Airport lines/chaos

Flew out of Milan yesterday. Checked in online, but had to have our documents verified (there was a line for that with Delta). The process was fast, and they actually printed out some good boarding passes for us. As a side note, we also had to get our documents verified here in Little Rock.

We are in Italy every year and do not experience what you have described. All departing flights from Roma to the USA require checking-in from T5. Once you complete that process and clear security you are bused to the main terminal for departure. We check-in online, but still need boarding passes from the airline. The departing flights from Milano to the USA all leave from gates inside the airport. Buon viaggio,

I am interested in this question as I'm flying home from Rome in little more than 3 weeks. My experience with big airports like CDG and AMS is that the airlines have counters for the specific flight ( FCO-EWR for example), rather than check-in for all flights as is customary in the U.S. That is for coach: long lines. First and business have no lines to speak of.
It's been nearly 30 years since I last flew from FCO, where I learned I had to find the right counter for the flight home. That still the case?

Melissa If you have a direct flight to the USA on a US carrier you will leave from T5 at FCO. I departed from FCO this past July and it was a breeze compared to going through T3. "As I remember" in T5 you went to your specfic airline's counter and it was not by specific flight number. Most US carriers only have a limited number (maybe only 2 to 4 flights) leaving each day. So it was not a problem. I arrived 3 hours before my flight on United and was about the 1st person in line. I was at the gate in about a half and hour after check in and security.
For the best overview of FCO look up "Ron In Rome" on the internet. He has a great overview with pictures about departing from T5. It is what I used and it was right on. If you have a flight to another European city first it probably will be like you stated. You will look for your exact flight number. Others on this board will have to help you with that. Robert

Unless there is an error or something unusual in your ticket, you should be able to check in online in advance. This happened to us a United flight booked as a Continental flight in our online itinerary. Couldn't check in online at either carrier. United's call center said they couldn't do anything and to check at the airport. Lufthansa couldn't get it to work either (we were flying LH from Florence, connecting in Frankfurt to United). We arrived at the United desk in Frankfurt 30 mins before departure (connecting flight was late) only to be told "you didn't check in an hour before the flight so you can't board". Explaining our tale of woe (and being at Gold level in the United FF program) got us the last 2 seats. In 25 years of flying all over the world, this kind of thing has happened just a few times. It isn't the norm. The USA's far more stringent security and immigration requirements guarantee you'll have to visit the airline's desk for them to check your documents and issue your actual boarding pass.

Thanks, everyone. I will assume our experience at FCO last year was an anomaly. We followed the advice on this board to arrive three hours before our flight and still were rushing to make the flight. There were two flights leaving at approximately the same time, which I think must have been part of the problem.