Question: Flight To Rome

We go to Italy almost every year, health permitting. From Houston your choices are limited. Continental flies to Newport where you change planes. American, Delta and United changes planes in Atlanta, Florida and Detroit (Chicago?). For us the best choice is either Lufthansa which flies direct to Frankfurt where you can take a convenient flight to Roma (or wherever), or KLM which flies to direct to Amsterdam where again, you catch a flight to Italy. Or Air France which flies to Paris where you can ..... ditto. All these get you to Roma by around 12 or 1 PM. BOA is also possible but the delays are much longer and which airport is often confusing. Anyway, we have done all these at one time or another, the last time being this March when we flew Air France to Roma. You are welcome to write and if you do, I can give you my phone number so you can call if you want.

They don't exist from Dallas. I am flying into Rome next year on AA and have done alot of research on the best way to get there. Currently AA only flies nonstop to Paris, London and Frankfurt. I am flying AA to Gatwick, then Gatwick to Rome On BA. Leave DFW around 7pm, get to Gatwick at 10am next day, then leave for Rome about 2pm and finnally arrive at 5:30. Long day of travel, but will be well worth it.

I'd probably do CO to Newark and then on to Rome. Its easier to change planes in the US than it is to do so in Europe (no customs to deal with).

Thanks for the great information. If I am forced to layover on my way to Italy, then my follow-up question is: Do any U.S. or European airports/airlines have a reputation for losing more luggage than usual? I travel with a Rick Steves Carry-On suitcase, but always check it, since I also carry a small daybag stuffed with snacks, iPod, camera, etc.

Not that you would do this, but Air Canada has a bad rep, especially through Montreal. They lost my luggage when I went there last September (and it took 3 days to get it back) and my sister's when they came back from Paris. Other than that, honestly, I have only lost bags once (and that was due to a weather cancellation) in all my years traveling anywhere, and even there they were on the next flight 2 hours later.

Non-stop to Frankfurt to Rome appears to be your best bet.

I have taken United from Dallas to Philly and on to Rome.

Your best bet is flying Dallas non-stop to the east coast, then non stop to Rome. I've flown Continental from DFW to Rome once before, never had trouble with lost luggage in either direction. For me personally, I've used some of the big airlines to travel overseas- AA, Continental, US Airways, and can't say that I've ever had trouble with lost or damaged luggage.

if you've been reading the newspapers lately you've probably seen that the system in the US is nearing capacity. Delays are rampant, especially later in the day and on the east coast.

"The three airports run by the Port of Authority of New York & New Jersey — Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy — reported the three worst on-time records of major U.S. airports. Newark, where 55% of flights arrived on time, was worst." See http://tinyurl.com/3y5oru

What I suggest is that if you connect thru the east coast you plan on a flight that arrives there by 1pm or earlier, and give yourself at least 3 hours before your departing flight. Coming from CA if going thru an east-coast airport I'd fly to the east coast, spend the nite, and leave the next day. It doesn't cost any more for the flights to book this way. Personally I prefer flights that fly direct to Europe and connect there; much easier to get another flight once you're over the ocean.

Alitalia has a reputation for losing luggage.

They don't exist from Houston. I have the same problem. Need to go through Newark.

Thanks once again for all of the fantastic info. My final question on the subject would be: If I use the same airline the entire way, what is the minimum layover time that would comfortably get me from Leg 1 arrival to Leg 2 departure? On the travel websites, I have a choice of layovers from as little as 2.5 hours, to as much as 5 or 6 hours. I assume with the single airline method, I’m not gathering my suitcase from the carousel then re-checking, nor am I going through a second security check.

2.5 hours is more than enough. Honestly, I went through Newark and was not delayed at all. We had 1.5 hours on the way out and 75 minutes on the return and were in good shape.

with the single airline method you may go thru a 2nd security check; depends on the airport. If you're in different terminals you may have to be screened again. And in some international airports they seem to do this as a matter of course; I've never had a connecting flight in Frankfurt that didn't have me go thru security a 2nd time. And they're MUCH more thorough in Frankfurt than in the US.

What you do is up to you. It's not fun to waste a few hours in an airport. On the other hand, if you miss your flight then the impact on your vacation can be huge if you're still in the US and miss the connecting flight overseas. With the high seat occupancy rates there may not be another seat to get you over the Atlantic for a day or more. So pick your poison.

some more interesting reading, from a NY Times article, using Continental as an example: "Continental operates big hubs in Houston and Newark and one day last week, 1,658 passengers missed connections, which was 4.29 percent of those connecting. That is a typical level of missed connections, but Continental’s flights that day were 89.6 percent full, so finding seats on later flights for some passengers was difficult.

The system, however, rebooks people on the next available flight with a confirmed open seat and that is not always as soon as people might expect. Some are told their new departure is in three days. That causes them to go berserk, said David Grizzle, a senior vice president at Continental. Often, on standby, people get out sooner, he said."

from http://tinyurl.com/2ua9bs

Lamont-
In terms of layover time, I'd say 2-3 hours. It may seem like a long time, but can be well worth it in the long run. For example- I flew Continental from DFW to Newark, NJ, then onto the Northeast U.S. Many people on my flight to NJ were flying to Europe- particularly France or Germany with only a one hour layover. Unfortunately our flight from Dallas was delayed about an hour due to thunderstorms in NJ. This in turn caused a large amount of people having to scramble once arriving in Newark to find an alternate flight to their final destination. To me, it would pay in the long run to have a little bit of extra time built in to the itenerary.

As a follow-up, I read a Travel article in the recent “Newsweek” magazine which may be of use to some readers. The National Air Traffic Controllers website www.natca.org offers airport-specific reports on how to avoid delays. Also, www.flightstats.com provides a record of on-time departures and cancellations for specific flights. And www.avoiddelays.com publishes rankings of airlines, flights, and airports that had the most and longest delays last year.