Air Travel from Seattle to Italy (via London)

I would not be comfortable with such a short layover (1:20) at LHR. That airport is massive. You will go through immigration, possibly need to change terminals which may require a long bus ride, need to go through security, and find your gate.

If you have other options, I would look for a connection time closer to 3 hours. Thus gives you some cushion in case your first flight is delayed, there a huge line at immigration or security, etc.

We also fly out of the PNW. I like flights that arrive in the afternoon. I can’t sleep on a plane, so I don’t want to arrive in the morning and have to stay awake all day. By arriving in the afternoon, I know my room will be ready when I get to the hotel. I can freshen up a little, explore the neighborhood, have dinner, and try to stay awake until at least 9pm. I’m good to go the next morning. I don’t plan any timed tours for arrival day or the following day.

I like British Airways. We travel to Europe almost every year, sometimes twice in one year, and we always fly BA unless we have run out of miles for our tickets. We do fly Business Class so that affects my opinion a bit, but we started out flying in Economy and it was OK.

If Premium Economy is only slightly higher in cost, consider booking that.

We prefer the evening flight as it is easier to sleep through most of it, and we do not arrive in London (our usual destination) too early in the morning. But in your case I would choose the earlier flight. That 1 hour 20 minutes connection time is not generous, and if your flight from Seattle is late, you will miss the connection. They will automatically put you on the next available flight to Rome at no cost, but there are more options for that with the earlier flight ( like 5 more flights to Rome on most days).

Both flights have short layovers (I'm assuming the second option is 2:15 PM, not AM), and it will be important for both legs to be on one ticket, so that BA will put you on a later flight if you miss the connection. Heathrow, London's main airport, is enormous, but chances are these flights will involve only Terminal 5. That terminal has its own security checkpoint with a TSA-type routine, but you won't go through immigration until you land in Rome. BA is definitely "a good carrier" in general, I've flown with them on routes like yours many times. And I agree that it's much better to fly from Seattle straight to a European hub than via Los Angeles or the east coast. It's faster, and if your landing is delayed you have a lot more options once in Europe.

I would take the evening flight for the same reasons as the previous poster. You have at least a chance of getting some sleep on an evening flight, when your bodies are starting to get ready for bed. And since you won't have slept much (if at all) when you land, you'll have a shorter day to get through when you arrive. Arriving in Rome in early evening means you'll be ready for bed as soon as you've reached your hotel and had some dinner.

On that overnight flight at least, I think seat selection is important and worth paying something for. I fly premium economy (I think BA calls it World Traveler Plus or some such) for a more comfortable seat with more legroom. I like the aisle so I can use the bathroom or stretch my legs without disturbing someone else. If I could afford first class I'd go for it, to make sleeping easier. On the shorter London-Rome flight, the seat isn't that important, though I 'd like a window seat for a chance to see the terrain -- English Channel, maybe the Alps, Italian coast, whatever.

You will not go through immigration at LHR.

If both flights are on BA you will stay in Terminal 5, go through security and go to your gate; straightforward. I would go with the shorter time.

There are currently 6 or 7 British Airways flights from LHR to FCO. The first one leaves at about 7:00 AM the last one in the early evening (around 6:30-7:00pm depending on the day). If you travel during late spring or summer I am sure there will be even more. Therefore I wouldn’t be too concerned about missing the connection in London. When it happens, BA will simply put you on the next flight to Rome. It has happened to,me many times, although not in London. So,take whichever flight you want to take. My personal preference would be with the earlier flight, so you have more options for later flights if your flights from SEA arrives late and you miss the first connection.

When I look for flights out of SEA (use IATA airport codes for accuracy) to FCO I generally start with a travel search engine like Kayak. Numerous airlines and their codeshare partners including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, British Air, Condor, Delta and United Airlines can get me to the Eternal City. I prefer afternoon/evening departure, a multi-aisle aircraft with 2-4-2 seating and a minimum 2 hour layover time. I plan to carry on inbound to avoid potential luggage delay at trip onset and will check bags on return. I plan an itinerary using 24-hr clock for flight times, count my nights (not days) for my time in-country and opt for minimum premium economy seating as budget allows. I will not choose 2+ stop routing for cheaper airfare, won't sweat up to 3+ hour layover on either leg since prefer being as unrushed as possible at airport and have airline app on my phone with all details/documents available. I know that even when I choose to pay for seating preference, situations can occur that change availability. Have fun in your planning and you have made an excellent choice in your first European visit. Buon viaggio, per certo!!

