino Airport (NAP) has one nonstop flight from the US, and it’s a focus city for easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, and Wizz Air.