For travelers who want to go to a European destination, Italy is often a top choice whether you are a first-time traveler, first-time-to-Italy traveler, or recurring Italy traveler. Probably the most important consideration of any trip is getting there. Often this part can make or break the rest of the budget, so what is the cheapest way to travel to Italy?
The most inexpensive way to travel to Italy is to fly in the shoulder months adjacent to the high season in the summer. Additionally, a broken-up flight that stops in London or Paris and continues to Italy on a different airline can also save money on airfare.
Traveling from the US to Italy can be expensive. Minimizing your travel costs is possible by flying during certain parts of the year when tickets cost cheaper. Keep reading to learn more about the cheapest way to travel to Italy from the USA.
How Much Does an Average Trip to Italy Cost?
Without trying any shenanigans to save money, an average trip to Italy from New York and back again costs around six to seven hundred dollars depending on the airline and the time. Here is how it breaks down.
- It costs around $592 to fly into Milan from New York
- It costs around $666 to fly into Rome, Naples, Venice, or Florence from New York
These prices were collected for August which is one of the busiest tourist months (more on this in the next section). Even so, the prices seem pretty reasonable. There was a time when you would have considered yourself lucky to get this fare from one American coast to the other.
If this is good news, there is even better news because you can save some money on these fares if you break up the flight. The idea is to book one flight into London, for example, on one airline, then book another flight into Italy on another airline. For both airlines, you are going with the cheapest you can get.
To make an accurate comparison, the cheapest direct one-way trip from New York is to Rome at $340. Now consider what it would look like to break up the flight using the cheapest airlines:
- From New York to London is $262
- From London to Rome is $13
- Making the total airfare $275
As you can see, with a little bit of time and extra research, you can save money on your trip. In the example above the total savings is $65.
(Don’t forget that you will also need somewhere to stay. Here are some of the coolest Airbnbs in Europe!)
What is the Cheapest Month to Fly to Italy?
One way to save money on your trip to Italy is to plan it at the right time. As with all popular destinations Italy has its high season (the time when the most tourists can be found in the country) and its low season (the time when it is rainy and cold). But it also has what is called the shoulder season.
The shoulder season is comprised of those months adjacent to the busy months but not quite into the slow months. For Italy, this time can be found in late spring and early fall. So the cheapest months to fly into Italy when it is still having good weather are:
- From roughly March or April (depending on when Easter is) through May
- From the end of September until about the end of October
If you do not care about the weather and just want the cheapest flight possible, February is probably going to be the cheapest month to fly because it sits dead center in Italy’s low season.
Bear in mind though that in the low season many museums or attractions close for renovations or simply because business is slow. So if want a good balance of fewer crowds while everything is open and the weather is reasonable, October and May are going to be your best bets.
For example, if you were to fly roundtrip to Italy on October 3 and leave on the tenth your airfare could be as low as:
- $490 to Milan
- $406 to Rome
This is a savings of about $100 and $250 respectively. If you were to break up the flight the cost would come out roughly the same as the example above which is still cheaper. But, if you are the kind of person who wants to just buy one ticket and go, then the cheapest time to get a direct, roundtrip flight is definitely the shoulder season.
Which Airport in Italy is Cheapest to Fly Into?
It is often the case that, in the same country, certain airports are cheaper to fly into than others. This can even change if you get a one-way ticket versus a roundtrip ticket. One assumes that the amount of fuel needed plays a role in this.
So if it makes sense for your travel plans to shave off a little more by going with a cheaper airport, this is how it breaks down for Italy.
If you recall from the example above, Milan is the cheapest airport to fly round trip to. At $592 dollars it is about $72 cheaper than it would be to fly into Rome. However, the opposite is true if you were to fly one way direct to Italy. Rome is cheaper than Milan at about $63.
However, if you break up the flight and compare the cost of flights from London into Rome and Milan, they are both the cheapest airports to fly into at exactly $13 each. The best way to figure out which is going to be cheaper is to compare prices, but the competition for the cheapest airport to fly into is usually between Rome and Milan.
