Pompei

Just Pompeii? Well! If you just want to go to that area in 2 or 3 days you can do the following: - Pompeii (at least 3 or 4 hours, but you could easily spend the best part of a day there from morning to early evening, when they close) - Amalfi Coast (very close to Pompeii, my favorite village is Positano, but anything between Sorrento and Amalfi is worth seeing) - Capri island and the blue grotto (a day trip via Ferry from Sorrento, or Naples, or Positano) - Naples. There are a couple of nice places to visit like Piazza Plebiscito, the Mastio Angioino, the Archeological museum. In 3 full days you can probably do all of the above and they are all in the same area. In terms of flying near there, the closest airport is Naples. There are no direct flights from the US to Naples (NAP) but NAP is connected to some of the main European gateways including Rome Fiumicino (FCO), Paris (CDG) and Frankfurt (FRA). Rome is also a short 1 hr via train and flying to Rome (FCO) will probably be cheaper as there are more choices of air links options, including a direct non stop from LAX with Alitalia. In San Diego you also have a non stop to London LHR with British Airways. There are no flights from LHR to NAP, but you can fly from LHR to Rome FCO.
British (via LHR) and Alitalia (via LAX) are probably the best ways to get to Rome very fast from San Diego, since both would involve only one connection. Alternatively you could fly to Naples (NAP) from Paris (CDG) or Frankfurt (FRA) taking non stops flights to those cities from LAX (with AirFrance or Lufthansa respectively). Happy search!

Have never flown on Alitalia but from what I have read, they are really poor as far as service and attitude. If you are going to Pompeii, suggest you try to fly into Naples. From the east coast, Lufthansa flies to Frankfort and then to Naples. As far as ease of travel, would not suggest you fly into Rome and then travel to Naples and then on to Sorrento which is a lovely place on Amalfi Coast and near Pompeii. We flew from Newark, NJ to Rome and then train to Naples and then another train to Sorrento and I was done by the time we did that, far too much for one day and we were on east coast and you are coming from CA so even longer trip. I could be wrong, but I think from Rome airport we had to get subway to main train station and then onto Naples. It was about two hours with waiting for train, etc, far too much for one day. My daughter went on same trip to meet us and got flight via Frankfort to Naples and then train to Sorrento and had a much easier time than we did, but we were flying free so we took what we could get. We loved Positano but there is not much to do there but scenery was magnificent. Stayed at a lovely B&B with great views of water, etc. When you do go to Pompeii, go early as possible as it is very hot, dusty but worth it. Enjoy

We need more clarity. It is hard to any suggestion when it is Pompeii and Spain with out any reference to cities, total time, interests. Spain is big country and a world of difference between Madrid and Granada. Give us some idea of your travel plans.

Alitalia is a new private company since 2009 therefore I don't know about quality of service now. However when I flew the old company I had no complaints either. In general I wouldn't base the choice of my flight on anectodal evidence or some other urban legend. You should look for the best deal and convenience for you. Also you must consider that your options from San Diego may be more limited than those who fly from Newark EWR or NY JFK, connections that I avoid as much as possible to fly to europe from California, due to nasty flight delaying whether and awful air traffic congestion. From SAN you don't have the option to flight directly to FRA or CDG, two airports with decent connections to NAP. You need to drive or fly to LAX or SFO for those non stop flights. Those are both good options. Another good option would be to fly non stop from LAX to Rome FCO and then proceed to Naples either still with Alitalia or by train. There is a train station inside the airport in Rome. You can take a train to the central station Roma termini then a fast train to Naples. From the airport to rome termini is 35 minutes, then just over an hour from termini to Naples Central. Flying through the East coast, in Ny or Philly or DC or Chicago are the least convenient ways because it takes longer. I always try to fly non stop from SFO to Europe via the Greenland route. Much faster.

I've flown Alitalia for years and I think it's gotten better recently, which is not saying a lot. It depends on the flight crew. I think they've become more responsive to customer requests in the last couple of years, as Roberto's post suggests. If you do fly into Rome, you can take the Leonardo Express into the Termini Station, catch the fast train to Napoli Centrale, go downstairs to the Circumvesuviana and take the local train to Sorrento. Just for ease of travel after a long flight, I'd stop there, or you can continue to the Amalfi Coast by bus, boat, or private transportation (priciest). If you stay in Sorrento, you can take the Circumvesuviana directly to Pompeii Scavi.