taxi for early morning trip to the airport

If you really are close to Termini, just walk over to the taxi stand there. There will always be plenty of cabs, no need to book in advance. Or ask your host if there is a taxi stand any closer to the apartment.

I had an early flight out of Rome this July, and I was headed to the nearest taxi stand at 4:00 am (1 block away), when an available, licensed cab drove by, stopped and asked if I wanted a cab just as I stepped outside of the apartment building I was staying in. We got to FCO in 25 minutes. Fixed price of €48, easy and comfortable. I was careful to make sure it was an official white city cab, but then was on my way in less than a minute. I think the cabbies know about the early flight schedules so there are plenty on the road at that time.

marylee, make sure you know which terminal building to go to, or they'll drop you at the main Alitalia terminal.

we found that scheduling a driver to pick us up at our apartment in Rome was just a couple euro more 50 vs 48 I think? We left around 3:30AM- so it was nice to know our ride was waiting for us. Ask your host if they can help you schedule a car.. (ours offered..)

The info below is pretty accurate.
https://unamericanaaroma.com/2012/02/13/how-to-take-a-taxi-in-rome-without-getting-ripped-off-2nd-ed/

If you are really close to Termini I'd walk to the taxi stand at the station.

Otherwise you can call one of the companies listed in the website above. Remember all those numbers start with 06. So for example 06 3570 is the number to be dialed for the company www.3570.it.
06 is Rome area code. The area code must be dialed first always (that change was made in the 1990s).

If you leave that early, you are not flying directly to the US. The earliest flights to North America depart well after 9am. Your flight is certainly stopping at some other hub in Europe (Paris? Amsterdam? Frankfurt?). Check your itinerary to find out where you are going first before flying to America.

Since the first leg of your flight is a European leg, you don't need to be there that early. It's like a domestic flight in America. Generally most airlines require that you complete your check in and have a boarding pass in your hands at least 45 min prior to departure. Being at the airport one hour prior to departure is generally sufficient to do so. I like to give myself at least an extra 15-20 min. If you are at the airport 80 min prior to departure and you will have extra time for breakfast before boarding.

I will second what Stan said. Our Airbnb host arranged our driver (45 euro) and he dropped us at the wrong terminal. We then had to take the free bus to the correct terminal. Not a problem because we had plenty of time.

What really made me mad: We flew from Rome to Washington DC. Upon arrival in the US, we went through customs and immigration and then had to re-check our bags (with United). We were told NO DUTY FREE LIQUIDS COULD BE CARRIED ON. We had to go through TSA again, so we had to pull to the side and repack all our bags! (along with other travelers). We had just purchased two bags full of wine and olive oil - liquids over 3 ounces - from the duty free shop in Rome. Even though they were sealed we were not able to bring them through security. So aggravating! We ended up taking our clothes out of our suitcase, putting in the bottles (with fingers crossed), and carrying on our clothes.

Not sure if this snafu was related to the airline (United) or the airport (dulles), but be forewarned.
Safe travels!

You need to understand you flight arrangements. Just because you will hit the US later in the day does not mean that you whole flight is international. Since you flight is leaving at 6.55 it is a domestic flight to a connecting international flight somewhere else in Europe. That means you go through Terminal 3 just as you would for any flight in Europe. And an hour and half to two hours is plenty of time at that early hour. IF you were flying direction to the US - non-stop from Rome then you would go to Terminal 5 for checking and security processing for a direct flight back to the US and you need the three hours. My guess is the checkin desk for your 6.55 flight will not open till 5.30 or later. So no point in being early.

Joan, I am sorry but there was no snafu caused by the airline or the airport. That has been standard practice for years and well discussed on travel site and especially here. You have go back through security because you have had access to your luggage (customs) and therefore, potentially have access to items that can be in your checked luggage but not in your carry-on luggage. Anything picked up in a duty free shop behind security has to go in your checked luggage if changing planes in the US. That is well known and should be well understood by most travelers. Sorry you missed it. Don't blame the airport or the airline, it is TSA policy. Now, I agree with you that it is hassle and I think it could be handled in a much better way but remember that a lot of our security policies are for show.

Your departure terminal is T3, since it's a intra Europe flights.

T5, which handles flights to North America (and Israel) on American (or Israeli) flag carriers, doesn't even open that early, since the first flight is the Delta to JFK which departs at 9:15.

Frank wrote:
You have go back through security because you have had access to your luggage (customs) and therefore, potentially have access to items that can be in your checked luggage but not in your carry-on luggage. Anything picked up in a duty free shop behind security has to go in your checked luggage if changing planes in the US. That is well known and should be well understood by most travelers. Sorry you missed it. Don't blame the airport or the airline, it is TSA policy.

AHA! Thank you for explaining this, especially in a nice way. I have had lots of experience returning from the Caribbean with duty free stuff, and never had to stuff it into my luggage when connecting through Miami or San Juan. I guess I just assumed it would be the same. Also, on the way to Europe, we had a layover in Canada (from the US) and never even had to claim our luggage, so I guess I just assumed since I had cleared security once, then I'd be good to go.

Live and learn!

P.S. Good news was nothing was broken! Whew!

Thank you to everyone who replied to my questions. Lots of helpful information. We are flying from Rome to Newark with a change and layover in Lisbon, Portugal. I never thought of this as domestic travel so your information about how much time is needed at airport before the flight is much appreciated. I especially appreciate the help regarding taxis to airport. I am truly grateful for this forum as it has helped answer many questions.

First off, I definitely recommend Rome Cabs for such an early morning transfer. We have used them 3 times (twice for early airport transfers) & they are without a doubt worry-free and very reliable. The cost is only slightly more than a taxi but you can rest assured they'll be at your hotel at the arranged time. We used them last month for a 6:30 am flight from FCO to Paris.

We got to the airport approximately 2.5 hours early and the airport was packed. Our airline (Air France) used the Alitalia ticket counters for check-ins and it was VERY crowded. The security lines weren't the problem...it was the line for the ticket/check-in counter that was the problem, as we had check-in luggage. Luckily, I spotted a special line for Premiere ticket-holders as we used miles to fly business class. This cut at least an hour off of standing in line and my husband and I commented that if we were flying coach, we would definitely have needed an extra hour to get through the maze at the counter, thereby justifying being at the airport 2.5-3 hours early. Not sure if this is a problem unique to Alitalia/Air France or all the airlines. Better to be safe than sorry and be there early enough.

Absolutely agree with Sheron. We can not say enough good things about Rome Cabs. It is a private car service (not a cab company) but only cost about 10 Euro more than a regular taxi. We always use them and have always been very pleased. Go to romecabs.com and see what you think. We usually send an email and they answer us with a quote within 24 hours. You do have to pay cash (Euros) and the end of the journey but not in advance. The problem with having the hotel or other host make arrangements is that you might wind up with a regular cab, a car service, or the desk clerk's brother in law. Happened to us once but there were four of us and only one brother in law so it worked out ok.