What is the Best Airline to Fly to Italy?
There are a lot of good airlines that fly into Italy, from United States airlines to Italian airlines and others. When considering this question, it is best to answer an earlier one first. Do you want to fly direct or break up the flight?
If you want to break up the flight, that method usually only makes sense if you grab the cheapest flights irrespective of what the airline is. So when considering the best airline you are pretty much thinking in terms of direct flights. That being the case, here are a few of the top contenders:
- United Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- Air Italy
United Airlines and Air Italy are both good companies that offer worthwhile amenities in the main cabin, including free soft drinks, meal service on longer flights, and access to entertainment through a seat-back screen or a personal device or both. But on forums and travel sites, Delta seems to have the best reputation.
They offer the following services on their international flights:
- A free meal that includes wine, spirits, or beer
- Free soft drinks, tea, juice, Starbucks coffee
- Free headphones
- Entertainment that includes TV shows, movies, games, and music through Delta Studio
Probably everyone has had a bad experience on every airline and in every airport at one point or another. That said, it is hard to find negative comments about Delta. They have even been called the most admired airline by Fortune Magazine.
How Long is a Flight to Italy from the East Coast?
If you are new to international travel, understand right off the get-go that you will be in the air for a while when you travel to Italy. On average it takes between 8 and 13 hours to get from the east coast to Italy depending on what city on the east coast that you are leaving from and what city in Italy that you are flying to. The breakdown looks like this.
If you were to fly out of New York, it would take about:
- 8 hours to get to Rome and Milan
- 8 ½ hours to get to Venice
- 10 hours to get to Naples and Florence
If you were to fly out of Washington D.C., it would take about:
- 10 hours to get to Milan and Venice
- 11 hours to get to Rome and Florence
- 11 ½ hours to get to Naples
If you were to fly out of Atlanta, it would take about:
- 9 ½ hours to get to Rome
- 11 hours to get to Milan and Venice
- 11 ½ hours to get to Florence
- 12 hours to get to Naples
If you were to fly out of Miami it would take about:
- 11 ½ hours to get to Florence and Milan
- 12 hours to get to Naples
- 12 ½ hours to get to Rome
- 13 hours to get to Venice
The shortest trip by far is from New York to Rome or Milan, while the longest trip out of the east coast is from Miami to Venice.
How Far in Advance Should You Book a Flight to Italy?
With regards to this age-old question there are two theories:
- Book a flight as far in advance as you can stand it (at least six months and as much as a year)
- Book a flight as close to the last minute as you can stand it (as close as three weeks before you plan on leaving)
The fact is that you can get really good deals if you book far in advance. But how do they compare to other deals? For example, if you book a flight for the first week in May 2022, you could get a ticket for as little as:
- $462 to Milan
- $425 to Rome
But how does that compare, for example, to the earlier example in this article of booking a ticket in October? Airfare to Milan is cheaper by about $28 and airfare to Rome more expensive by about $19.
As far as the three-week theory goes, it can be as much of a wash as anything else. At the time this article was written, there were not sparkling deals less than three weeks out. But that does not mean that every instance is going to be like that. A lot of websites recommend booking three weeks out.
(Not really sure how to plan a trip? Well, we have got you covered with that article!)
Conclusion
When looking for the cheapest way to travel to Italy, you need to consider all of the possible ways to get a cheap flight and compare them. It is not necessarily the case that any single deal will always be better than the others. It may be that you can get good deals far out, but better ones may come closer to your departure.
A lot has to do with the time of year that you are booking the flight. If you book it in the middle of the high season, you are likely to pay more for airfare. But if you plan a trip to Italy during the shoulder season of March or April through May and Late September through October, you are likely to find really good deals on airfare. No matter the season, Italy is still one of the most historic places in the world.
Whatever you do, take the time to research the way you want your flight to go. Direct flights are great, but breaking it up can save you some additional money.
(Looking for a vacation, but don’t really want to leave the country? Check out the coolest Airbnbs in the US!)