The Traveling Professor has taken many small group tours to Italy and has helped hundreds of travelers find the best airfare to Italy. Here are some of his GOOD tips that can save you hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars on your next trip to Italy.
In this example, we are pricing flights departing New York's JFK airport on June 1, 2019 and returning from Rome's FCO airport on June 10, 2019. Of course, your air itinerary will be different, but the strategies you can use here will apply for any date and any city you depart from.
Take a Connecting Flight: A non-stop flight between JFK and FCO will cost you $1201 on British Airways, $1177 on American. However, connect through London (not my favorite airport, though) and the cost goes down to $623 and $663 respectively. While London is a headache to travel to, it might be worth the $578 to be saved.
Take an Open-Jaw (or Multi-Trip) Flight: Lots of people might start in Rome and end up in Venice, but they fly round-trip to Rome. That means they need to get back from Venice to Rome (about a 5-6 hour train ride). Why not just fly into Rome and back from Venice? That's called an open-jaw or multi-trip flight. It's easy to book on any airline site. A quick airfare check says it can be done for $632 on Lufthansa.
Fly into Alternate Airports: Some airports are much less expensive than others. For instance, Bologna (BLQ), Milan (MXP or LIN) can be significantly less expensive, even for non-stop flights. But why fly in Milan if a trip starts in Rome? Besides the money saving aspect, most flights arrive into Italy early in the morning, so by the time you take the train from Milan to Rome, you're room will be ready!
Fly Premium Economy: Business class fares can be outrageous. On American Airlines, the Business Class fare is $3772 on the JFK/FCO route. But Premium Economy class is $1617. The Professor has flown Premium Economy several times and seats are roomy, meals are much better than coach, and there is priority boarding. IMHO, it can be worthwhile to spring for the extra bucks!