I've never been to either airport. Please help me choose between London switch and Rome

There are several questions here so here some suggesitons

1. Bag check is your friend. Seriously, I know Rick says 'carry on' but if you are going to have trouble hoisting your luggage check the thing! I have no idea how "upgrading" will help with the hoisting issue.

2 Based on the above I assume your two options are as follows

A. USAir flight from wherever you live to London
B. USAir flight from wherever you live to Rome

But it could be
C. USAir flight from home to Rome with a connection in London.

(Clarification of this will make this easier for people to assist)

Either way I would go with B or C. And bag check. Also make VERY sure you understand the rules for upgrading. It's not easy and just because they have seats doesn't mean you can have them for an upgrade!

Now you have to get to Naples. No, you don't want to wait until you show up at the airport unless you want to top dollar for the ticket. Personally considering your physical limitations I would suggest that you plan to spend a night in Rome and then take the train to Naples. It's an easy train ride and you can store you luggage easily. But if you want to fly it will be an unprotected connection. That means you have to allow time to get your bag, go through customs and immigration etc. (and don't say "I don't check so I won't have to allow time to get my bag" Saw a woman having a panic attack on this last week. She had to gate check due to full overheads! ) My rule of thumb is no less then 4 hours between flights and an understanding that if my flight to Rome is late I may still be buying that full price train ticket!

As you have already discovered in attempting to use your miles, about the only Oneworld all the way route is via London and involves changing from US Airways (or AA or British Airways) at Heathrow to the British Airways flights from Gatwick. This transfer is not particularly difficult as there is a National Express coach service between Heathrow Central and Gatwick that runs three times an hour and is timetabled to take about an hour and a quarter, albeit longer in bad traffic. There should be ample time though as your flight would probably be arriving early morning and the one to Naples departs Gatwick at 14:25.

BA still has some transatlantic flights into Gatwick that might work, but possibly your US miles won't get you an upgrade.

"It looks like I have a choice of changing airports in London and finding a flight from Rome to Naples. I've never done either."

• Do not change airports in London. It will be a lot of hassle, you will loose ½ day, and it will not be good for your back. Try and find a connecting flight to Naples from the same airport (presumably Heathrow), even better the same terminal.

Try to book a through ticket from your starting airport to Naples, including changing planes in London, Naples or wherever (Frankfurt?, Paris?). If you book it as one booking, the airline is responsible for getting your luggage form the first flight to the second one. And if you miss the second flight because the first was late, it then becomes the airline's responsibilty to re-book you on the next suitable flight and look after you until then.

Option 3 is a flight to Rome followed by a fast train to Naples. This would only work if you arrive in Rome early enough to get to Naples on the same day (or you would need to overnight in Rome); and you neeed to allow time to get from the airport to Rome Termini station..

There aren't any direct flights to Naples from Heathrow any more - blame 'low cost' airlines for this. They all go from either Gatwick, Luton or Stansted in the winter.

The last couple of times I've been in Italy, I've always found someone to help me lift my suitcase on and off the trains. I'd fly straight to Rome, then take the Leonardo Express to Rome and then get the fast train to Naples.

If you buy a ticket at the train station from Rome airport to Termini station and then to Naples, the standard class tickets only add up to about $70 at full fare, or slightly more for the next class of service.

Whether you plan to check your bag or not, pack light and allow for unexpected variables. I also have had no trouble getting help to lift my bag onto the overhead rack on many trains, but this assumes you have kept it to a reasonable size.

FYI, Roma Termini station offers porter service for 5 euros/bag, and free assistance for elderly and disabled travelers, but both require booking ahead.

