Just beginning to plan a trip to Italy in spring 2005. Wondering if there's an airline that flies this route nonstop. Preliminary research shows only connecting flights.

That's correct. No airline that I know of flies non-stop from the West Coast to Italy.

Thanks, rk. That's not the response I was hoping for

If you have to connect, UsAir's flight from Philadelphia to Rome is a good choice. They have a great on demand video system and going through Phila on the return is vastly better than transiting JFK (shudder). Their Envoy class is really comfortable and the flight attendants work hard at doing the dinner etc. in a timely manner so you can sleep. Phila seems to have less drama than JFK to me. I despise the thought of going through Atlanta with Delta. Otherwise, I think you could possibly go BA to London and connect there, but Heathrow, like JFK is never my first choice. Good luck!

I'm going to second wills thought on flying US Airways from Philly to Rome. Having done JFK and Philly, the choice is obvious. Philly's not as crazy, the international terminal is clean and comfy. Plus the inflight entertainment helps the flight go by quickly. It will be a 6:00 pm flight out arriving in Rome at approximately 8:30 am the next morning.

There many choices for transit, on either side of the Atlantic. USAirway's service to Europe is good, but coming back, many people have complained about the transit situation after you get through customs. If you decide to take USAir, know that you can get out of the international arrival terminal, and walk over to the domestic one; instead of waiting FOR HOURS to get through security between the two.

Other decent choices for transit include Chicago if you fly AA, Newark (CO); Amsterdam (KL).

Thanks for the suggestions! I've done the USAirways Philadelphia-Rome connect and it was fine, so will watch the fares a little later in the year on this route. Also will keep my eye on AA through Chicago. Definitely want to avoid NY and LHR, if at all possible. Air France goes to Paris nonstop and then on to Rome, so will watch that route too.