This article originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Dream of Italy
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The bad news – as we already know – is that the dollar has fallen significantly
against the euro over the past year. The good news is that this
currency challenge shouldn’t prevent travelers from going to Italy this
year and for many it hasn’t. Travel expert Pauline Frommer told listeners
of her radio program recently that while surveying various travel companies about
their summer bookings, most said that while travel to Europe in general was down,
bookings for Italy remained steady or are even expected to increase. Italy will
be far from empty this year and it pays to plan ahead.
Cheaper Flights
High oil prices, steady demand and limits on the number of seats for sale will
increase airfares to Italy this year. One of the most frequent questions travelers
have is how far in advance to buy airline tickets. What if they buy now and
there’s a sale in a month or two? With so many people still traveling
to Italy and limited seats for the summer season, if you find a decent airfare
for travel between the beginning of May and end of September, you are probably
better off buying the tickets.
At press time, a roundtrip ticket between New York and Rome for July 11 to
18 was priced at $1,386 on Alitalia and $1,362 on United. The Italian
discount airline Eurofly was offering the same route for $1,009. If
you live in Canada, low-cost carrier Zoom Airlines will begin twice
weekly flight between Toronto and Rome and a weekly flight from Montreal to
Rome this March. At press time, a roundtrip ticket from Toronto for July 12
to 20 cost $1,231. The above fares are not unreasonable given the various factors
involved.
Certainly check the Web sites of individual airlines but also be sure to visit
the search engine Cheapflights.com. In one search, it aggregates results
from the airfare deal sites you should also be searching – such as Cheaptickets.com
and Hotwire.com – as well as big booking players like Expedia.com and
Orbitz.com.
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When you’re ready to buy your tickets, use the Web site Farecast.com
to predict whether ticket prices for a particular route will stay steady, increase
or decrease over the next week. Travelers can plug in international trips of
two weeks or less up to six months in advance. FareCompare.com is also worth
consulting; it displays a calendar showing which days offer the lowest fares
on specific routes. Just want to keep an eye on which airlines are offering
sales and specials, visit Smartertravel.com
While the Internet is an essential tool, don’t forget that good travel
agents have access to consolidator fares and can also help save you money on
flights.
Package Deals Pay Off
Before you purchase airline tickets, consider buying them as part of a package
– one that includes some combination of airfare along with other components
such as hotel, rental car and/or train tickets. You will almost always save
over what these pieces would cost individually. Since you’re pre-paying
in dollars, the package portions of your trip will not be subject to currency
fluctuations.
Gate 1 Travel offers well-priced, customizable packages. You can request
a preferred airline (for you mileage gurus), choose specific hotels and take
advantage of affordable add-ons such as a private car transfer (a good deal
at $61 from Florence’s airport to your hotel) or a gondola serenade (at
$55 per person, this is half of the usual cost). Here’s an example of
one of their packages: the 7-Day Florence and Venice by Rail package
with roundtrip airfare from New York, accommodations at the 4-star Sofitel Firenze
Florence to Venice is $2,169 per person, based on double occupancy, for a mid-May
departure. Alternatively, if you choose 3-star hotels, the price drops to $1,699
per person.
Club ABC Tours offers packages to destinations all over Italy, including
the Lakes, Capri and Sicily. Both first-time Italy travelers
as well as experienced Italophiles will be interested in this company’s
trips. Club ABC offers impressive hotel choices. For example, their Fly &
Drive Umbria and Tuscany package includes three nights at the luxurious Le Tre Vaselle
roundtrip airfare from New York, a manual rental car for seven days, four nights
at the 5-star Grand Hotel & La Pace in Montecatini Terme
and three dinners at Le Tre Vaselle. A spring departure costs $2,349 per person,
based on double occupancy. (To purchase a package, you must be a member, which
costs $30 per year.)
If you want to absolutely be sure of what you will spend, consider choosing
an escorted and/or fully escorted tour. Again, you will be paying in dollars
and with most meals included you will only have a few unaccounted for expenses.
Also, many tour companies priced these tours six months or a year ago when the
dollar was 10 percent stronger, so you will be saving compared to next year’s
rates.
Bid For Travel
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which offers luxury hotel packages and villa rentals at a discount through online
auctions. At press time, Luxury Link had package at Venice’s Ca’ Segrado
at $2,715, with a starting bid of $975. The site also offers a “Buy Now”
option. One example is a three-night package in a suite at Tuscany’s Castello di Velona
but can be immediately purchased for $1,745. The Luxury Link site is also a
good place to seek out significant savings on villa rentals. A villa that rents
for $6,000 per week can be had for half that if you try your luck at an auction.
Of course, always check for any blackout dates but the restrictions generally
aren’t too bad.
Skyauction.com is another excellent auction site for air and hotel
packages, hotel nights in Italy's major cities and coach and business class
airline tickets. There are bargains to be had but bidding can be fierce. The
best bidder has already done his or her homework on what things usually cost.
Those who are flexible in the dates of travel are also at an advantage. Sky
Auction also has a “Buy It Now” option; for instance, purchase up
to eight roundtrip tickets between Rome and New York for $475 each (plus taxes
and fuel surcharge of $270). That’s a great deal but additional surcharges
apply depending on the dates of travel (all of this is explained on the bidding
page); early summer departures incur a $250 surcharge and summer departures
must add $530 per ticket. Given the high cost of plane tickets, these could
beat out other airlines according to price. Skyauction doesn't tell which airline
you will be flying on until after purchase but in the above example it was easy
to figure out, because of scheduling details, that the seats were likely on
Eurofly.
