Rome Arrival - Connecting Flight

Which airline is your flight on and what city are you flying from to get to Rome?

If you are booking a separate flight to take after arriving in Rome to Palermo I would give myself 4 hours to make it through immigration and customs.

The flight landing in Rome will have originated from where?

What formalities you will need to clear will be dictated by where the flight originates and thus how much time you will need to plan between flights.

Also a factor is the presence or absence of checked luggage.

There also might be increased protocols for passengers arriving on flights from non-Schengen countries. Depending on which airline you are using to fly to Rome, you would normally land in terminal 1 or 3 and your flight to Palermo would leave from one of those terminals. They are about a ten minute walk from one to the other. Personally, I’d think a 3 hour cushion would be enough time but in the current travel environment, who knows?

IF I had to do that I probably would have a five hour window. We have been through Rome several times over the years. Once we cleared immigration and customs in 50, normally a couple of hours, and once almost four hours. Personally I would not book any on-going flight on a separate ticket for the same day. All could go well but things happens. Once time had the original flight from the US cancelled and it was only time I went against my own advice and had booked a second flight with a five hour window. Lost the ticket. And one other time our arriving flight was six hours late but nothing dependent on the arrival time. There are lots of variables that can go wrong or be delayed so you need to know your back up options -- just in case.

In 2014, I arrived in Rome from the US, and then flew to Palermo on a separate ticket. Because this connection was not "protected" and there was no way to know how long immigration and baggage claim would take, what I did was buy two tickets. One left for Palermo three hours after my Rome arrival, and one left ten hours after. This way, I planned to take one plane and miss one plane, and the combined price of the two advance purchase tickets was lower than the cost of a last minute ticket on my travel day (a Monday - prices were really jumping for unrestricted tickets on that day).

In the end, I made my three hour "connection" with time to spare - but of course, I could just as easily have missed it.

When I did this, there were several airlines flying the Rome to Palermo route, all with multiple flights a day. At the time, Alitalia's "international" website https://www.alitalia.com/en_en had the same prices as their Italian website for these domestic flights, but it was in English while the Italian website was only in Italian. The US website had much higher prices - for the exact same flights.

Of course, you will need to check airlines and schedules carefully for your travel dates, as even if you're able to take your trip, I expect service to be much less than before. Use Skyscanner for this: https://www.skyscanner.com/

As for the procedure (again, before coronavirus), Alitalia flights from the US to Rome arrived at Terminal 1, while all other carriers used Terminal 3. Departures to Palermo were from Terminal 1 for Alitalia, and Terminal 2 for budget carriers like Ryanair. It's a 10 minute walk from T3 to T1 (we did it outdoors because it was a nice day, but I believe there's an indoor way if it's raining). Past security in T1 there was a Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) store, so we could buy SIM cards; that, plus breakfast, is how we occupied the time we had before our flight, since we had no hold up at immigration or baggage claim or T1 security. We were able to print our boarding passes for our Rome to Palermo flights before we left the US, due to the time difference; these days, I'd look to have the airline app on my phone, so I could have my boarding pass on that (saves time not having to get a boarding pass on arrival in Rome).

Air Canada handled my ticketing from Montreal to Rome and then Alitalia to Catania. They only allowed 70 minutes from landing to takeoff. Doesn't sound right to me! Anyway, all my flights have been cancelled so we'll never know. Last year my connecting time was 3+ hours. It was comfortable but I didn't have time to stop for a cappuccino.

So I am going Alitalia and am coming from Hawaii, stopping in Korea for two days and then to Rome. I didn't plan so well because it's a mileage ticket for 180 USD. I get in Rome on Sunday (bad arrival day?) about 17:00 and there is a 20:25 and a 21:00 to Palermo, so 3 hours+ to get through immigration and customs. They could change how it all works I know and it could be really crowded. I like the two advance ticket idea :-) my first time through Rome.

I've done Delta from the US to Rome and then Alitalia from Rome to Palermo (pre-pandemic) with a three hour window BUT - big but here - this was all booked as one reservation through Delta. That meant that Delta had some responsibility for getting me from point A to point B if my arrival in Rome was delayed because of them. If you have two separate reservations, then that puts all the responsibility on you. I'd plan for the most amount of time between arrival in Rome and departure to Palermo in order to play it safe.

Many people would disagree with the above strategy. Some people just don't like to wait in airports. Some people like the rush of running from one plane to the next. We all have different travel strategies. I like to travel in a relaxed fashion. That's the reason I gave the advice which I did.

Hope you are able to travel then, and hope you have a wonderful time whenever you do!!

You guy's are awesome,

I retired early cause all this stuff and I am treating myself for 1st time in many years. Relax, dink and eat. I love history too. It's my bucket list thing and have to try my best. I will be solo just doing my thing eating and drinking in Amalfi :-). I should probably spend the night in Rome and head out next day, I am not so interested in Rome as the cliffs of Amalfi :-)

Thank you guy's, maybe I can contribute from my experience, it's all F^&*(ing ad hoc. Only way to fly with Steves help.

Thanks Guy's :-),

So I Think I will try with the 3.5 hour connection in Rome and buy and extra ticket for next flight as protocol delay insurance based on some excellent information. So I am:
30 Aug. Rome - Palermo/Cefalu (Train)
5 Sept. Cefalu - Vibo/Pizzo (Train/Ferry)
9 Sept. Pizzo - Sorrento (Ferry)
23 Sept. Sorrento - ???
30th Sept Rome - Honolulu
Any suggestions for last 5 days? Naples? Pisa?

I strongly encourage you to fly from Sicily (Palermo or Catania)) to Naples then train or ferry to Sorrento. Nobody on this forum has every said anything positive about the ferry service between Sicily and the mainland. Or, for that matter, the train service from the mainland to Sicily.
That said, I love Sorrento and spend a week there every trip. It's a great home base for some amazing day trips . . . and is much more affordable than most places in the Amalfi Coast area.

If you have not yet purchased your ticket on Alitalia to Rome, purchase a ticket from point of origin through Rome ending in Palermo. If you miss your flight, Alitalia is obligated to put you on the next available flight at no additional charge. But it must be on one ticket. The other benefit is that your checked bags will be picked up in Palermo, no need to retrieve them in Rome and recheck them on the flight to Palermo. Sicily is a wonderful Italian paradise. With 9 days there, you can see a lot. Check on the itinerary of Rick’s Best of Sicily for some ideas. Palermo and Cefalu just don’t cut it IMHO.

We changed planes on Alitalia last year at FCO. Walkable. They had a special immigration control desk for continuing passengers which only took a couple of minutes. Only one person was in line in front of us. The Alitalia Terminal is very nice, good food options.