I hope I did not come off lazy…I just think you work miracles Don.

Nah. Where did you already check (so we do not repeat efforts)?

yeah i’ve checked all the websites given by the new users thread and a few more.

would it be worth it to fly into a cheaper place like london and take ryanair or easjet to italy or greece. has anybody done this?

or with all the taxes and fee’s plus headaches is it worth it just to get to ticket to my final destination?

What’s the cheapest you’ve found so far?
 
I always adjust my trip to the cheapest ticket I can find, rather than vice versa. There’s no destination I don’t want to see, so that makes it relatively easy. But if you have a specific destination in mind and don’t want to stop anywhere else, the budget flight method might be too much hassle for you.

my girlfriend and i plan on leaving sometime in late june, say the 26 or 27th, and plan to come back mid august, say the 15th or 16th. though we are extremely flexible with the dates anytime after june 20th.

i haven’t found anything cheaper than $1200 at best.

and yes, traveler, i wouldn’t really mind flying anywhere and starting my trip from there, but i don’t really have too much of a desire to see say frankfert and though london is the cheapest to fly into it makes up for it by being the most expensive city in europe, which unfortunetly for me puts it low on the totam pole.

thanks for the help…

There are so many (60+) low-cost airlines in Europe, and they tend to offer a lot of flights to the south, so finding the cheapest arrival airport, then adding a flight hop onward to your final destination, is often the cheapest way to go. Just allow plenty of time between flights (4+ hours) in case your arrival is delayed for some reason. For example, there were roundtrips SFO-Munich under $600 in July which were posted here last month. Whilst Munich might not make your lederhosen tingle, a quick check at www.whichbudget.com turns up quite a few low-cost flight options to Greece, Italy, and Croatia from Munich (and other German airports). Unfortunately, that special ended several weeks back….

At this point, I would concentrate on the airfare consolidators, and try them not only to Italy and Greece, but also to larger, intermediate airports to see if something good turns up. Also try www.travelteam.com

I am banking on the fact that the quickest and cheapest way to get from point a to point b is to go from point a to point b, if that makes any sense.

I found a ticket from san francisco to venice and then athens back to sf for $1211.42 (all taxes and fees included).

suprisingly i have found it cheaper to fly home from athens than from venice, which works out because we plan to finish our trip in greece. is this price alright or should i keep looking.

thanks in advance for any help or comments.

From SFO, there aren’t any nonstop flights to Italy, Croatia, or Greece, anyway, so you’d have to connect somewhere. By breaking the trip down to 2 tickets, it’s usually cheaper to Italy and Greece in peak season. Without that flexibility, $1211.42 is not so bad.