I am happy to join this forum. These type pages are new for me. I grew up in Pozzouli (near Naples) as my father was attached to NATO in the 70's. Now, as a grown-up and mother to four children (ages 2-11) I am planning a trip next summer. I have accomodations near Florence for the first part of the summer and in Naples for the second part.

What is killing me is the cost of airfares from the USA. Does anyone know of a way to fly a family of six to Italy in May/June of 2008 for fares that won't turn my hair white? Went to Paris last summer on a home exchange and prices were HALF what airfare costs now!

Ciao nomilam, welcome to the forum.

There are many low cost airlines flying from all the major European cities to most Italian airports. It could be worth looking at flights to the UK, Germany or Spain and then looking for some low cost airline. The earlier you book the cheaper the ticket.
The following is not a complete list of low cost airlines, but they are the most important ones (my opinion:))

Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com) , Easyjet (http://www.easyjet.com), Air Berlin (http://www.airberlin.com/) , Basiq Air (http://www.basiqair.com/), Germania Express (http://www.gexx.de/), Germanwings (http://www.germanwings.com/), Hapag-Lloyd Express (http://www.hlx.com/), Helvetic (http://www.helvetic.com/), Jet 2 (http://www.jet2.com/), Virgin Express (http://www.virgin-express.com/)

Consider that you may have to transfer from one airport to another to get your connecting flight and should you miss your flight you would have to buy new tickets.
I hope this helps!

I think it is going to be tough. You might want to keep an eye on Eurofly. I typically travel from DC or Philly and was lucky to get in under 800$ last summer during the time period you specify.

Sans Bidet (http://villacasale.net)

If you are flying from the east coast area of the US, you can fly for less than if you are coming from the west coast - But those dates are "high season" and the more expensive time to fly in general - Be creative - As Sardoman mentions - I did this a couple of times working in a couple of days in larger cities in Europe but luckily, I had free digs while I was there.....Good Luck though!