For reasons that are completely beyond me (and completely annoying), flying to Italy is almost always more expensive - by a long shot - than flying into many other prominent European countries. I don’t get it, and I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is. So when I see the words “airfare sale” and “Italy” in the same sentence, I’m usually cautiously optimistic at best - those sales often only bring the prices down to the high-water marks of other cities.

But Lufthansa has a fall sale on airfare to Italy going on right now, and even when I double the price of the one-way tickets listed (seriously, I hate it when they list only the one-way price) it’s still a pretty doggone good deal. The price varies by destination and departure city, but all the deals are worth checking out.

• Fly to Milan from $782 RT
• Fly to Rome from $782 RT
• Fly to Turin from $782 RT
• Fly to Venice from $782 RT
• Fly to Naples from $852 RT

Again, don’t get too overly excited about the prices listed on the Lufthansa website, because they’re listed as one-way fares - but of course in order to get the sale price you’ve got to buy a round-trip ticket. Why, oh why - why do they torment us so? Do they think we’re so gullible? Yeesh. Maybe I don’t want to know the answer.

Anyway, in order to take advantage of this deal, you’ve got to book your ticket by July 23, 2008, and travel has to begin between September 1 and October 26, 2008. Your return trip has to be between September 7 and November 25, 2008 - and there’s a Saturday night stay required as part of the deal. Be sure to read all the deal details before you book.