RFI: Flying to Italy

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in the past my parents have usually handled this, but now im an adult and stuff, so i need to pay for my own damn airfare to attend my cousin's wedding in italy in mid-july.

any suggestions on cheap airfare? i can fly from JFK, Phila Intl, BWI, DC if need be. have to get to palermo, sicily.

alitalia, while a great airline to fly, is too expensive.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

i dont think its possible to get a cheap ticket to sicily in the high summer. good luck though.

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

Not to derail the thread, but what part of Palermo is your cousin in?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

but if you find something, let me know too because im trying to go to barcelona in mid june for less than $750 from nyc, which is what ive been seeing

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:08 (twenty years ago)

my family is right outside, in carini.

phil, i figured as much. im looking for anything less than 1500$

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:08 (twenty years ago)

If you are a student I always found that Air France had good deals. I used to use them between Torino and London via paris, when I was studying there. You could try flying to London then taking one of the no frills carriers, ryanair fly to palermo.

Other options include flying to Milan or Rome and taking the train to Palermo. There are nightly, very cheap Espressi to Palermo, from both Milan and Rome, with faster more comfortable trains as well.

You may well be able to get a good deal to rome or Milan with one of the following: BMI, BA, Iberia, KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian. All have connections through hubs in Europe. YOu may wish to check prices to other hubs, not far outside Italy, like Zurich, or Geneva and head overland from there; either to Genoa for the ferry or Milan/Rome for the train.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)

if you cant get cheap direct flights. fly to london, then fly http://www.ryanair.com direct to palermo. ryanir fly SUPER CHEAP if you book in advance (like under $100 return inc tax)

ryanairs prices can be insane cheap. we got flights to norway for $40 return

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

i saw ~$1000 from JFK to Naples here

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

There's a Boat from Naples to Palermo I believe.

(PPS in case you're wondering, trains to sicily are loaded on a ship between Reggio Calabria and Messina)

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

ed, im not a student [though i work at a university]. thanks for the info about ryanair, all!

ps: im well aware of the trains to sicily.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

Student = anyone under 26 for many purposes including dicount cards for the trains and a lot of the airlines.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

in the US, you need to have a valid university issued ID for most student discounts. hm, good to know. however, i turn 27 in july -- will this affect my ability to receive discounts?

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

Depends on the airline.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

Your cheapest routes across the atlantic will probably be to London, Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

i still think to london, then ryanair to palermo will be cheapest. though its worth finding out what budget airlines, if any, fly frankfurt-palermo

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

Ryanair do that route as well I think.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

When my family travelled Ryanair from London Stanstead to Palermo, the cabin crew stole £10,000 worth of family heirlooms from my mother's jewellery case.

Just so you know.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 24 April 2005 19:47 (twenty years ago)

dom, thats horrible! i looked at their website and their design kinda screams "shady business".

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

it's not so bad. basically its real-life example of "u get what u pay for"

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 24 April 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

everyone flies them though, becayse they are so cheap.

what phil said, basically. its fine

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 24 April 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

unless the staff makes off with grandma's sapphire necklace. then u get less than u pay for

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 24 April 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

also, going via london would mean you could come and meet us :)

― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Sunday, 24 April 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

steve, thats not going to happen. thanks to my lousy income and a weak US dollar, i cant afford to go anywhere else. plus, id rather see my much-missed relatives.

until i was a teenager, i used to spend every summer in sicily. my immediate family are the only americans in our crew, so its not as fun when one or two of my italian relatives visit us; the other way around its like a huge party.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

i've flown ryanair a few times and it wasn't TOO dodgy. I think gareth is OTM here with flying to London then getting a cheapie flight on ryanair. I think it's your best bet.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Sunday, 24 April 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i think im going to do that.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 24 April 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

As it has been noted, find a sale flight to one of the main European destinations. Then get a flight on a discount airline to Palermo. Here are the main hubs that you'll find :

From Amsterdam, use Transavia [transavia.com]
From London (Stansted), use Ryanair [ryanair.com]
From Madrid, use Meridiana [meridiana.it]
From Milan, use Meridiana or WindJet [volawindjet.it]
From Munich, use Hapag-Lloyd Express [hlx.com]
From Paris CDG, use Meridiana or Evolavia [evolavia.com]
From Rome, use WindJet

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Monday, 25 April 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

I second that! The go-to-London-first thing sounds like the way to go.

If you are departing from most anywhere in Europe, try using skyscanner.net to compare the cheapest flights/routes/days available. BTW, I'm not a shill for this site! A friend in London recommended it to me to help me plan my journeys around Europe.

― Melinda Mess-injure, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 04:00 (twenty years ago)

wow, hey "you better believe it" is going to be my new travel agent

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, skyscanner.net is definitely the best site for getting flight information. After you select flight combinations be sure to refresh the prices, as they'll quite often be a few days old. You can also change the preferences to list prices in $ or € instead of £, and to calculate based on one passenger instead of two.

The main problem with leaving from London is that it looks as if Ryanair is the only cheap airline going to Palermo. Ryanair is alright, but their luggage limit is 15kg, and they're quite strict about charging you £4,50 per kilo (or part thereof) over the limit. Also, doesn't it cost a fair amount to get from Heathrow or Gatwick to Stansted? If you're going to stop over and visit in London that's fine, but if you're just making the trek from one airport to another, that's no fun.

― you better believe it (you better believe it), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 09:52 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

$780 round-trip on SwissAir. LAX-ZRH-FCO

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 14 September 2006 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

twelve years pass...

so is PDX to Heathrow still our best bet here? There's also direct PDX to Amsterdam flights. Our end destination is Milan.

― sleeve, Wednesday, 2 January 2019 16:07 (seven years ago)

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