Early morning flight from Rome FCO

I suggest staying at the FCO Hilton the night before. That will give you a lot of peace of mind. There's a free shuttle from the hotel to terminal 2.

The rule of thumb is 3 hours before your flight, but I think if you left the Hilton FCO at 6:00 you'd be fine. The baggage check and security goes fairly quickly. If you stay at the Hilton, ask the front desk. I can't help you about food, we flew Delta first class and ate in the Skymiles club.

This is a tremendously busy airport. You'll be able to get food at 6, if not even earlier. Most of FCO is accessible on foot from the Hilton, which has an elevator to the concourse outside the front entrance and then 200 feet to the left, AFAIR.

It's desirable to mention your citizenship or fill out the Home field of your profile when asking about immigration issues, but virtually all flights from Europe to the U.S. ask you to check in three hours before the departure time. Coach check-ins for cheaper airlines have especially long lines - that's how they keep the prices low. I've seen some horrifying lines at European airports over the years.

This requirement is not just for the airline's convenience. The U.S. requires detailed passenger lists to be sent to them several hours before the flight LANDS. You can also check our host's Travel Tips, blue menu top left.

Edit: However, the Hilton FCO is expensive and can be noisy in some locations. I've stayed there twice, and our second room had deafening elevator noise from the adjacent shaft. Note also that the hotel restaurants may be closed if you arrive late, after a full day of touring and travel . FCO has an excellent train from downtown, but you have to look up how early it starts, and consider the location of your hotel relative to Termini Station.

Last year we departed from our RS BOI tour’s Rome Hôtel, The Aberdeen, via a taxi reserved by the hotel. As I remember the pick up time was about 5:00 am. The driver was waiting for us as we came to the hotel office. Our trip was quick with minimal traffic. Rome at that hour was quite interesting. Fees to FCO are fixed with a small premium for early hours. This worked extremely well for two seniors with moderate to light luggage a la RS. We were traveling Lufthansa and got there before their counters opened. We did find a great little coffee bar open with pastries.

Just me, but I would always choose one more night in Rome over an airport hotel! If you book a car service through your hotel or on your own, they are reliable and will get you to the airport in plenty of time. There will be no traffic worries going toward the airport at that time of morning. Have done this many times.

Just me, but I would always choose one more night in Rome over an airport hotel!

We spent the evening in Rome. The Hilton has a free shuttle service into the city. It drops you off at the foot of the Victor Emmanuel Monument. The last bus back is at 10:00 which is late enough if you have an early flight.

I travel frequently for work and always stay at Hilton properties. We got a free upgrade to the executive floor. Noise was not a problem.

We had a car service pick us up close to the Vatican and take us to FCO. It was much quicker and closer than we anticipated. We were going against traffic and had no traffic problems.
The airport is not very busy early morning and is much easier to navigate.
You are fortunate to have a direct flight to LAX early. Most of the early morning flights out of European airports go into other gateway European airports where you sit until midday. When flying to the East Coast, we refuse flights before 9:00 am.

We always stay at FCO Hilton if we have an early flight. Never have had noise problems but our profile states room must be “away from elevators and ice machines!”

I'd stay in Rome the last night (not the airport) but get an early cab to the airport. Your hotel can arrange it if you ask the day before. Moving hotels is a hassle and I'd prefer a final night in Rome

Check in for your flight online the day before and print boarding passes if at all possible. You will still have to wait in line to drop off your bags, but often there is a separate line for this.

If the flight is at 8, boarding may be as early as 7. So you want to get to the airport well before 6. I've heard 3 hours before flight time - so 5 AM. A car coming at 4:45 getting you there at 5:15 would be fine.

We did this route last weekend, FCO-LAX, but had to change planes in Stockholm. The flight departed from Terminal 3 (the nonstop may depart Terminal 2, not sure), scheduled for 0830. We took a prearranged taxi from near the Colosseum at 0630 and it took about 30 minutes but it was Saturday and weekday traffic may be heavier. There was no wait line for check in, including for checking bags. We went though security and were at the gate by 0740, before boarding had started.

If you are already in Rome a few nights preceding your flight, you should stay put at the same hotel. I wouldn’t change the hotel for just one night.
A taxi ride in the morning will get you at the airport in about 30 min. There is no traffic so early in the morning, and you will be going against the commute traffic anyhow.

Be at the airport 2.5 hours prior to a direct non stop flight to North America.

Confirm whether your flight is direct or if you have a layover in Europe first,

For a intraEuropean flight 90 min are sufficient.

We have a 9:45 a.m. United flight on a Monday in October, departing from Terminal 3. We booked a driver (Rome Car Tours) that was suggested by our Airbnb owner, and he said picking us up at 6:30 a.m. would get us there in plenty of time - said we need to be there 2 hours prior to the flight and that will take about 45 minutes to get to the airport (staying near Piazza Navona).

I would prefer the extra night in Rome and not stay at an airport hotel.
The travel time via a private car/taxi will be consistent and there will be zero traffic for the hour you need to be there for your flight so really no risks in staying in Rome for the last night as long as you budget for a car service/taxi. RomeCabs is a good one.
I don't see a huge time savings difference myself, not one worth checking out of a place early and into another for a single night stay.

I would want to be at the airport no later than 5:30 AM for your flight.

This advise is all based on a direct flight, as Roberto states if a connecting flight within a Schengen area ; you don't need to arrive nearly as early and saves you a full hour.

Thank you all so much for your generous advice. We have already paid for our hotel accommodations at Hotel Nazionale near Piazza Monticitorio, so staying at the Hilton is not an option. I had planned to use a car service or taxi, which I will pre-arrange at the hotel when I arrive as we have 6 nights there.

Fortunately Norwegian does fly direct from Rome to LA, and it does indeed leave at 8am - my original departure was at 8:30am but the airline changed it.

We do have upgraded tickets for premium economy which is supposed to give us an expedited check-in but I won't count on that.

It sounds like I should plan to arrive 5-5:30am, which should give me time to check in, check luggage and get food. I will endeavor to check in online and print any boarding passes or download them to their app in advance.

Any particular food outlets that you have enjoyed at FCO? Thanks again all, I do appreciate your help.

I confirmed there is a Norwegian flight flying at 8am non stop from FCO to LAX on Monday Oct 29.