DeborahAnn

I'm trying to arrange a shuttle/cab pick up time from our Rome apartment to FCO on May 30th. It's a Sunday morning and our apartment is near the Pantheon.

Is it recommended that we be there 3 hours before the flight if using a US carrier?

What is your recommendation if you are using AirFrance and flying through Paris?Should we use the same time of 3 hours before the scheduled flight on AirFrance or is 1 or 2 hours alright?

We are a party of 5 but could take separate means to the airport to allow a morning sleep in for two of us

Thanks for any help. Deborah

Lifeman

If your flight is to Paris from Rome, then two hours should be OK. I wouldn't make it any shorter than that.

If your US carrier is currently subject to increased security then go for the three hours. If you don't check in together, then you won't be able to check in other people's bags and you may not get to sit together unless you've checked in online.

In any case, see the relevant airline's website for their recommendations.

Dayle

Deborah Ann,

I would definitely be there 3 hours early. Based on personal experience.

DeborahAnn

From the helpful responses, 3 hours for those of us on the USAir flight and 2 hours for the people flying AirFrance? Does that sound like good planning?


We haven't been to FCO since 2007 and I thought it was 2 hours way back then

thanks, Deborah

nytraveler

You need to ask your airine this. They will know how many staff they will have to process passengers and what their specific security procedures are. If someone here says an hour in advance is early enough that won;t help you when the airline says you're too late to check in and get through security.

rnman

I came through FCO on Thursday. We arrived 2 hours prior to departure. It was fine but we needed every minute of the 2 hours. There were three different security check points. They start boarding 90 minutes prior to departure. We were on Delta. Hope that helps!

rnman

One more thing... we flew Blu Express from FCO to Brindisi... that was much faster.. the flights to the US are really slow... We were flying FCO to SLC on Thursday

Danielle811

We flew out of FCO on Friday on Delta to JFK and arrived 3 hours prior to departure, and we didn't have nearly as much down time as we expected (30 minutes or so). I think you would be okay with 2 hours, but as rnman points out you'll use every minute of that time.

Sher

DeborahAnn. Do you have a computer which will allow you to check in on line?
You could maybe do everything for the check in but print the boarding passes. That may save some time at the airport.

Good Luck.

DeborahAnn

Thanks everyone. I think it is helpful to hear your recent FCO experiences but nytraveler is correct telling me to see what the airlines recommend.

Fodors forum does it all, helpful information as well as gentle reminders that the best answers aren't always found here

Sher, Ron and I will each have an itouch but I'll have to check to see if we have wifi at the apt. We could do all that on the day before we leave and find access to a printer. Good idea. I have to also arrange a check out time for the rental company as well as calculating the timing to the airport so I'm trying to come up with realistic times for our departure. Thanks again, Deborah

lifelist

How early is the flight? I had an early morning flight out of FCO (8:45 a.m.), and I got there 3 hours ahead only to find that the check-in desk was still closed, and I ended up waiting around for a bit. If it's early on a Sunday morning, I'm betting that 2 hours is enough time.

Holly_uncasdewar

Deborah - I'll be doing the same as you at the end of March (FCO to Paris to U.S.). Still haven't decided how early I need to get to FCO, but if you resurrect this thread after 04/01, I'll let you know my experience. And I'll be calling Air France tonight.

Cowboy1968

Check your airline. AF's website says that check-in closes 30min prior to departure for intra-European mid-range flights. If you get to the airport 90min before your flight, you should be on the very safe side.
Even though you connect to the US in Paris, your flight Rome-Paris is handled like a domestic flight since you stay within the Schengen zone and clear passport control and additional security in Paris. No passport control in Rome. Just security.

DeborahAnn

My sister is flying the Rome-Paris-US route and is traveling with my two college age nieces; my husband and I are doing the Rome-US route so I want to make sure I allow enough time for both flights. Sister Laura's task is to get the girls moving early enough to make their flight, my task is to get us all to the airport with time to spare

When we flew Amsterdam to US in October we needed almost every minute of those 3 hours and that was before the Detroit "incident" out of Amsterdam!! Thanks, Deborah

tcreath

I too want to know what time your flight is. We had a 7:30 am flight a few years back. Showed up three hours early and the ticket line wasn't even open yet. The airport was basically all but empty, with literally nothing opened. We ended up laying down on a row of chairs and taking a nap for over an hour until the Swiss Air check-in desk finally opened. In this case, we certainly did not need to be there three hours early.

Tracy

Zerlina

Is this USAir to Washington? It departs at 10:45 am. Be there three hours ahead.

And remember that the USAir people have to go to Terminal 5, but the Air France people have to go to Terminal 3.

rnman

FYI.... WE had to check in with passports for the domestic flight in Italy. If you are ticketed to the US.. on the flight be prepared for a lot of security.... I could not believe that they started boarding 90 minutes prior to departure.. but they needed that much time. If the flight is going to the states, and you don't have to go through security again.. be prepared for a lengthy process.

DeborahAnn

Our flight is Rome to Philly and then to BWI at 11:50am and Laura's is Rome to Paris to Logan to MSP (I had absolutely nothing to do with her choosing that flight ) at 10:20 am.

By what I've gathered here we could take a shuttle together so that Laura will be there 2 hours before and Ron and I will have a 3 1/2 hour wait.

I want to be sure my sister has no problems with her departure so we will give ourselves an even earlier airport arrival time if it's warranted.

Thank you so much for your comments, Deborah

Sher

DeborahAnn. I know that for the first time with a computer in Lisbon we checked in at the apartment but of course we could not print up the passes.
The check in was a breeze since all of the information, passport no.'s etc were already entered in their computer.
I haven't been to FCO in ages but if you could do it I don't think it would hurt.
Have a great trip.

tuscanlifeedit

DeborahA, we are on the same flight on May 1. I just have to say that I am so happy with the 11:50 departure time.