Arrival at FCO
 

Posted this in the Europe forum and received a good suggestion to repost here.

My wife and I are traveling to Rome on separate flights. She is on a Delta flight from Atlanta and according to flightstats.com this flight is arriving at Terminal 5.

I am on a United flight from DC apparently arriving at Terminal C.

But I've seen recent information on the net that Terminal 5 is being used for international departures only (not arrivals) and the FCO website only shows a departure map for T5. I've also seen some information on the net that terminal C is closed and those arrivals are going to Terminal B???

Has anyone arrived at FCO recently on Delta? I was wondering if these Delta arrivals were being transferred to the Terminal C or B hall? We're just trying to figure a sensible meeting point. I'd like to do the legwork and just meet my wife with the milling taxi drivers outside of whichever arrivals hall she comes through.

If you're going to take the train into Rome....

Have your meeting place at the Train station.

Please make sure that the other person's flight is not massively delayed for some reason.

Here's the nasty bit, getting to the train station means hauling your bags up (maybe down also) multiple sets of stairs.

There weren't any ramps the last time I was there (2 years ago).

There are elevators to get to the upper level of FCO if you are catching the train and don't want to naviagate stairs.

Where are they?

I certainly didn't see them.

I think the purpose of a post on a forum is to help those that need help.

All US bound flights leave out of Terminal 5 but most of the US carriers arrive at terminal C so you will be down in baggage claim in roughly the same area.

Rastaguytoday - As you exit the baggage claim area go to the left. At the end you will see 3-4 elevators. Take them up a level and there is a walkway (over the road) across to the trains.

Since you are both on flights from the US, you should both have to go through immigration and customs in the international arrivals area (regardless of where the planes dock). Wait in the lobby just outside customs, where cabbies will beg you to ride with them. Don't.
Go to the official cab line, where you can get a Rome-licensed taxi to the city center for the fixed fare of 40E. Just make sure the car has the Rome shield on the door and you let the driver know that you will pay the 40E fare (express train fare for two plus taxi from Termini to a centro hotel would be 30-33E). Buon viaggio.

The OP was wanting a meeting point to wait for spouse's flight which arrives an hour later. Somewhere to hang out for an hour or so.

Wouldn't the international arrivals area outside customs be the most logical the place to meet? I've always raced through there en route to the train or taxi so I never noticed whether it is a comfortable spot for waiting, so "somewhere to hang out" could be elswhere. But it would be easy enough to return to that area when it is time to meet the spouse.

Thanks for the help, folks. Here's what happened:

United's flight arrived on time in some satellite area and we made a short tram ride to the Terminal B/C arrivals hall. There was no wait at immigration but about 45-50 minutes waiting for my checked bag. My wife's Delta flight arrived early, and directly to Terminal C (no tram ride) and she was stepping past immigration into the baggage claim area as I was walking back through baggage claim to look at the arrival board for her flight status. It would have been a cinch to meet just past customs with the taxi drivers as well.

The only thing that was confusing was the incorrect information posted on flightstats.com that these Delta flights are arriving at Terminal 5, which is an 800 meter bus ride away from Terminal B/C. It appears that all North American arrivals into FCO are still at terminal B/C, and departures only from Terminal 5. After checking in at Terminal 5 when we left Rome, we rode a shuttle bus back to departure gates at Terminal C.

best regards,

maytraveller

I have a similar question. Two people flying United and two people flying Delta. Arriving about an hour apart. Is there some place where the early people can sit and wait for the later people? A fast food place perhaps? We'll be taking a taxi into Rome. Thanks for the info on taking a licensed taxi.

When you exit from customs check into the arrivals hall, the taxi stand is to your right and there is an ATM as well. Although we weren't looking for a place to sit, I remember that there was a cafe or sandwich shop in this area as well that would work fine.

maytraveller