Passport Control at FCO Rome

On a Friday morning last May we got caught in massive two, two and half hour line for immigrations. They were pulling elderly and wheelchair people out of the mob and moving them to the front of the line. If they have wheelchair assistance from the airline I am sure that the airline personnel will get them through with the least hassle.

Last year when I was flying from Rome to London, the airline desk agent (I think it was BA if I remember well) asked if I needed assistance when she saw I was using a cane due to an injury. I said "Oh, no thank you" but my travelling companion piped up with "Yes, she does". In due course a man turned up with a wheelchair and I was whisked through passport control, security and was even wheeled onto the plane ahead of everyone. So you need to advise your airline that assistance is needed. By the way, my companion was permitted to come along with me, as I proceeded in this privileged manner. It was very gratifying.

Although my parents had not originally requested wheelchair assistance when booking their Delta plane tickets (departing from Milan), we were able to go into the record online a few days ahead and easily added that request.

Definitely request a wheelchair when you check in or even book it ahead.
I've never spent more than 5 minutes in line at FCO, but I can use the EU line which is never long. For sure people in wheelchairs are whisked through separately.

Is 2-2.5 hours the usual amount of time that it takes to get through passport control. We have a 2.5 hour layover in Rome to catch our flight to Palermo, probably in a different terminal. Should we change our tickets?
Thanks

Don: are your US to Rome and Rome to Palermo flights on one ticket or separate tickets?

If you are on one ticket, you are protected; the airline will put you on their next available flight, and (assuming it's Alitalia), they have many flights a day from Rome to Palermo. However, if it's separate tickets, YOU are responsible for buying new tickets if you miss the connection.

I just flew this route last month, and had a 3 hour connection on separate tickets. I made it with lots of time to spare; immigration and luggage pickup took less than 90 minutes, so I had time for a snack and buying a SIM card. But just in case, I had also purchased a second ticket for 7 hours later, which I ended up throwing away. For me, it was worth the price of this "insurance," since ticket prices from Rome to Palermo on that particular day were rising rapidly. I was able to get each ticket for about €75, so I simply considered my Rome to Palermo flight as costing €150. The last minute tickets for that day, on the other hand, were going for over €300 (the next day was considerably cheaper, but of course a night in a hotel isn't free and a lost day of traveling isn't what I wanted).

@Harold
It is all on one ticket (Delta/Alitalia), but I will be having someone to pick us up in Palermo and will not have a phone to let them know I would be late. I figured 2 and a half hours would be plenty of time, but if there are usually long lines at passport control then I would miss the flight. Just trying to anticipate problems in my usual Type A personality way.

It is toss up. I think our experience with 2.5 hrs for immigrations was unusual but who knows. There were just two officers working that AM. There were a couple uniformed people working the line and allowing people to go forward. So if you have a tight connection in that situation I would flag one of the those people and explain your situation.

Don: You should be fine. Since you're all on one ticket, your checked luggage will be transferred for you and you won't have to pick it up yourself. Nor will you have to wait in check in lines for your next flight. I had to do both these things, and of course they took time. I was particularly worried about the luggage, as I've read stories of it taking a LONG time to arrive on the belt.

You, on the other hand, will just arrive, go through passport control, and then go to your next flight. Your bags should be tagged PMO at your US departure airport, so they'll be transferred by the airline. And you should get boarding passes for both flights when you check in for the first one. While there are no guarantees you won't have problems, I wouldn't worry.

Of course, if you're a real type A, you will make sure you have a way to make phone calls [g].

Don't change tickets.
2.5 hours should be enough to go through passport control and transfer from terminal 3 (where you arrive) to terminal 1 (domestic departures). You won't go through customs in FCO therefore your luggage gets transferred to PMO and you don't have to pick it up in FCO (the slowest baggage claim on Earth). After passport control just follow directions to terminal 1 Domestic departures. I think you'll have to go through the metal detector at terminal 1 though.
As mentioned above Alitalia has virtually a flight every hour to PMO. If your flight from the US arrives late, Alitalia will put on the next one.

If in that event you need to call someone in PMO and you don't have a cell phone, you can probably buy an old fashion "carta Telefonica" for the smallest denomination possible and call using an old fashion pay phone. There aren't many around anymore, but the airport is a place where there will be some. To call Palermo from within Italy you don't need to dial 39. Just dial 091-XXX-XXXX. The 091 is Palermo's area code. Remember that in Italy you always have to dial the city area code, even if you are calling from the same city. It wasn't required in the past, but with the advent of cell phones and the need of extra numbers they made that change in the 1990's,

Please help! I am at the airport now trying to figure out if I can make the transfer at Rome. I just scanned this and it sounds like someone here can help. My situation. 2.5 hour layover, arrive terminal 5, depart terminal 3, separate tickets so NO baggage exchange. Can I make it through customs, get my bags, then make the other flight? Thanks in advance.