Cruise to Savings
Truly savvy travelers will be cruising Italy this summer; there’s probably
no better deal and nearly every cruise line you can think of – Carnival
After all, you’re paying in dollars ahead of time, so you already know
what your accommodation and dining costs will be. In addition, many cruise lines,
especially those with bigger, flashier ships, keep prices low, knowing that
you will spend money on board on drinks, gambling and shore excursions. High-end
lines like Silversea and Seabourn include all alcohol and gratuities their cruise
prices and are worth considering especially since their small ships can get
into smaller ports such as Amalfi and Portofino.
Celebrity Cruises offers a 14-day Best of Italy cruise this April and
September on its new small ship Azamara Quest with port calls in Venice, Ravenna, Bari, Taormina, Sorrento, Porto Cervo, Livorno
Pisa) and Civitavecchia (Rome). Overnight stays in many of these ports
offer more time for exploration. Prices start at $2,449 per person for an inside
cabin and $3,599 for a cabin with a balcony – even for the balcony accommodations,
just $257 per person, per day. Travel agents who specialize in cruises can use
their special relationship with particular cruise companies to offer their clients
special deals including free airfare or complimentary shore excursions. Cruisecompete.com
lets you to reach over 100 cruise specialists simultaneously via e-mail to see
if they can beat your best quote for a specific cruise. Cruisedirectonline.com
is also a must-click for searching for the best deals.
Where to Rest Your Head
American Express predicts hotel rates in Europe will rise between 12 and 14
percent this year. Expect accommodations to be one of your biggest travel costs.
But there are ways to find competitive hotel rates and alternatives to hotel
stays altogether. Vibeagent.com is a one-stop Web site for searching multiple
hotel chain and hotel discount sites including Venere.com which specializes
in Italian properties. Another tactic is to purchase a yearly membership with
Touring Club Italiano (25euros) which gives you a discount of at least
10 percent at 50,000 hotels around Italy.
“Go south, or at least combine smaller, more remote destinations with
one of “the Big Three” (Rome, Florence, Venice),” recommends
Nan McElroy, author of Italy: Instructions for Use. The south is cheaper
than the north. In rural areas, consider staying in an agriturismo. This is
a legal classification for an operating farm that welcomes guests (fewer than
30 per night) derives its main income from agricultural activities. Not only
can staying at an agriturismo provide a great bargain (imagine paying 50 euros
per night), the smaller more intimate atmosphere is a great way to interact
with Italians.
The best way to save money on accommodations, especially if you have more than
a few people in your group is to rent a villa or apartment. Homeaway.com
(listing over 9,500 properties for rent in Italy) claims that a hotel averages
50 percent more per square foot than an apartment or villa rental and that math
looks right. Pages and pages could be written on renting in Italy but the best
advice is for first-timers to go through a reputable rental agency (see Dream of Italy’s
on the ground for 24-hour service.
Those who have rental experience may want to go directly through owners through
sites like Homeaway.com or even Craigs List (your editor rented her
apartment in Turin for the Olympics this way) but only after asking all the
right questions and speaking to references. Rentals have been traditionally
offered by the week but more and more, especially in the big cities, are rented
on a nightly basis, so it never hurts to ask.
One great advantage of renting is the chance to do as the locals do and cook
at home, saving money on eating out. "The cost of groceries, especially
fresh produce, is still a good value in Italy and the quality is high since
Italian cooks are discerning shoppers," notes Lisa Byrne of ItalyPerfect.com
Getting Around
Renting a car is essential for to properly tour many parts of Italy but has
become expensive (plan on spending at least 50 euros to fill it up with gas).
Remember that renting by the week can often be cheaper than renting for just
a few days, do your homework and be sure to rent in the U.S. before going to
Italy – you will always pay more on the ground there. Cars with automatic
transmissions cost much more so if you know how to drive stick shift, all the
better. AutoEurope.com generally offers the most competitive rates
(and offers Dream of Italy readers an additional discount with code 7200261)
but some European rental companies worth checking out include Maggiore and
Sixt.
You absolutely don’t need a car in the city and you will end up paying
in terms of parking and headaches. Mike Fuller of ItaliaRail.com advises,
"Take the train between cities and rent cars locally to avoid costly gas,
toll charges and parking. Many train stations have rental car agencies in or
near the station.”
To save on local public transportation and museum admissions, find out if any
of the cities you are visiting offer city cards for tourists. Naples, Orvieto, Padova, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Verona
locales with such programs. For example. purchase the Verona Card at
one of many locations around the city (8 euros for a one-day card and 12 euros
for three days) and gain free admission to the city’s museums, churches
and monuments and travel for free on the local bus.
The Details
Flights
www.Euroflyusa.com (800-459-0581)
www.Flyzoom.com (866-359-9666)
Packages
www.Gate1Travel (800-682-3333)
www.ClubABC.com (888-TOURS-ABC)
Online Auctions
Cruises
www.Silversea.com (800.722.9955)
www.Seabourn.com (800-929-9391)
www.Azamaracruises.com (800-647-2251)
Hotels
Farm Holidays
www.Agriturismo-in-italia.info Agriturist.it
Home Rentals
Transportation
www.AutoEurope.com (888-223-5555)
www.ItaliaRail.com (888-538-RAIL)
City Cards
Naples – www.Napoliartecard.com
Orvieto – www.Orvienet.it
Padova – www.Padovando.com
Rome – www.Romapass.it
Trieste – www.Triestetourism.it
Turin – www.Turismotorino.org
Venice – www.Venicecard.it
Verona – www.Portale.commune.verona.it
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