We have flown to Europe over a dozen times. Our preferred method, leaving from Seattle, is to fly Virgin Atlantic premium economy to London Heathrow terminal 3. The flight leaves SEA late afternoon, arrives LHR late morning. We take either the tube or the Heathrow express (either is free for the terminal transfers.) We spend the night at the Sofitel Hotel attached to LHR terminal 5. This allows us to deal with jet lag - if we are feeling awake we take the tube into central London and explore for a few hours and have an early pub dinner. The next day we pick up our rental car if this is a UK trip or fly (usually British Air) to our European destination.

Seat selection: premium economy is better for leg room and if you book early you can usually get two seats together (no middle seat) on the side. If you don't want to pay the extra for premium economy, some planes have two on the side seating towards the back of the plane. If that isn't an option, book two adjacent aisle seats - no one wants to sit in a middle seat for 10+ hours.

I like Cynthia's strategy with the overnight at Heathrow, but I'm sure it costs more airfare than a simple connection, plus of course the hotel cost. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Cynthia!) It also means going through UK immigration after landing, retrieving any checked luggage, then rechecking it (or not) plus airport security the next morning. A good plan if your vacation is long enough and your budget big enough.

I agree about two aisle seats if you're in a row with middle seats. My wife and I get two aisle seats all the time, preferably in the same row but we'll take different rows if necessary for the convenience of the aisle.

Did you get these flights from the BA website? BA has multiple flights a day to Rome and I would look to see if there is a flight with a longer connection time. A connection time of 2 to 3 hours would be safer.

If those are your only two options, I’d choose the earlier flight. If you miss the connection, you will still have a good chance of getting to Rome on the same day. The layover is short and you will have to rush to get through security and make your connecting flight. However, I have missed connections at Heathrow twice. Both times, my transatlantic flight was delayed leaving the U.S.; I knew I would miss the connection before I even landed. Both times, I was put on a later flight that same day and I arrived at my final destination the same day.

Thank you everyone for the great input, suggestions and sharing your experiences! We assume we won’t sleep much on plane (and the evening flight does sound better for getting even a little sleep) but we just aren’t sure about arriving in Rome in evening and then navigating to our hotel. We are still giving it some thought, but do wonder if taking the earlier flight would be best. Thanks much!

aren’t sure about arriving in Rome in evening and then navigating to our hotel

Give yourself the gift of a taxi. Fixed rate of, I believe, €55 to Rome center. It is worth doing when you arrive jet lagged with luggage and do not know the city.

Just a heads up about seat selection fees on British Airways. They can be a shock if unprepared. If you have one world status through Alaska or American you can make free seat selections in advance of 24 hours prior to flight.

Have you checked out Icelandair? They often have good transatlantic connections from Seattle.

Anyone flying BA can choose their seat at online check-in, 24 hours in advance. That is, you can change from your assigned seat to a different one. The problem is that you can only choose from what is left, and some people pay to choose their seats ahead of time (or have status on BA or other One World airline). So the seats you want may be taken. But the seats they assign you will be together, if 2 people are on one ticket,

We're flying from PDX to FCO in the spring and there actually were a lot of one-stop options all roughly in the same price bucket. I'd check out Google flights (or kayak as another poster suggested) to get a feel for what's available. We're flying through SFO on the way out and then through EWR (Newark) on the way back (on United). I did eye the BA or the KLM/Delta flights direct to Europe with a transfer in either LHR or AMS, but the price difference was too much for comfort (and the arrival times in Rome weren't as great for us).

Short layovers/transfers personally make me nervous (anything less than 2 hours), so while I know that makes the travel day longer it does wonders for my anxiety. I use the time to do a lot of walking or stretching, maybe get a new something to read, etc. Anyway, my very short answer is take some time to look at your options :)

In London you will have to rebag ALL liquids, lotions, solid sticks, lip gloss, chap stick, etc. if you do not already have in quart size bag. Be prepared for that. It's not immigration, it's a security check to enter terminal.
I have been pulled out of line randomly for even a ceramic bowl, and all that adds time to the layover.
Also keep checking you gates, they can change in very short notice.