Cheap Flights to Florence 

Great Tips to Find Low Airfare to Florence Italy!

Finding cheap flights to Florence is not hard.  

There are so many airlines and flights out there, and they're all vying for your business by offering better and better deals on airfare to Florence Italy.

The only problem with having all these great offers to choose from is that it takes so long to go through all the options and compare prices to find the best deals on cheap flights to Florence.

So here's the great news - you don't have to do all that because I've done it for you already!

But don't just take my word for it, the results are all here in black and white so you can see what I mean.

Now, all you have to do is follow the tried-and-true tips below to get the best deals for your holiday in Florence.

Tip no. 1

Purchase your ticket as far ahead of time as possible.

The earlier you buy, the cheaper the flight will be, but as the plane fills up, fares increase.

This tip for finding cheap flights to Florence is even more important than flying in very low season, which is actually not as big a factor in low airfare as people think.

It's certainly true that hotel prices go up in high season and down in low season but when it comes to airfare, prices go up the closer you are to the departure date.

So even if you're coming in high season, if you book way ahead of time, you will get a much lower rate.

Here's an example to illustrate: the flights in the table below were both searched for on March 10.

As you can see, there's a €622 euros difference just based on how far in advance you book and regardless of the fact that the much more expensive flight was for a low season period and the cheaper flight was for the busiest summer month.

Here's another example with a flight to Rome (flying into major cities tends to cost less since there are so many more flights going there).

These flights too were found on March 10.

As you can see, booking ahead means a fare at almost half the price with a difference of €1125!

So, tip no. 1 - book early.

Tip no. 2

Use Trip Advisor to look for cheap flights to Florence.

As I said at the top, I have done lots of research to save you time and give you the best tips on how to book low airfare to Florence Italy.

The time I dedicated to comparing prices via all the many search engines on the Web has proven to me that Trip Advisor wins hands down for the lowest rates.

All the info I came up with is here for you to see for yourself.

Here are the results of comparison shopping via several airline ticket search engines looking for flights to Florence coming from 5 different areas:

• the United States
• Canada
• Australia
• Brazil
• and Japan

Just so you know, all price comparisons are for flights with comparable conditions, so all prices you see are for flights that have the same overall travel time and the same number of stopovers.  

Also, I didn't include flights that had ridiculous change-over times (e.g. 20 hour wait at an airport) or flights with too many connecting flights (only coming from Australia were there 2 changes).

Trip Advisor Airfare to the Same Locations:

The tables show that Trip Advisor offers the most competitive airfare to Florence Italy almost across the board.

Only in two instances was there a better rate (shown in orange), and even in these cases the difference is minimal.

Other Advantages of Trip Advisor

Trip Advisor also has lots of other handy tools for your convenience.

For example, you can choose to filter the flights offered according to several categories depending on what your personal priorities are.

So, for instance, you can ask to be shown flights according to:

• lowest price
• quickest flight
• best value
• one bag included
• best times

TA also offers cheap airfare alerts so if fares drop you can request an email alert to let you know.

In addition, with TA you can compare prices with other major search engines right there on the same page, for example with Expedia or others.

And lots of other user friendly features like a 'narrow them down' filter if you don't like having too many choices and an 'airline fees estimator' that gives you all the info about each airline's luggage limits and extra charges.

There's a reason Trip Advisor is the most trusted and widely-used search engine on the Web for traveling, so if you haven't checked it out yet, trust in Tip no. 2 for cheap flights to Florence, use Trip Advisor!

Tip no. 3

Use low cost airlines to find cheap flights to Florence.

This tip is for vacationers coming from within Europe or from Morocco or Israel. 

There are many budget airlines operating along these territories which offer extremely competitive rates, the most popular being RyanAir and EasyJet.

However, most most budget airlines do not actually fly into Florence so you will have to look for flights to the nearby cities of Pisa or Bologna.

Estimated time needed and costs from Pisa or Bologna airport to Florence (you can travel either by bus or train):

A less convenient but alternative option - if you can't find cheap flights to Florence coming via Pisa or Bologna - is to fly into Rome or Milan.

