Early morning flight Venice/VCE
 

Hello everyone! I am flying out of Venice Marco Polo airport very early next month. The scheduled flight departure time is 06:00 - it's a flight to Amsterdam. KLM sent an email saying to arrive by 04:00 but I'm seeing posts online saying the airport doesn't actually open until around 05:00. This confuses me because most airlines have a baggage cut-off of 60 minutes before departure - which in this case is 05:00. How can they accept bags if the airport doesn't even open until the cut-off time? I need to check a bag so this concerns me greatly. I'm planning on taking the first water taxi to the airport with the arrival time of 05:00 but thought that would be too late and I'd miss the baggage time. Now I'm not so sure. Could someone please help me? :)

I admit I'm a worrywart. If the airline told me to be there at 4:00, I'd be there at 4:00. Worst case scenario, you'd sit around for an hour. You could split the difference and arrive at 4:30 if you're not the patient type.

I did hear that they reintroduced Schengen border controls at VCE through the end of May which would certainly require additional check-in time. Perhaps KLM knows something...

KLM has sent you CYA boilerplate language.

If you arrive too late to check your bag (whatever that cut-off might be - they didn't deign to tell you), their covered.

If you arrive an hour before the airport opens, what do they care? They've covered their liability.

Why don't you phone KLM, or tweet them ... ask what time their check-in desk at VCE opens? Then plan your water taxi to arrive 15 minutes before that.

Thanks for the replies. Maybe I should've mentioned this in my original post but I already did the things suggested - I chatted with KLM via Facebook and they advised me to check the airport website. Then I scoured the airport website but could not find the hours of operation, or any hours indicating when the desks would be open. I found other sites advising that you could spend the night at the airport, but we have already paid for a hotel that night. My understanding is the very first water taxi of the morning arrives at 05:00 so it's not possible to arrive any earlier. I'm considering reserving a hotel by the airport for the night (and losing the money on the original reservation) but many of them have airport shuttles that don't start until 05:00am, so that doesn't help me. I was really hoping we could take the 05:00 water taxi (departing our hotel at like 03:30) but wanted to ask if anyone here has more insight so I'm not doing something unnecessary.

"My understanding is the very first water taxi of the morning arrives at 05:00..."

I believe you're looking at the Alilaguna service which is public transportation, not a "water taxi." I would think for the cost of a second hotel room at the airport, you could order a private water taxi to take you from your Venice hotel to the airport whenever you like.

Jean is correct.

The vaporetti do not run from Marco Polo to Venice.

The public water bus is called the Alilaguna. There are various lines e.g. Arancia.

You can get a private water taxi to Marco Polo from your Venice hotel (if it has a water
door) for about 100€.

Any decent hotel could arrange this for you.

Marco Polo is a very small airport, but it is chaotic.

I have never taken off ON TIME from this airport.

Good luck. I LOVE Venice! I am obsessed!

Thin

Looks like the bus will get you there at 4:40.

http://www.atvo.it/allegati/aeroport...28.10.2017.pdf

I'd get there at 4am. There is construction, signage for check in is not great, the airport is sooooo crowded. Oh how I dream of the days when Marco Polo was a teensy provincial airport.

I flew out of there yesterday and did not have to go through passport control in the airport so hopefully that part will not change as you are flying within Schengen. The passport control line was insane. They were however checking everyone's passport at the door of the plane. This slowed everything down because everyone had to get out their passport and we took off late. I got bumped to a later connecting flight but the ticket agent did not tell me... I only saw when I looked at my boarding pass. I guess the computer knew I was not going to make it.

Water taxi is a good idea, but you have to walk 10 minutes from the dock to the terminal. You could also take the night vaporetto to Piazzale Roma then a land taxi. I haven't been to the airport that early in a long time. But I'd rather relax than worry about it. Until they finish all the construction (and it is getting there) I'd advice everyone to arrive 2 hours early for flights within Schengen. At least there is a nice wine bar in the terminal.

Conventional wisdom on Fodors says avoid connecting flights out of Venice. This post shows why. You have to get to the airport so early and you lose some of your sight-seeing time in Venice.

Thank you everyone! We are considering taking the first bus of the morning (thanks thursdaysd!) and arriving between 4:40-4:55. My initial thought was to get there earlier, as some have advised, but I have read numerous reports that the airport itself does not open until around 5:00. As in, they physically have the doors locked until that time and the airline staff doesn't arrive until that time either so spending the night in the airport is pointless. Is this correct?

Also, will there be private taxi cars at Piazzela Roma? If so, how much would the fare be to get to the airport from that location?

We will have spent several days in Venice by this point so we should be familiar with how long it takes to walk places. We will be sure to give ourselves plenty of time in the morning so we don't miss our bus/taxi.

KLM isn't most airlines, KLM's policy is 40 minutes before for baggage check within Europe except for a few airports, but Venice has no exceptions. And this is posted on their website, it's not secret.

YOu can checkin online in advance.

I think the email was in reference to new security checks for everyone and is just standard, telling peopole to be there at least 2 hrs in advance.

It's also possible due to those new standards that they are extending opening hours and it will be open earlier than 5. I'd still aim for 4, I always aim for about 2 hrs before departure within Europe. I've never had a flight that early, though.