Help finding a flight!

[mcfish123]

My best friend and I are going to Germany, Italy and France for 3 weeks next summer and we'll be leaving at the beginning of August from Michigan. We don't have a set itinerary yet, but I was wondering if anyone could help me in finding a cheap flight.

In Germany we're going to Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. In France we're going to Paris and Bordeaux and in Italy we're going to Venice, Rome and Florence. (Is this too much for 3 weeks?)

Should I have my itinerary all planned out before asking this? I was hoping I could plan it around finding a cheap flight, but if not thats okay. I've only been using the obvious sites, like expedia.com and the flights are about $1,300. Do they get any cheaper than that?

Thanks for everything!

[me]

look into open-jaw flights. like, fly Detroit - Berlin, Rome - Detroit. these can be hard to find, and a travel agent might could help. [the only way i've found to do this is if one connects via a 3rd city.]

but, that might be a bit much for 3 weeks. Berlin and, especially, Rome are major cities! when i finally got to Rome, 2½ years ago, i spent 5 nights there and felt that i'd left too much unseen.

it'd be a good idea to have some kind of plan before you buy air tix.

<look into Canadian airlines as well. Michigan is a border state, and i've read on here about Canadians getting wonderful fares on Zoom, and the like>

- d

[herrbert]

Depending on where you live in Michigan, you could also take a look at Aer Lingus. (they fly from Chicago to London, and back, making a short stop in Dublin). I just checked flights on 1-7 and 22-7, and they are offering for 762,12 euro. This would mean no open-jaw tickets, but there are a lot of airlines offering cheap tickets between major cities, so it would cost you some time to fly/train back to London.

Make sure that when you decide to go back to London, that you fly back to the same airport where your flight is leaving, or you have enough time to travel from one airport to another.

Edit: now I see London/England is not on your list ... Iberia is flying Chicago - Berlin, and Rome - Berlin (for about 800 euros), both flights making a stop in Madrid, Spain. Also Continental and Illitalia are flying this route (with stops in New York and Milan)