Looking for insight on best time to book trip to Milan

capesquan

Confused about dryer sheets
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My family of 5 will attend a Lake Como wedding in late May. We want to fly roundtrip out of Milan.

I am looking for insight on the best time to purchase tickets.

I am thinking about waiting until next Black Friday. Last Black Friday, we purchased flights to visit our son in Barcelona. We secured premium economy tickets thru Lisbon for $750/rt.

Is this the best strategy for May travel?

Any suggestions for business class sites?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
Google flights is your friend in the diamond flying business. Start searching 330 days out. That is when flights get loaded for purchase. 330 days prior to May 15 is June 19th. Then there is a button to "watch" the flight. slide that button to be notified of changes.

Also if you do RT from the same city pair there is a Date grid above the flight options. You can look to see if traveling a few days prior or later will save money. I watch the date grid to get a sense of prices & trends. If there are a lot of flights for $1k & then they start disappearing that is a sign that prices are going up.
 
Our best deals on Europe flights since covid have been 2-3 months out.

Really....it is all down to the airline's supply/demand algorithm.

Our best advice is to understand what an average fare is and understand want a great fare is. Then be prepared to buy immediately when your target price hits. That is what we do.

We also look at alternate hubs....departure and arrival hubs. As an example, Rome, Venice, Zurich.
 
I second the idea of looking at nearby options also. Milan is one of those destinations that can be highly variable. It isn't that popular a tourist spot, so typically the prices are not that good compared with other airports. However, every now and then, you'll find a gem. In fact, I have, on occasion ended up snagging great deals that made it worthwhile flying into Milan even though I wanted to visit Zurich. Often, the reverse is true. It sounds like your actual destination is Lake Como, so Zurich is not too much farther than Milan (plus, you get a spectacular cross-alpine drive or train ride to boot).
 
I Fly into Milan fairly often and I have little option from the west coast and it's almost always on the expensive side, more so than Rome simply because of the lack of US flights. I'm guessing you'll also be looking for at layover somewhere. Yes, that Black Friday idea makes sense, I'd just keep an eye on airfares on a place like Googleflights just so you know a good deal when you see one. It does happen!

Where on Lake Como are you staying? Makes a big difference and May is already a very busy time there wit hotels and Short Term Rentals filling up fast after the first of the year.
 
I think you would do better to broaden your plans, You could fly into Switzerland, Rome, France, etc and then either take a budget airline like Ryanair or be on one of the excellent trains. You could use the time on the train to get over your jet lag too.
Look at possible routes at rome2rio.com
 
My family of 5 will attend a Lake Como wedding in late May. We want to fly roundtrip out of Milan.

I am looking for insight on the best time to purchase tickets.

I am thinking about waiting until next Black Friday. Last Black Friday, we purchased flights to visit our son in Barcelona. We secured premium economy tickets thru Lisbon for $750/rt.

Is this the best strategy for May travel?

Any suggestions for business class sites?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
We book a year out, as soon as flights become available. We book a lot of flights with points though. I would say to book as soon as you see reasonably priced tickets.
 
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