Why are flight to Italy so much?

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JAF

The price of the ticket is based upon the highest price that someone is willing to pay to fly. (Actually, all pricing decisions are based upon this concept - assuming costs are covered, it is always a question of the maximum price people are willing to pay for a good or service).

Other factors:
1) arrival at hub cities are cheaper (London, Paris, Berlin/Frankfurt, Amsterdam) - Rome is not an airline hub city
2) popularity of the destination & time of year
3) direct or non-stop flights are always more expensive because they are more convenient and faster, therefore airlines can charge higher prices
4) departure from hub cities - Houston is not an international destination. It would be cheaper to fly from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York as these are international hub cities in the US [NOTE: Houston IS a hub if you are flying to S. America]
5) many nonstop flights cater to business men and airlines know they can charge more

Airlines have great historical information about destinations and popularity at certain times of the year. If you were to travel to Italy now, the prices would higher because of the Olympics in Turin. Lots of people want to travel and they are willing to pay higher prices to do so.

Continental actually has a cool feature to help you find lower fares. If you travel 8/6/06 and return 8/12/06 the fare is only $1170 if you connect through EWR (Newark). It jumps up to $1395 if you fly non-stop from Houston to Rome.

lau

alitalia airlines is cheaper and a also good company try it!!!
you also can try ebookers.com or in spanish
muchoviaje.com very good offers!!!
good luck!!

nickisbox

I booked tickets from Houston to Rome about 2 months ago and I found it was more expensive to fly there, too. But there were very few flights that went directly to Rome, much less Europe period. All major airports in Texas tend to not have an abundance of direct flights. Plus, you are planning on going during the peak tourist season, so that has some influence. I found that I saved some money by booking a flight that had a lay-over in the states instead of in Europe. A direct flight costs more since it requires a plane that can fly that length of a distance in one time. Also, the time of day you purchase your ticket can make a difference in the price. If you buy late at night, say after midnight, there can be some good deals. The time you leave and arrive changes the price. If you want to have a decent departure/arrival time, that will really up the price. Oh, one more thing that changes price is the length of the whole trip in time. I hope this helps you in finding a fair price. I would think with $1000 you would have more than enough to book a flight. Best of luck! And hopefully this helps some, otherwise I am sorry.

One last thing, if Continental has the option through their site to search all flights, you might find more deals. I booked our flight through the American Airlines site but we are really flying on US Airways.

see_there_is_no_god

call the airline and ask

true.1979

Well...it's not the same distance!Try getting a flight to NY-Paris or London, then to Rome. A direct flight is ALWAYS much more expensive.
See www.easyjet.co.uk one of europe's cheapest airlines.

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