Fiumicino Check-in/Passport Control Time

Three hours is the rule of thumb for check-in for a flight directly to the US. Last summer I took a taxi directly to Terminal 5.

We have exited through Rome a number of times with min to normal types of lines. And toilets are fine. Remember a horrid story gets repeated a hundred times but no problem stories are rarely repeated. You are not listening to experienced travelers who have been there but just repeated stories that someone has read somewhere.

The shuttle bus from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 is two minutes. The only time we have seen a long security line was in Terminal 3 around mid afternoon for a domestic flight. At that time of morning for a direct international flight back to the US should be easy. Terminal 5 is a processing terminal so you are actually bused back to Terminal 3 behind security for your departure.

I just went through Terminal 5 a month ago. While I have no "horror stories," it was stressful, as tension is high. Yes, a taxi will take you right there. One wrinkle I haven't encountered anywhere else (yet): in addition to taking out laptops and putting them on the belt separately, they want you to put all your "electronics" in a plastic bag they give you as you are lined up to check in. This bag then goes on the belt; you can't leave these things in your carry-on, like you can everywhere else. They include charging cords in their definition of electronics, as well as more usual things like cell phones and iPods. I wasn't the only one who had to scramble through my carry-on to find the various places I had stashed these things. I definitely would have packed them all in one spot if I knew I'd have to remove them.

Three hours is certainly enough time. Then, when you're bused back to Terminal 3, you can reward yourself with breakfast (from the bus you take an escalator into the departure area of the terminal, and there's a pretty good food service area just behind the escalator).

We took Delta 241 on just last Sunday, so very fresh in my mind.

We were staying at the Rome Hilton and took their shuttle to arrive at T5 at 6:30am - basically the same if you arrive via taxi at 6:30. First step is the first room, Delta will check your passport and have you get all the electronics in a bag. They didn't let people thru this checkpoint until about 6:45 am. The line just queued up but then moved quickly. After that, it went to the check in gate, where you got boarding pass and checked your luggage. That also moved pretty quickly.

At this point, we had to process a VAT refund, so went first to an area to gain the stamped form, then another area to get the cash refund. About another 10-15 minutes that you may not need to go through. But if you do and have the items in your checked luggage, you go back to the luggage check again.

Then through a security line, similar to US lines (but no shoe removal). This wasn't too bad - maybe 15 minutes. Finally, then you get on a bus that takes you over to the actual departure gate area. We were there by about 8am. Boarding started about 8:40 or so. So we had 40 minutes to grab a coffee and do some duty free shopping.

So in summary, a 6:30 arrival should give you plenty of time and be pretty low stress.

We flew out of Rome a year and a half ago, so don't remember every detail, but we stayed at the Airport Hilton, like Lee, and highly recommend that strategy. Price was pretty good and the convenience was priceless.

In January 2013, there was just one loooooong security line, and we first thought, "Oh No!" It branched out as it moved forwards, though, and actually moved surprisingly fast. Regular shoes were OK to stay on, but they had people remove boots or shoes with really thick soles. You may get in another single, really long line when your flight is called, unless you get priority seating, and even then you'll be waiting at the head of the single line for a bit. Have a great trip!

I forgot to mention, part of the reason Terminal 5 feels tense is that it is also used to process travelers on El Al flights to Israel. There are soldiers with automatic weapons outside the terminal as well as at various points inside. This does upset some people, particularly if they aren't prepared for it.

Well, in fairness many European airports have had visible automatic weapons since the Lockerbie bombing, which was very long time ago-whether they have El Al flights or not. We flew out of FCO on Lufthansa on June 5, 2014. We did not have to take power cords or cell phones out of our carry-on bags. The airport experience was about average, nothing to be apprehensive about.

Worry about broken toilets at Laguardia in NYC ...

I too will be flying out of FCO in a few weeks. I haven't made my hotel reservations in Rome yet (we wanted to be flexible), but do you advise us to book the night before our flight close to the airport, or is it just as easy to get a taxi from Vatican City(or where ever we decide to stay) to take us to FCO? Our flight to the states is at 11:30.

You really should ask your own question instead of hijacking someone else's question. But with a 11:30 flight it is very easy to stay in Rome and take the train, shared shuttle, or taxi to the airport. Rather spend the night in Rome than at a bland, expensive airport hotel.