I have read conflicting accounts about changing planes in ROME. Can someone can help, please?
The issue is this: I am coming into FCO on Delta from Detroit and transferring to an Alitalia flight to Naples.
One website indicates that I retrieve my luggage and clear immigration/customs in Rome, Delta says that, no, I am merely transiting to another gate for Naples from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1, and collecting bags and going through customs in Naples. Another website says there is no immigration or customs at the airport in Naples, which if true, would seem to put that function back to Rome, despite what Delta information receptionists (no doubt in New Delhi) tell me.
The BIG issue is that I am landing at 8:30 AM. And departing for Naples at 10 AM, a mere 90 minutes apart, and if that seems like a tight change of planes depending on whatever else I really do need to do in Rome.
The only thing that seems fairly clear in all this is that Alitalia flights to Naples appear to leave from Terminal 1.
If that is correct, can anybody tells me how much time I should allow for customs, if indeed I do it in Rome? Ninety minutes seems too tight.
Second, anybody know for sure what Delta's arrival terminal actually is , 5 or 3? Or, how far is Terminal 1 and Alitalia are from international baggage claim?
Thanks
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15161 posts
You will arrive at terminal 3, not 5.
In Rome you will have immigration (passport control) but you checked luggage will proceed to Naples (you don't pick it up in Rome).
After passport control you will transfer to the domestic terminal 1, where you catch the flight to Naples.
In Naples you retrieve your checked luggage at the carousel and walk out through the "nothing to declare" line (unless you have something to declare to customs). There are no customs formalities. The customs officers (Guardia di Finanza, wearing gray uniforms) occasionally pick people for random search, but it has never happened to me in hundreds of flights. At most they might ask you in Naples where you are flying from. Just tell them from Rome Fiumicino and they'll leave you alone. By the time you land in Naples it's time for them to have a caffe' espresso break and they'll have no time to search you. You are in Naples. If Italy (and Naples) were famous for hard working people Sergio Marchionne would not have moved Fiat-Chrysler to Holland.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
90 minutes is plenty of time to connect at most airports. That is a code-shared flight, which I assumed you have booked all through Delta, so if there are delays, they will put you on a later connection, and you have the whole day ahead of you. (That's a benefit of booking your flight connections all together, versus connecting to a Easy Jet or Ryan Air, who don't cooperate with other carriers.)
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
Metrocook - If you're coming from the USA on Delta, you'll more than likely come into the G gates, a set of satellite gates connected to the main section of the airport by a Skytrain. You'll enter the FCO complex through gates G, ride the Skytrain into the main complex, and follow the crowds and signs to immigration (passport control). As you enter this room, look for the signs that say connecting flights.... and head for that line! YOU MUST HAVE YOUR ALITALIA BOARDING PASS to use the connection lines (and you should have received that when you checked in from your departure airport in the USA).
You'll show your passport and boarding pass to the Immigration folks, and then you will walk out the doorway ... and into the AIRSIDE Gates area. G gates are on the "south" side of the airport and, as you're flying Alitalia, you'll need to walk to the B gates (more than likely). As you exit the Immigration Area into the AIRSIDE gates area, you'll walk past the security area (on your RIGHT) where non-connecting passengers are entering the AIRSIDE area after checking in at Terminal 3... Follow the signs towards the B Gates and you'll come to multiple boards that show your connecting gate for your Alitalia flight.
Using the "connecting gates" lines at Immigration, you will stay in the AIRSIDE "gates" area. You actually never go into Terminals 5, 3, or 1 - it's a little confusing. But this is what you want to do - STAY AIRSIDE on a connection.
If you DO NOT get into the "connections line" you will be funneled out of the Immigration area into the downstairs luggage collection area... This is NOT the correct way, but I see it happen all the time. People tend to follow the crowds and they don't realize there are different lines. If you do go this way (OUCH)... you'll have to exit the Secured AIRSIDE area, go back upstairs to the FCO departures area, and through security. Once you head downstairs, through the Luggage Collection area, you're actually in T3... Again, THIS IS NOT the way to go on a one-ticket, connecting flight option... but I've seen it happen to many bewildered travelers.
Your goal - Stay AIRSIDE. Once you clear Immigration (Passport Control), it's about a 15-minute walk to your Alitalia gate, if you stay AIRSIDE - an easy connection.
If you make a mistake and exit the AIRSIDE area, getting through security at FCO can often take 30-45 minutes. Add the time to exit your plane, wind through the Airport to get to Immigration, wait in line at immigration, wait forever at the T3 security lines, and the walk out to your gate from T3 security... and you can see how this may become a difficult connection if you exit the AIRSIDE, secured area... and even more difficult if your first plane is late....
So your mantra - STAY AIRSIDE! Get that Alitalia boarding when checking in at your departure location in the USA!
Posted by
1 posts
Will my transfer be simpler flying Alitalia LAX to Rome to Naples?
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
cwidmer: On the Rick Steves Forums, it's always better to start your own question than to piggy-back on someone else's thread, particularly an old ("zombie") thread. By starting your own thread, you can get e-mail notifications when you get replies.
As for your question, the answer is "slightly." Alitalia from LAX may not land at the G gates, so it's closer to the main part of T3, and you won't have to take a train in. But otherwise, the procedures described by Roberto and Ron are the ones you will follow.
It really isn't difficult; it's one of those things that's easier to do than to explain. Once you're there, you just go with the flow. The only exception, where you do need to be watchful, is Ron's caution to stay airside and to follow signs for transfers; don't follow the people leaving the airport in Rome, who will be leaving the secure area.