first international flight, what to expect..
Oct 1st, 2009, 04:44 PM
#1
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first international flight, what to expect..
Hi, I'm interested in traveling to Rome, Italy next May. This would be my first international flight. I've flown domestically a few times, the longest flight being from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico (about 4 hours approx.) I'm kinda a nervous flier as it is esp during take-off. The landings I don't mind, although some folks have said they are really nervous during landings.
Anyway, I don't know what to expect about flying overseas to Rome, with a connection in Zurich. The flight I'm looking at is on SwissAir, operated by US Airways, for the PHL to ZRH portion. Do I enter customs, immigration at Philadelphia, Zurich, Rome? A combination of the 3? I get confused which is customs and which is immigration, etc.
Do most international flights offer the following: meals? in-flight movies? WiFi? Please offer me some advice. I don't want to back out of the trip, cause I'm getting a little nervous going to a foreign country, even though I will be with a friend.I appreciate any advice you might have for me. Greg
Anyway, I don't know what to expect about flying overseas to Rome, with a connection in Zurich. The flight I'm looking at is on SwissAir, operated by US Airways, for the PHL to ZRH portion. Do I enter customs, immigration at Philadelphia, Zurich, Rome? A combination of the 3? I get confused which is customs and which is immigration, etc.
Do most international flights offer the following: meals? in-flight movies? WiFi? Please offer me some advice. I don't want to back out of the trip, cause I'm getting a little nervous going to a foreign country, even though I will be with a friend.I appreciate any advice you might have for me. Greg
Oct 1st, 2009, 05:01 PM
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You'll check-in with USAirways at PHL. Your bags will be checked through to FCO (Rome Fiumicino). Because the US does not have border control for departing passengers, you only go through security at PHL. Just like for domestic flights. USAirways will check to see you have a passport, but that's it.
Currently, USAirways is scheduling a 767 for PHL-ZRH. You'll get two free meals, but this plane has overhead monitors only for the inflight movies. No individual screens. And no Wi-fi.
Switzerland has entered the Schengen common-travel area at the end of last year, and Italy has been a member for long time. This means you will go through immigration at ZRH. Immigration means passport control - where they look at and scan your passport and may or may not stamp it. You will not see your luggage at ZRH. But you will go through security.
At FCO, you will not go through immigration. You'll pick up your checked bags at the baggage claim, and depending on whether you have stuff to declare for customs (large amount of cigarettes, alcohol, etc), you will go through either the green doorway or red. If nothing to declare, go through green, and if nobody picks you for a random screen, you're done.
Currently, USAirways is scheduling a 767 for PHL-ZRH. You'll get two free meals, but this plane has overhead monitors only for the inflight movies. No individual screens. And no Wi-fi.
Switzerland has entered the Schengen common-travel area at the end of last year, and Italy has been a member for long time. This means you will go through immigration at ZRH. Immigration means passport control - where they look at and scan your passport and may or may not stamp it. You will not see your luggage at ZRH. But you will go through security.
At FCO, you will not go through immigration. You'll pick up your checked bags at the baggage claim, and depending on whether you have stuff to declare for customs (large amount of cigarettes, alcohol, etc), you will go through either the green doorway or red. If nothing to declare, go through green, and if nobody picks you for a random screen, you're done.
Oct 1st, 2009, 07:58 PM
#3
I would try to get a flight with less connections (if possible) if you are starting in Chicago.
You will be served dinner and breakfast on the plane. I don't know US Airs alcohol policy. You may or may not get a free drink with dinner.
You will be served dinner and breakfast on the plane. I don't know US Airs alcohol policy. You may or may not get a free drink with dinner.
Oct 2nd, 2009, 07:51 AM
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Also, take a look at this recent thread on sleeping on the flights across the Atlantic. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-trip-over.cfm
I like kybourbon's advice of minimizing the connections to 1 or 0. Why make 2 connections if you can do this in one or 0, especially if you can find a similar airfare. You mention Chicago, but it's not clear if that's your origin. If you're starting in PHL then connecting through Zurich would be a great idea if you can't get a non-stop.
Other good places to connect in Europe are Amsterdam (KLM) or Frankfurt / Munich (Lufthansa). Many people consider London and worse yet Paris as bad places to connect.
