So I guess the core of my question is, are discount last minute fares possible, or is this a myth?

Generally, I think last minute discounts for airlines is a myth. Most summer transAtlantic flights are fully booked.

With Italy’s recently improved fast train service, you might find a cheap flight to Florence (2 hours gets you across the causeway into Venice proper), Milan (2 1/2 hours) or even Rome (3 1/2 hours) will work. Also, open jaw flights (we’re flying into Rome, out of Venice) are sometimes cheaper than roundtrips to VCE.

TAP, the Portuguese airline has some decent deals to Rome from Newark right now (check airfarewatchdog and sign up for their fare alerts to VCE) as does Turkish Air — but be sure you aren’t spending an overnight in Lisbon or Istanbul one or both ways.

The only thing I can think of where you might be able to get a cheap seat last minute would be by bidding on Priceline, You could end up with a bad itinerary, but it might also save you money. Here’s a somewhat recent blog post about bidding on airfares on Priceline:
http://www.portlandt…

What’s your window for leaving and returning now? Would you be willing to fly into/out of some other cities in Europe and grad a cheap flight or train to/from Italy?

Thanks for the tips.

It is beginning to occur to me that last minute discounts are a myth.

Ah yes those Italian trains. So easy to understand. Well, I do use them.

I do like flying into Rome and out from Venice, plus it saves one train ride.

I’ll look into TAP. I get the watchdog’s spam. I often see low fares from improbable airlines like Turkish or Aeroflot. But I am pretty sure they are gaming the system, putting a couple of really low fares to set off airfare watchdog’s algorithm.

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Hmmm, Priceline, I’ve always wanted to try that, but always seemed too risky. I’ll look into it.

I am still pretty flexible, and could go into a different city. I often think of using an inexpensive NYC to London flight, then hopping around on Ryan or Easyjet. But then the consideration of time vs. money, plus I travel light, but I like to return with a big bag of stuff, making those basic airlines unfeasible. Though, I could just forget the stuff this time.

Well I was hoping to go to the airport with my carryon, spend the day going from agent to agent trying to find an empty seat they want to dump. Maybe it doesn’t work that way.