How to travel Italy on a budget.

Hi again, Sabrina here,
as many of you know, I am in the travel business and as such, I get insider's perks and benefits; I will list them as we go on. For now, I'm going to talk about Italy, my parent's birth country, and how to find good deals when traveling to Italy.
The bad news – as we already know – is that the dollar has fallen against the euro by more than 10 percent 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.
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 was priced at $1,368 on Alitalia and $1,384 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 cost $1,287. 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 that YTB offers, since we offer very competitive pricing and YTB is partners with travelocity and priceline.
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.
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.
At this point, it would be wise to say that if you were in my shoes, and I mean being part of YTB, you would be flying to Italy for $269 plus tax and fees. Soooo, find out how you too can take a 5 days, 4 nigths all-inclusive Italian get-away for $469 based on availability. There are many more available to travel agents. Ask me how.
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 and 5-star Hotel Bauer and first class train travel from 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 in Torgiano. Other components of the package include 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.
At press time, Luxury Link had package at Venice’s Ca’ Segrado (see page 7) for four nights in a room with a water view, valued 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 (where Rachael Ray held her wedding) that retails for $2,095 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.
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 to Princess– will be cruising the Mediterranean this summer. 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 (for Florence and 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. Those who have rental experience may want to go directly through owners through sites like Homeaway.com or even Craigs List, 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, 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 and Venice are among the 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.
As you can see, there are many different ways to go and stay in Italy; None of the ways will match the discounts that can be available to YTB travel agents. After all, agents are the first to know what is available and at what price, and vendors love the idea to have travel agents check out a specific location at a very reduced price, so that the agent can discuss the trip with their clients back home; and by the way, when was the last time that you were able to deduct the family trip as a tax deduction? You can if you are part of the travel industry; of course, consult your tax advisor for your situation. Before you plan your trip, check out my web page and see if this program is a match for you. I would love to talk to you in more details on how you can travel for pennies on the dollar, make money when other people travel and save on your taxes. As always, regards Sabrina.