Advice about airline itinerary change

Assuming you will be in Italy for more than 14 days, then the only requirements you will have for entering Germany will be those imposed on Italy. That likely will still be a negative covid test, which you will need for getting barded to the US, but you may not have enough days to make one test work, so test in Italy, then maybe again in Germany.

I would prefer a direct flight, or at the most an in-transit transfer, myself.

What Paul says is true IF the rules for Germany remain the same in late October, of course.

Hmm...looks like 10/27 would be the 14th day, so if we accept the earlier flight we will be leaving Italy on day 13.

AFAIK, there are no direct flights from Seattle to Rome (or maybe anywhere in Italy). We had to have a connecting flight.

If we have 72 hours to take the Covid test before arriving in the US, that would be plenty of time to go through Germany using the same test. Right? Or maybe I'm not following what you mean about the testing.

I would leave a day later. It is a hassle to overnight between legs. Just getting to and from a hotel, luggage etc. Going through airport security and checks -- again. I would rather enjoy an extra night in Rome and go straight through the next day.

Seattle has no direct flights to Italy, you have to change at London, Paris, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt, or a US city with nonstops to Italy. Same thing returning.

If this were my trip I'd go for the extra night in Rome. With a 7 AM departure you might consider the Hilton at FCO, a short walk from the terminals. What's the point of going through all the FRA hassle and sleeping there? A quick look at the airport website showed no evidence of an airside hotel.

@Frank, thanks for that viewpoint. I tend to agree it would be much less hassle to stay another day! We already added 3 days to our original trip, so my husband is questioning that idea. Haha! But it seems easiest to me.

@Dick, that is the airport we have scheduled already. We would just need to move it by one night. Thanks for the info.

Did you check Flight Aware to make sure the new flights are being flown? We had that problem - we were given flights that the airlines hadn't flown since March 2020.
Safe travels!

I've stayed at the Frankfurt Marriott Dec, 2019. It's actually IN the airport. I looked out the hotel window and saw another hotel, forget which brand.
Good luck!

@Pat, our children are leaving Rome 3 days earlier than we are on those same flights. They all seem good to go still. I did double check just now, though! Thanks.

Thanks for the info on the Marriott. I wonder if the hotel being in the airport would mean less hassle of having to check into the country, if they would treat it as if you are still in the airport. I'm not sure how that works.

At this point, my husband has agreed that it will be easiest for us to stay an extra day, so I'm going to try to go that route. Thank you all for your input!

Since the airline is initiating the change, will they pick up the FRA hotel cost,? (Worth a try.) We have used Hilton Garden Inn -- walking distance to the boarding gates. (But it isoutside the airport..)

OK, just talked with Lufthansa. They are not paying for the hotel night in Frankfurt. But they did easily and happily switch us to flights on the 28th (the original flights were on the 27th). So we're back to our original flight schedule, just a day later.

45 minutes on hold, 11 minutes talking with someone. Not bad! Now to go reconfigure the end of our trip...

Glad you got thru to Lufthansa and resolved the matter. An extra night in Rome is never a bad thing -- enjoy your trip!

Thank you so much! This actually gives us an extra day in Sorrento and allows for a day trip to Capri. I'm excited about that! Not a bad thing at all.