Travel to Sicily for RS tour

Probably stating the obvious, but have you looked at Skyscanner for flights? I think the only smaller European carrier we've flown is Tuifly once or twice, but if was fine.

Hi Priscilla. We’ve flown Ryan Air from Catania in the past and it was fine. I think we paid extra for luggage so we didn’t have to worry about weight./size.

ITA is the replacement for Alitalia which we took round trip Rome to Sicily. I don’t see any reason not to book your flights with them. The flights work well in and out of Rome. We connected to Palermo, Sicily through Rome and left from Catania to Rome.
There is no need to worry about getting in and out of Sicily; it is rather straightforward.

Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) is ITs flagship carrier meaning it carries the flag of IT. Flagship carriers are not low-cost carriers so you’ll encounter fewer restrictions.

Thanks all. I guess I’m just trying to make it too hard. I’m just used to booking “multi city” and I don’t see that option. Two one way legs will work.

We flew into Catania and out of Palermo to Rome on Ryan air this past May. The advantage of Ryan Air over ITA for us is that we could pay to bring a standard size carry on with Ryan Air and the same size luggage had to be checked with ITA. The price was not different but we preferred not to check our luggage.

Hi, I feel your pain. Another option, you might look at flying from the US into Munich or Frankfurt and eyeing the Lufthansa options. We did Sicily in Feb... As I recall we went Charlotte to Munich on American. The picked up a same day AM Lufthansa flight (separate ticket/reservation) from Munich(MUC) to Palermo(PMO). Coming home, we were on the same Lufthansa reservation Catania(CTA) to Frankfurt(FRA). Afternoon flight so we weren't rushed and spent the night at FRA airport Sheraton. Early next day caught our flight from FRA back to Charlotte(CLT). I just looked and Lufthansa(or their regional) seems to still have a decent set of direct flights for your dates with some back ups(though with connections). It all worked fine. Of course, that was just our experience. Your mileage may vary. Also oddly, when booking those legs on Lufthansa seems the business fares are cheaper than the economy. Go figure. Also, alumni tip, if you visit the Trapani salt flat, make sure your spouse doesn't load up the bottom of your carry on bag with 6 gift bags of Trapani salt. For some reason the airport security scanners in two airports pulled me aside and searched my bags and then tested. Enjoy, its a great tour.

Priscilla, I know this is moot since you've already booked part of your flights. But are you sure you couldn't have booked this multi-city? When we did this tour, we booked all the way there and back through Delta.

Delta from home > Rome, and Alitalia (at the time) codeshare from Rome to Palermo. Return was Alitalia codeshare to Rome and then Delta to the US. All on one ticket.

We ended up flying out on Lufthansa due to volcano issues.

Book the 2 one way tickets. We used ITA this June to get from Catania to Rome for a week on our own and it was just fine.

Stan, I looked at multi-city for the entire trip. Way more expensive than I wanted to pay for what I was looking at.

We took ITA from Rome to Palermo for the start of the tour and Catania to Venice at the end. They were fine - on time and no lost luggage.I say that about luggage because they were strict about the weight on the flights we took and we were over their limit. We figured that would be the case. Bags arrived just fine.

I'm doing the Sicily tour October 24th this year. My flights seem pretty straight forward. San Francisco to Zurich, on United, Zurich to Palermo on Swiss. Return I'm flying Catania to Milan, Milan to JFK, JFK to San Francisco. I have to book my Catania to Milan flight but there are several options, Ryan and Easy Jet. Yes, the small airlines are very strict about luggage and will weigh carryon so I will pre pay to check in case my bag is over! Good luck to you1

Those of you who have been on the RS Sicily tour, how was it? Looking at our 4th RS for 2024, and not sure about Sicily.

I used ITA to/from Sicily twice. They replaced Alitalia. They were just fine. Buying one-way tickets was no big deal (Rome to Palermo, Catania to Rome) and the price was okay. I do not recall any particular issue with luggage or carryon restrictions.

Cheryl, you'd be better off asking your question in a new thread, rather than reviving an unrelated old thread. But the answer to your question is, it was the best of our 4 tours - best hotels, food, sights, and people.

I’m on this tour right now and I would advise having 2 extra nights prior to tour starting. I booked one extra night and nearly missed the first day due to delays and alternate connections. I was feeling very stressed when I arrived and really wished I’d had another day.
I was re-routed on ITA and it was fine, typical shuttle type flight.
This is a very active tour. I’m a bit disappointed with the lack of ‘wow’ moments. This is my 5th tour and probably the least scenic but great food, wine and hotel rooms! Just got to Syracuse and from what I’ve seen tonight it reminds me of being in Venice! It’s a lovely town, I wish we had longer here!