Deal alert: Flights to Italy and France have dropped to $275 round-trip

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Deals to Italy always signal and great start to the week. We’re seeing deals from across the U.S., including New York/Newark (JFK/EWR), Houston (IAH), Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX) to Italy starting at $275 round-trip. While most tickets include a stop, some itineraries like Chicago (ORD) are nonstop both ways. The deals are available between January and February 2020 for Houston (IAH) and the Washington area (IAD) and September – November for all other cities.

We first spotted the deals from Chicago at Secret Flying.

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Note that many of the fares are in each airline’s respective basic economy class. While basic economy means different things to different airlines, generally you can’t pick your seat in advance and limited in your ability to check bags. However, there are ways to defeat aspects of basic economy by using an airline’s co-branded credit card.

To search, head to Google Flights and enter your origin and destination cities. Scroll through the calendar function to find dates and prices that work for you. Finally, click through to book directly with the airline or an OTA like Orbitz or Expedia.

Airline: United, Lufthansa, American, British Airways, Air Italy, Swiss, Finnair, TAP Air Portugal
Routes: BOS/ORD/JFK/EWR/IAH/SFO/MIA/LAX/IAD – CDG/FCO/MXP
Cost: $330+ round-trip in basic economy
Dates: August – October 2020
Pay With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare),  Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel).

The information for the Citi Prestige card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Here are a few examples of what you can book:

New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) for $275 round-trip on American and Finnair:

Chicago (ORD) to Paris (CDG) for $281 round-trip on United and Swiss:

Chicago (ORD) to Rome (FCO) for $331 round-trip nonstop in United basic economy:

New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO) for $338 round-trip on American and British Airways basic economy:

Boston (BOS) to Rome (FCO) for $354 round-trip on Lufthansa:

Houston (IAH) to Rome (FCO) for $378 round-trip on British Airways and American basic economy:

Miami (MIA) to Milan (MXP) for $388 round-trip nonstop on Air Italy:

San Francisco (SFO) to Rome for $412 round-trip on Swiss:

Los Angeles (LAX) to Rome (FCO) for $418 round-trip on Lufthansa:

Washington (IAD) to Rome (FCO) for $419 round-trip on TAP:

Maximize your purchase

Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card,  Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this guide for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

Featured image courtesy of bwzenith/Getty Images