Both these major cities are well connected, although being quite a bit further away, the trip to get to Florence is longer and costs more.

As you can see, you have to spend about 3 hours traveling plus over €150 for a two-way trip (assuming you would also return home via the same airport) so flying via Rome or Milan would be a convenient option only if you found an extremely low airline rate.

Note: bear in mind that there is no longer such a huge difference between low cost airline fares and standard carrier fares.

Standard carriers are trying to compete with budget airlines, while low cost carriers often charge you extra fees for luggage or in-airport checking in or other services.

Moreover, standard airlines fly right into most major cities' main airports which means easier airport transfers and less travel time.

In addition, low cost rates often involve inconvenient departure and arrival times, either very early or quite late so you might arrive tired and cranky and could have trouble getting transport to your final destination.

Therefore, all things considered, it can't hurt to check out 'regular' airline rates and weigh all the pros and cons before assuming that the best way to fly is with a low cost carrier.

So, Tip no, 3, check out low cost airlines for cheap flights to Florence, but make sure you compare other options on 'regular' carriers (via Trip Advisor) and weigh the pros and cons before deciding.

Tip no. 4

Look for cheap flights to Florence with Vueling airlines.

Vueling is a carrier that offers very competitive rates and flies from most major European cities as well as from Morocco and Israel.

And they will take you right to Florence airport!  So no time wasted traveling from other cities to get here!

Most flights to Florence travel via Barcelona, so your flight will probably involve a change-over, but the convenience of low rates with arrival right in town is a big plus.

So, Tip no. 4, look for cheap flights to Florence with Vueling.

Tip no. 5

Book your flight PLUS accommodation in a package deal.

A much underused but very convenient option for saving money is to look for accommodation WITH cheap flights to Florence.

Booking your journey and hotel together will save you a lot, and not just money, but time too.  

Do it all in one-click!

This option is perfect if you would like to stay in a luxury hotel with all the comforts in the heart of Florence.

Why?

Because with a package deal you can stay in a four star hotel that might cost about €250 per night if booked alone, but which,  with a combination booking goes for under €100!

This is possible thanks to the deals that tour operators arrange with top-of-the-line hotels in town (which, otherwise, probably wouldn't be able to get enough work all year long) and airlines offering cheap flights to Florence.

I have found Expedia to offer the best deals for flight/accommodation packages for two reasons:

• their luxury hotels are all downtown in the most centrally located and best spots for easy access to all of Florence (it's easy to make sure the hotel you choose is near the main sights, click on the Expedia map)
• they offer extremely good value with elegant luxurious hotels at very reasonable rate

If you've never considered booking a flight-hotel package, I highly recommend seeing what's on offer, especially considering that a very basic hotel in town will probably go for between €60-80.

So, why not spend more or less the same amount while pampering yourself in a four-star accommodation in the heart of Firenze?!

So Tip no. 5, check out package deals on Expedia.

Flying Directly into Florence

Want to fly directly into Florence?

Here's a list of the airlines that operate directly into and out of the Florence airport.

• AirBerlin
• AirFrance
• Alitalia
• Austrian Airline
• Belleair (connects Florence to Tirana)
• Brussels Airline
• Carpat Air (connections to Romenia)
• Darwin Airline
• Eurolot (connections to Poland)
• Lufthansa
• Meridiana Fly
• Fly Niki (an Austrian line)
• Swiss International Airlines
• Vueling (a Spanish airline)

Depending on where you are coming from, choose the airline that is most convenient for you, then go directly to the official airline site to look for deals on cheap flights to Florence.

Many sites provide price-drop alerts and special deals if you book directly with the carrier.

And, of course, some people are fond of using one particular airline, so if this is you, I hope your fave carrier is on the list above.

Related pages with more useful information:

• Guided Tour in Florence
• Florence Airport Transfers
• Florence Train Station
• Car Hire in Florence
• Florence Bus

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