I like kybourbon's advice of minimizing the connections to 1 or 0. Why make 2 connections if you can do this in one or 0, especially if you can find a similar airfare. You mention Chicago, but it's not clear if that's your origin. If you're starting in PHL then connecting through Zurich would be a great idea if you can't get a non-stop.
Other good places to connect in Europe are Amsterdam (KLM) or Frankfurt / Munich (Lufthansa). Many people consider London and worse yet Paris as bad places to connect.
Oct 2nd, 2009, 09:41 AM
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Sorry, if my post was confusing. Yes I am departing from Philadelphia. I was referencing the longest flight I took so far, had been from Chicago to San Juan.
The flight on Swiss Air/US Airways is with a connection through Zurich. It is the cheapest one I could find so far. I think I would prefer a direct flight, but they seem to be more expensive.
But then again, stopping in Zurich seems like a good opportunity to stretch our legs. Plus the layover is for 8 hours, so I'm wondering if we could go into Zurich for an hour or 2, and stroll around for a bit.
The flight on Swiss Air/US Airways is with a connection through Zurich. It is the cheapest one I could find so far. I think I would prefer a direct flight, but they seem to be more expensive.
But then again, stopping in Zurich seems like a good opportunity to stretch our legs. Plus the layover is for 8 hours, so I'm wondering if we could go into Zurich for an hour or 2, and stroll around for a bit.
Oct 4th, 2009, 08:49 AM
#6
If you haven't already bought the plane ticket, I would do some more research and try to find a different route. 8 hours is too long of a layover. I'd do some more research and try to find better routing to get your from Chicago to Rome.
While it's good to be aware, there's no reason to fret over immigration and customs. You just pay attention & do what they tell you, go where they tell you to go, fill our forms when asked, etc. As a guideline, know they will happen at the places you arrive into, not your departure airport.
While it's good to be aware, there's no reason to fret over immigration and customs. You just pay attention & do what they tell you, go where they tell you to go, fill our forms when asked, etc. As a guideline, know they will happen at the places you arrive into, not your departure airport.
Oct 4th, 2009, 09:38 AM
#7
I've been looking at May flights for a companion and have noticed that USAir and Swiss have the cheapest in and out of Zurich, but I will be flying Skyteam so haven't booked yet.
If you post your dates and itinerary, we might be able to find better options for you. Do you plan to spend all your time in Rome? Have you considered flying into other airports (MXP? VCE?, etc.)? It may be the same price to fly into FCO and out of MXP and you could avoid backtracking which eats up vacation time.
Flights are usually cheaper the first half of May and go up about the 15th as it seems to be the start of the summer fares.
I use itasoftware to search flights. You can't book through them. If I find what I want I just go on the airlines website and book. I use the month long search if my dates are flexible. It will show a calendar with the cheapest dates to fly. The only problem with month long search is it doesn't let you search multi-city. If you have specific dates you can search that and also use the multi-segment/city. Use multi-segment for PHL/FCO and MXP/PHL (not for connections once you've arrived Italy).
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch
If you post your dates and itinerary, we might be able to find better options for you. Do you plan to spend all your time in Rome? Have you considered flying into other airports (MXP? VCE?, etc.)? It may be the same price to fly into FCO and out of MXP and you could avoid backtracking which eats up vacation time.
Flights are usually cheaper the first half of May and go up about the 15th as it seems to be the start of the summer fares.
I use itasoftware to search flights. You can't book through them. If I find what I want I just go on the airlines website and book. I use the month long search if my dates are flexible. It will show a calendar with the cheapest dates to fly. The only problem with month long search is it doesn't let you search multi-city. If you have specific dates you can search that and also use the multi-segment/city. Use multi-segment for PHL/FCO and MXP/PHL (not for connections once you've arrived Italy).
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch
Oct 4th, 2009, 11:51 AM
#8
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<i>Plus the layover is for 8 hours, so I'm wondering if we could go into Zurich for an hour or 2, and stroll around for a bit.</i>
Plenty of time to head into Zurich. Not a bad way to stretch your legs.
Plenty of time to head into Zurich. Not a bad way to stretch your legs.
Oct 6th, 2009, 04:26 PM
#9
For myself, I try to get where I'm going. Sure IF you have to spend 8 hours in Zurich, you could go to town for a couple hours. But for me, I'd plan the trip so I'd be in Rome (or wherever was my final destination) instead, if possible.
