Your airfare is not included in the program fee. You are not required to take a specific flight at a specific time. There isn't a financial benefit of buying group tickets, and some of you will want to stay longer than the two week course time. Since most of you have never purchased a ticket to Europe before, here are a few tips.
Search and buy early. As soon as you think you might go, start searching for airfare and turn on notifications for your preferred itinerary. This way you'll know if the price is going up or down and when there might be a sale. Stay in touch with the group to learn when our class is a confirmed GO. You may want buy trip insurance. You'll have to weigh the pros and cons of buying a non-refundable flight early. Changing a ticket can be pricey.
Use a search engine like Kayak or Google Flights to find the most likely flights. Lexington is "LEX", London Heathrow is "LHR", and Rome is "FCO". Click on the option to look at "nearby airports". If flying out of Lexington, you may need to get a ride to Cincy (CVG) or Louisville (SDF) (but there will be other travelers so you can share the ride). If you live near Nashville, or Chicago, or Atlanta, by all means, fly out of the airport closest to you location the second week of May.
After searching using the search engines, then go to the airlines listed and search again on their website. Sometimes the airlines do better than the "bundling" search engines and sometimes they don't. It's worth looking. Also check with all your relatives to make sure no one is sitting on frequent flyer miles you might use. This may impact which airline you want to use.
Look carefully at the schedule for the time given for making your connection. US Airways is infamous for giving you 45 minutes to cross the airport (doable if you know where you're going). Ostensibly, they don't schedule flights you can't make, but you want to know in advance if you'll be cutting it close. (Good news is we do not recommend checking a bag...so you'll be quick on your feet and easily putting your bag in the overhead compartment--see post on "one bag packing").
Finally, compare the length of the overall trip. You shouldn't be traveling for more than 16 hours either way. You'll hopefully sleep on the way over and you don't want to arrive overtired. Plus, long layovers cost you money in expensive food and drink.
Should I fly into a different city and travel to London? By all means, if you can get a great fare and you want to see a different city, you can travel early and meet us in London or stay on after Rome. Both London and Rome have plenty of local flights to other cities and trains. Talk to fellow travelers to see if anyone else wants to explore. We can help you think through your plans.
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