Landing at FCO transferring to brindisi

Am I reading this correctly? You land at FCO ( on your United flight from the US) at 810 AM and have a separate ticket for a departing flight at 920AM, ( on Alitalia to Brindisi), the same day?

If so, your flight from the US needs to arrive about 2 hours early to have a chance to do this.

You need to re-schedule your onward flight. Something noonish or later to be safe.

Absolutely impossible. Big variable is immigration. Plan on at least an hour from the time you actually to clearing immigration --- and that assumes no delays of any nature. Once it took us nearly 3 hrs to clear immigration. Then, you walk through customs, and security for the next flight - assuming you were able to print your second boarding pass prior to leaving the US. Even Superwoman couldn't make that flight.

No. Not going to work. It could easily be after 8:30 before you are even off the plane. It could easily be another hour or more before you are through Italian immigration (where you show your passport). Then and only then can you walk (more) long hallways through the terminal, and change to Terminal One. I'm not sure if you'll need to go through security again, but it's likely. I wouldn't attempt this before 11:30 at the earliest. Noon would be safer. And that's assuming your flight from (wherever) is on time.

In March, we flew Delta from JFK to FCO, landing on time at 10:45am and made our Alitalia flight to Brindisi at 1:15pm with no time to spare. So, that was 2 1/2 hours.

As others have said, impossible. Even allowing 3-4 hours is taking a chance as you have made a serious error buying a second separate fight. Should you have a prolonged delay or even a cancellation (not unheard of) United has no responsibility for getting you on another connecting flight and Alitalia will be keeping your money and good luck getting another flight. You might want call United to see if they can rebook you with a connecting flight and just chalk up the money you will lose to Alitalia as a costly mistake. Otherwise see if Alitalia will change you to a much later flight or, preferably, one the next day.

Well, Superwoman might find a way. Of course, she wouldn’t need any planes in the first place.

thank you all guess i'll just bite the bullet-I even thought about getting the 1 pm one

1 pm could work since that is nearly a 5 hour window. I would be willing to gamble on that one. That is probably worth the risk.

The Alitalia flt at 1:15PM would be a reasonable choice. ( the 1PM flt looks like it makes a stop in Milan)

Hopefully ( maybe?) Alitalia will show some mercy in making a change.

Good luck

Just to throw another wrinkle into the conversation, your flight from DC could be delayed. Last time we flew into FCO we were delayed 2.5 hours due to equipment issues. The 1:15 PM flight will work, I did look at the Alitalia flights from FCO to BDS and there is a 5:15 PM flight if things really go hay wire. Yes, after passport control and customs, you will need to clear security again for your next flight. Enjoy your trip.

Since you are a first time international traveler, a couple of points.

Customs in Europe is a matter of just walking through the Green Channel Nothing to Declare line. Unless you're "randomly selected for additional screening" (possible but rare), you're done; you don't talk to anybody or even have to slow your pace.

However, immigration (passport control) can take 15 minutes or 2 hours. How long it takes cannot be predicted, and unless you can convince people ahead of you to let you cut the line due to your tight connection (I did it successfully once in Nice), you just have to wait until it's your turn.

On separate tickets, you will have to go through security when going to your next flight in Rome. Note that you will use your passport as your ID for this, so keep it handy.

What I did when I booked separate tickets with a change in Rome was book two tickets. One departed 3 hours after my scheduled arrival, and another departed 10 hours after my scheduled arrival. I knew I'd use one and discard one, and the combined price was still cheaper than a last minute ticket would have been (it was a Monday morning heading to Palermo, and I could see the price of the "unrestricted" tickets rising rapidly). In the end, I made the 3 hour "connection" with time to spare - but I could just as easily have missed it.

If you can change your Rome to Brindisi flight to a later one, do so. If you check the prices for "fully exchangeable" fares and see that they are affordable to you, then buying a last minute ticket at that price can be your backup plan. If they are getting too expensive, consider doing what I did.

If you have a non-refundable, non-changeable 9:20 flight to Brindisi, check in online before you leave for the airport in US (provided you can do so within 24 hours Italian time). Then, in the slight chance you could make it to the gate before it closes for boarding, you might make the flight. What have you got to lose? If you wait until you arrive in Italy to check in, your chances are zero. Be sure to follow the Transit signs at the airport rather than going though regular immigration. If you go through regular immigration, your chances are again zero. Hopefully, your ticket allows changes and you can rebook a later flight.

That didn't work out. I spent way more money to get the ‘safe’ trip and it took me 20 min to get thru security and passport!! I had to watch my original flight take off as I sit here doing nothing for 4 hours. Thanks a lot.

Please, feel free to continue trying to make short connections on separate tickets and come back and tell us how it goes. A sample size of "1" is meaningless.

I can tell you how it would have gone if you had departed IAD on Sunday or Monday instead of Wednesday--you never would have made the earlier flight to Brindisi, as the United flight in question (UA42) was over an hour late both days.

We are trying to give you good advice based on common knowledge and experience. The advise is not perfect for everyone and every situation. However, the advice is still solid. I have been through the Rome airport about a dozen times over the past ten, twelve years. I have never been through immigration in less than about 45 minutes to an hour and one time as long as nearly three hours. I am amazed that you got through in 20 minutes. That is extremely unusual. Maybe you should buy some lottery tickets.

A hole in one can happen. Expecting that to be the result every time......

Your getting through in 20 minutes is EXTRAORDINARY.

I've made edits. Thanks in advance for keeping things polite per our guidelines.

Webmaster, I think it is really disingenuous to remove the offensive language from the OP's post. People should know who they are dealing with. I make no apologies for my response, which was removed, and which was far, FAR less offensive.

These were your questions:

I guess my question is do I even have enough time? Will I have to go back through sec before going to terminal one?

It looks like everyone answered your questions truthfully based on our experiences. Congratulations on making it through passport control and security in 20 minutes! Definitely go buy yourself some lottery tickets!

I guess my question is do I even have enough time?

Obviously you had doubts and the response you received reflected what the expected typical ( long term average) processing time upon arrival. would be. The fact you had an extraordinarily short, atypical, experience does not mean the forum members are ignorant or malicious.

I hope you found a bar/cafe to have a glass of wine to soothe your distress and accept the fact one makes plans, then life happens.

Y’all not wrong I was more salty the ailtalia people were asses about me paying to get on the next flight ‘no that flight isn’t here’ when boarding was starting in 5 min after. And I mean I also included I’d b traveling on a not busy day for the guy who got snippy with me but yea I was more pissed at them and found some beer to kill a pointless expensive 6 hour layover

Methinks some more editing will be coming from the Webmaster...

And to the OP--you asked a question that requires a probabilistic answer--the odds of making this connection. The stars aligned for you to A) land early, as UA42 is on-time only 71% of the time, and when it's delayed, the average delay is 65 minutes. And B) get through immigration so quickly--20 minutes is really fast. It's as if you chose 00 in roulette--and it came up. It's not likely to happen again.

I hope you are able to put the animus you are feeling towards those here and the Alitalia personnel you encountered behind you and enjoy your trip.

With respect, why are you so angry? The posters who attempted to give you good advice in response to your concerns seem to have genuinely given their "best case/worst case" perspectives about your chances of making the close turn at FCO. You seem to have weighed up your options and gone with their advice, and then when you seem to have defied the odds about making a tight turn, you flame them with a sarcastic "Thanks a lot." comment.

I hope the rest of your trip finds you in better spirits than you now seem to be.