It saves me several hundred dollars to fly into Milan, but Rome is my main destination. I will not be spending the night there or making a day trip out of it. I just want to get to Rome as cheaply as possible. I was looking at train tickets, but those seem pricey too. Is taking a flight from MXP into FCO a few hours after I arrive a bad idea?
I don't mind travelling a few extra hours through this process. I just want to make sure its not risky.
Thanks everyone!
The walk up fare from Milan is only 89 euro and takes under 3 hours. Add in the 12 euro ticket from the airport to Milano Centrale and less than 1 hour. It is not too bad.
Buying a separate ticket on an airplane seems risky if your incoming flight is delayed. The trains on the other hand, go twice an hour. If you feel like gambling, there appear to be Supereconomy tickets for 35 euro 3 months out, these are nonrefundable, non-changeable tickets.
You can buy super economy train tickets up to 120 days ahead for 39 euro - summer schedule for Trenitalia is now up. Always a bit dicey to buy advance tickets the day your flight arrives, in case there are flight delays, but the trip is not that long (you would have to wait for a connecting flight, get out of FCO airport and into Roma Termini if you fly, you could end up spending more time in transit by flying than by train).
What time does your flight arrive? it's a bit of a gamble, but with an early arrival, I might go for an afternoon train ticket, check my luggage at Milano Centrale, take the Metro to the Duomo stop, have a look around, have lunch, then go back to the station to retrieve luggage and catch the train to Roma Termini.
I don't know where you are flying from or which airline, but in my experience, although MXP is generally cheaper, I have never seen such large difference in airfare between flying into MXP and other airports. So please check again on Kayak or some other search engine, because I find it odd that the price difference is in the hundreds of $$. If you fly into and out of MXP, but your intended destination in Rome, there are several extra costs you will incur:
1- transfer costs by train are about 100€ each way from MXP to Rome. If you fly, even with the low cost EasyJet airline, which has a hub at MXP, you won't save much over that once you include the baggage fees the low costs always add, and the transfer costs between FCO and the city of Rome (48€ by taxi, or 15€ per person by train). The above transfer costs are each way.
2-hotel cost in Milan or near MXP. This is another cost you will need to incur on your way back, even though you may not care to spend a night in or near Milan, however most flights to North America leave in the AM so you may not have a choice.
If all fails, go with Zoe's plan.
I am saving $600, before the transfer to Rome, by not flying into FCO, even if I took a flight with a layover. And I'd rather save that money and spend it on doing more in the country. I checked numerous times on numerous websites throughout the past few months. I will be flying Emirates in, which is pretty reliable. If I flew I'd have a 7 hour layover. Based on what everyone has said I think I will just take a train down to Rome since it is in fact cheaper and I can stop in Milan on the way instead of hanging out in the airport.
My international flight gets in at 12:15 into Milan; so, I could train to Milano Centrale, look around a bit and take a direct train to Rome.
On the way back though, I think I would rather fly. My MXP to JFK flight is at 4:30 pm. So I would take a 10 AM flight from Rome to Milan that gets in around 11:35, ideally. Four hours seems like ample time, even if there were say a 1.5 hr delay. Any experiences with Alitalia airlines? Are they known for delays? If so, then I suppose I could take a train back too.
Thanks so much for all the advice everyone.
Note that if you fly on two separate tickets, and the first flight is delayed enough for you to miss the connection, you have to work it out with the various airlines. If you have a ticket from FCO to your home airport, even with changes, the airline with which you book is responsible for getting you onto the next available flight.
I would take the train back to Milano for the flight home.
Thanks Zoe! I think I will.
Since the Rome-Milan portion will be "set in stone" so to speak, you can go ahead and snag a Supereconomy ticket for 39 euro or so. You can buy it up to 4 months in advance.
