September 17, 2004 -- If you'd rather be slurping spaghetti and sipping red wide than tucking into turkey at Thanksgiving, there are still some deals available for the holiday season in Italy. Can't imagine Thanksgiving without football? There are some additional dates in fall and winter as well.
Thanksgiving
Off Peak Traveler (www.offpeaktraveler.com) has a deal going to Rome on departures from November 22 through 26, 2004, from as little as $489 per person (double occupancy). The package provides roundtrip air from New York, three nights of lodging with private bath at the San Remo Hotel, and daily continental breakfast. Service charges and taxes are an extra $159 per person. You also have the option to stopover in London's Tria Hotel for three nights at an additional cost of $200 per person in a double room. Rates also include continental breakfast daily and hotel service charges and taxes. Add-ons run $50 from Atlanta, Boston or Philadelphia; $75 from Dulles or BWI; $125 from Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Houston or Detroit; and $150 from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix or Denver.
Last Minute Packages
Site 59 (www.site59.com), which specializes in last-minute deals, displays packages available from 14 days before departure up to three hours in advance of leaving. Check them out if you're prepared to leave at some point within that time frame. At time of writing, for instance, there were great bargains for Rome, each package including the roundtrip airfare, the hotel, taxes and fees. Prices ranged from $619 per person for one night and $832 for four nights through $1314 for five nights, all at the Holiday Inn Rome West (about four miles from the Vatican). You could add as little as $24 per person for a Crowne Plaza Hotel Rome St. Peter's, or more for the Sheraton Roma, St. Regis Grand, or Westin Excelsior hotels.
Flights Only
Cheapflights.com (www.cheapflights.com), a leading British website that has recently entered the US market, is said to have become the 25th top US travel site within the last year. They are not a direct online booking agent, so are supposed to be neutral and unbiased in their attempts to help you find what fare you want. Although the fares and destinations change daily, at time of writing, the following flights were available from New York City to Rome.
Northwest: connecting flight for $355 for selected dates between October 1 and December 31, 2004.
Air France: connecting flight for $355 from now through December 21, 2004.
AirfarePlanet and 1800FlyEurope: $475 and $478 between now and December 11, 2004.
Cheapflights: airline consolidator deal on US Airways from JFK into Ciampino Airport for $415 from September 29 through October 6, 2004.
Another consolidator is using American Airlines connecting flights at $455 from La Guardia to Ciampino from September 22 through 29, 2004.
