Quickest Passenger Flights Seattle to Rome

Ken, Tom, Tony, Where the heck are you guys looking?! kayak.com shows eight different flights 10/13/11 to 10/31/11 SEA-FCO under 14 hrs each way and under $1200. That's a decent price when you look at what fuel prices are doing. Delta, AirFrance, KLM.

I hate to say it, but try US Airways. They have (I think stillI know they did) nonstop Seattle-Philadelphia and nonstop Philadelphia-Rome. They drive me nuts, but they go where I need to go.

Tony, you didn't say when you were traveling-I just looked at Kayak for a 10 day trip in June. Most of the outgoing flights were in the 17-20 hour range, but return trips were way longer. AA did have one about 18 hours and $1400-it probably won't last long. It's about 5670 airmiles from Seattle to Rome-at 500 mph you're looking at 12 hours in the air-the rest is layovers,sitting on the tarmac and, of course, figuring in time zone changes. There are 7 hours difference between the cities, so you make it up one way and lose on the other.

We're going middle to end of October. I too noticed a number of the airlines were pretty straight forward times going out, but many of the returns had brutal layovers. I will check US Airways as well. Funny, when you're in the air, you can actually look forward to a layover in a terminal. Sitting here at home though, I would rather chew off my right arm than book a lengthy sit in an airport terminal!! Thanks all. Tony

Hey Tony, We usually fly Lufthansa but go to Florence and generally its about 10 hours to Frankfurt and catch a flight to Florence (just over an hour I think) within a couple hours of landing. The only time I took American to Rome it was about 16 hours connecting through Chicago from Seattle. Keep your head up when walking out of Termini after arriving from Seattle. You will be groggy and Roman traffic waits for no one.

Michael. have you looked at Delta to Amsterdam, and then on to Rome, either using Delta, or booking your own flight on one of the cheap inter EU airlines (using Skyscanner, etc.) Our flight this May to Barcelona uses them. 10 hrs to Amsterdam and then a quick 2 hr trip to BCN. In less than 14 hours we will be in our hotel. Do not pass on IcelandAir. Even though they stop in Iceland to change planes, it can be a fun and refreshing stop. My nephew used them for his honeymoon flight from Seattle to the EU a few months ago. They loved the flight. Do NOT use US Air...and do not connect in Philly. We were warned, but did not pay attention. Worst Customs ever: over 2/ 1/2 hours comming back....and this is common. Cramped seats too(see Seat Guru) Use a search engine like Yapta or Orbitz, and look at all of your options. You may even want to look at flights to Milan, and then train to Rome, or again, book your own connecting flight using Skyscanner, etc.

The shortest SEA-FCO flight time I could find was Air Canada at 16:50, with one stopover in Toronto. But it ain't cheap. Of course the price you pay will depend on the date you fly.

Tony, where is it you're looking? There are lots of options with different carriers for Seattle/FCO that get you there or back in way under 24 hours - many for about 13-14 hours. Delta, KLM, AirFrance, to name a few. Try kayak.com For example, I'm looking at a Delta one from 10/13/11 to 10/31/11 that takes 13 hours to get there and 14:40 to get back.

Tom, "The shortest SEA-FCO flight time I could find was Air Canada at 16:50, with one stopover in Toronto. But it ain't cheap." You've got that right! I've been researching flights for my trip this year, and as usual Air Canada provides the flights that most closely fit my requirements in terms of dates, times and flight duration. However, as you noted, they're not cheap! The flights I want this year seem to be in the $2K range and I haven't been able to find anything too much less expensive. I've checked Air Transat and other charters, but none of them fit my schedule as well as Air Canada. I stopped by the Travel Agent the other to try and get some idea whether these might decrease slightly if I wait a month or two (I won't be travelling until late August). The T.A. felt that due to the current situation in the middle east, the fiscal state of the air travel industry and other factors, that prices probably won't be decreasing much (if any). I've somewhat resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably just have to "take the plunge" and pay the high prices, as the only other option is not to travel at all, and that's NOT an option for me! Although I haven't quite finalized my Itinerary yet, I suppose I'll have to deal with the flights in the next week or so, as I want to start putting some of the other arrangements in place. Cheers!

Michael - you're right. I didn't use those October dates when I did my search. Looks like Delta/Air France (it's a Delta codeshare flight operated by Air France) is the winner at 13 hours flat.

In 2009 we took Scandinavian Air (SAS) out of Seatac, with a transfer in Copenhagen, in under 14 hours total time. Airfare was under $1200 per person. However that was then and this is now. Good luck finding anything for less than $1500 for this summer.