Thank you all for responding. Although I made it, I do agree that avoiding Heathrow would have been a bit simpler. What did I learn?
1. Once you let go of your suitcase, you must let go of the notion of getting it at the conclusion of your trip. At Heathrow, it took far too long to get information about my bag. It should have been there, as it was my first international touchdown. After being told a bunch of made up stuff, I finally had to proceed to getting to the other 'London' airport.
2. Gatwick is far, far away. I ended up with National Express, which was fine. I presented absolutely everyone I could with the situation: I just booked, too late to get a confirmation number or a boarding pass online. My bag didn't arrive. How can I get to Gatwick? (Is that how you spell it? Sorry if not.) I got so many wrong answers, starting with the customs officer, who told me that 7 hours wasn't enough to change airports (that was when I noticed that my watch didn't work. My cell phone, broken somehow, was still at home.)
National Express is a fine company. After three circumnavigations of the bus area (up, down, over, under - I'm still not sure how I got there from the airport, and what 'there' is.), I went back to the man who sold me the ticket (About $50 usd) laughed when I said that I had gone out the door to the left of him, but my ticket said bay 3, and there wasn't one. The secret rule is that you go out the door to the left of the customer service man, who has nothing to do with the sales lady to the right and a bit behind you, if you don't trust machines to dispense your tickets at the moment). You find the bus number, 200 on the day in question, and wherever they park, you hop on. Oh, for goodness sake, wear your seatbelt, and devote whatever attention you must to getting it on. The seats are highly waxed.
3. If your suitcase didn't make it to your final destination, make a report, THEN DON'T LEAVE the airport until you have told the airline, your credit card company, if they offer insurance, or the insurance that you bought. Oops, I'm out of luck.

I will say that I would not have had the fake courage that I did have to persevere and make this unplanned trip without you all. It was like I made a pilgrimage in Ken from Vernon's honor.

I'm not finished yet. I thought that all my miles and $300 would make both crossings of the Atlantic business (did I forget to share that some lady had me watching her kids and I later found out that the paid nanny was in coach?), so I'm going back, days before the planned trip to Italy, in coach.
This may be my undoing, but whatever. That's my new motto.

Thank you all for responding. Although I made it, I do agree that avoiding Heathrow would have been a bit simpler. What did I learn?
1. Once you let go of your suitcase, you must let go of the notion of getting it at the conclusion of your trip. At Heathrow, it took far too long to get information about my bag. It should have been there, as it was my first international touchdown. After being told a bunch of made up stuff, I finally had to proceed to getting to the other 'London' airport.
2. Gatwick is far, far away. I ended up with National Express, which was fine. I presented absolutely everyone I could with the situation: I just booked, too late to get a confirmation number or a boarding pass online. My bag didn't arrive. How can I get to Gatwick? (Is that how you spell it? Sorry if not.) I got so many wrong answers, starting with the customs officer, who told me that 7 hours wasn't enough to change airports (that was when I noticed that my watch didn't work. My cell phone, broken somehow, was still at home.)
National Express is a fine company. After three circumnavigations of the bus area (up, down, over, under - I'm still not sure how I got there from the airport, and what 'there' is.), I went back to the man who sold me the ticket (About $50 usd) laughed when I said that I had gone out the door to the left of him, but my ticket said bay 3, and there wasn't one. The secret rule is that you go out the door to the left of the customer service man, who has nothing to do with the sales lady to the right and a bit behind you, if you don't trust machines to dispense your tickets at the moment). You find the bus number, 200 on the day in question, and wherever they park, you hop on. Oh, for goodness sake, wear your seatbelt, and devote whatever attention you must to getting it on. The seats are highly waxed.
3. If your suitcase didn't make it to your final destination, make a report, THEN DON'T LEAVE the airport until you have told the airline, your credit card company, if they offer insurance, or the insurance that you bought. Oops, I'm out of luck.

I will say that I would not have had the fake courage that I did have to persevere and make this unplanned trip without you all. It was like I made a pilgrimage in Ken from Vernon's honor.

I'm not finished yet. I thought that all my miles and $300 would make both crossings of the Atlantic business (did I forget to share that some lady had me watching her kids and I later found out that the paid nanny was in coach?), so I'm going back, days before the planned trip to Italy, in coach.
This may be my undoing, but whatever. That's my new motto.