Few questions about the Rome airport.
1) Arriving in Rome from the USA at 8 AM and departing via Alitalia to Sicily at noon. Enough time to go through customs and make the noon flight?
2) Is the International terminal separate from where Alitalia is or are they in the same terminal?
3) Any more information about checking bags with Alitalia either paying for them before arrival or at the time of check-in for departure to Sicily?
Thanks in advance.
Should be more than adequate. Assume you are going through immigration and customs. Customs is just a walk through. Immigration (passport control) can be the hang-up.
No - should arrive at Terminal 3.
Assume you are on two separate tickets so you will get your bags after immigration, go through customs, find check-in counter for next flight, check-in, and go through security for next flight.
Last year I took three flights in Italy with Alitalia, checked one bag and was never charged extra. I always bought the cheapest ticket available. Unless you are flying on an Alitalia "Light Fare," you are allowed at least one piece of checked luggage.
Thanks Philip and Frank,
Is the arrival terminal for flights coming from the States separate from the Alitalia departure terminal??
If so, how much time needed to make the Alitalia terminal?
Thanks
Hi,
Just checked with United and Alitalia.
United flights arrive at FCO at Terminal #3 and Alitalia is in Terminal #1. Need to take a shuttle bus between the two.
Sound right??
The terminals are connected. Don't sweat it. You'll have to walk, that's it.
Thanks. Sounds much better than trying to get a shuttle bus.
You can walk from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 in 10 minutes or less. Part of the walk is outside at the arrivals level (I did that), but you may be able to walk the entire way inside by going up one level to the departures level.
Another thought: Head directly to Terminal 1 once you clear passport control and have picked up your luggage. Ask one of the helpful Alitalia personnel about the check-in process for your noon flight and they may offer to move you to an earlier flight. Even if that doesn't happen, the places to grab a coffee or snack at Terminal 1 are (imo) nicer than those at Terminal 3. Some are down on the arrivals level, a few are just after you clear security and there are several more near the departure gates. If you stay on the noon flight, you may wish to grab a pre-flight lunch at one of those places.
Thanks Frank. Appreciate the feedback!!
If your arriving flight is on time and if you do not have a long line at immigration and if your checked bags are not held up, you will have lots of extra time to kill. (That's what happened to me when I had three hours to make a very similar change on separate tickets). Of course, if there is any delay in one or more of these steps, you could be rushing, or could miss the next flight.
Yes, you will arrive in T3, go through immigration, pick up your checked luggage, go to T1, and check in for your Alitalia flight. Since you can do online check in and print a boarding pass 24 hours before departure, you should be able to print your boarding pass for your Alitalia flight while still in the US.
Yes, it's only about a 10 minute walk between T3 and T1; we did it outside because the weather was nice, but I bet there's a way to do it indoors.
When I took them, Alitalia domestic flights included one checked bag and allowed the same sized carry on as my flight from the US to Rome. Of course, this was April 2014, so it could have changed.
If you haven't bought your Alitalia ticket yet, be sure to use their International website: https://www.alitalia.com/en_en/. This has the same prices as their Italian website but has an English option (the Italian one has Italian only). The US website has much higher prices for domestic flights in Italy - for the exact same flights!
Thanks Harold. Good suggestions.
Huhhh....this brings up a related question for me that might be worth some discussion in this forum..
Does United have and interline baggage agreement with Alitalia where the bags could be checked thru to Sicily from the USA? (Even though they are not one ticket.) I googled this question and someone out there said they did.
But they also said Alitalia couldn't get his bag transferred to his Siclily flight even with a 6 hour layover at FCO.
Flyer beware.
But in general do the major carriers have interline baggage agreements in the US and/or overseas?
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My experience with prices on Alitalia's US and International websites is different, so I suggest you check prices on both websites before making your purchase. I purchased 2 separate one-way Alitalia tickets for travel within Italy this past spring. One ticket cost less on the US website while the other ticket cost less on the International website. Be sure to translate the euro price on the International website into USD and add any foreign currency transaction fee (3% for my credit card) before comparing prices.
