Customs in Rome and Sicily? Coming from USA..

I'll let someone more knowledgeable answer your specific question. But I'll ask what is the airline on which you are using mileage, where is D flying from in the States, and does the airline maybe have a partner airline that can get her to Palermo, on the mileage? I ask because a year ago I used United mileage to fly from JFK to Munich to Palermo.

Since she is terminating in Rome she would go through both immigrations and custom in Rome and then on to Sicily. There is a risk to the two ticket approach. If her original flight to Rome is delayed enough either by late arrival, luggage claim, or immigrations and she misses the second flight, then that ticket is dead since the two ticket are not linked in anyway.

In second option she would go through immigrations in Rome and customs in Sicily. With a single linked ticket her luggage would be checked through to Sicily and if delayed in Rome the airline is obligated to get her to Sicily on another flight. I would do the second option.

We just did the US-Rome-Palermo on one ticket via Delta a couple of months ago. You only go through passport control and security in Rome and customs in Palermo. Not sure about having the trip spread out over 2 tickets.

Edited: Frank beat me with more info :(

Customs is not the significant issue in that most of us are in the "nothing to declare" category.

Not a significant issue if you do not check baggage. If you do check baggage, you will need to exit secured area, wait to reclaim the baggage, recheck the baggage and obtain boarding pass, then reenter the secured area.

As others note, its on you to not miss the second flight and to hope your luggage isn't delayed.

Plan number two has definite advantages. If the airline currently doesn't have any "space available" for frequent flyer awards on the connecting flight, then perhaps they could add that leg to the ticket later if space gets released, or you could buy it, even if it's not the cheapest flight on that route. FYI, someone in my family doesn't plan very far ahead and I have found more frequent flyer seats available a week out than a month out.

I did this last year, because my mileage ticket could only get me to Rome. As said above, you clear immigration in Rome, pick up your checked bags, then go through customs. You then check in for the flight to Palermo, then go through security again. Customs is not the problem, as that's a walk-through. There can be delays at security, but that's not the big problem. The big problems are immigration and baggage claim - they can be fast or slow, and there's simply no way to predict.

So, what I did was buy two tickets FCO to PMO - one 3 hours after my scheduled arrival, and another one 10 hours after. I knew I would be throwing away one of the tickets, and just figured the total cost of the two flights as the cost of my flight from FCO to PMO. In the end, I made the earlier flight with time to spare, but you can't count on that.

And since Iberia doesn't fly from Rome to Palermo, the flight you are looking at is a code-share. Find out the actual operator of the plane, so your daughter will know which terminal and which counter to go to for check in. Particularly since she may be rushing, she can't afford to go to the wrong place.

If she is on a single ticket, it's much easier. She will clear immigration in Rome, but her checked bags will be checked through to Palermo. She may have to change terminals (in which case she will have to go through security) or not, but she will get both boarding passes in the US. So, all she has to do is get to the next flight. Then, she will pick up her luggage and clear customs in Palermo, but as said, customs is merely a matter of walking through the "green channel - nothing to declare" line. Furthermore, if she is all on one ticket and her first flight is delayed enough that she misses the connection, Delta/Alitalia will put her on a later flight at their expense. If she's on separate tickets, it's up to her to figure out how to get from Rome to Palermo, and the cost is born by her.