flying from Rome to Palermo
 

would like to fly from Rome,Italy to Palermo. Has anyone done this ? Should you book flights while in the U.S. before going to Italy ? Any other things that we should consider ?

Unless you're planning on flying to Palermo on a national holiday, you don't really have to book that much ahead. You CAN book ahead, though, if you're worried about it. I think the airline you'll probably want to go with is Meridiana. I used them to fly from Rome to Milan on a day when there was going to be a train strike and I absolutely had to get to Milan on a specific day. They're a small airline, but I found the service to be good and reasonably-priced. I booked online with them, had an "e-ticket" which I printed, had my hotel phone the airline and confirm with them, and all was well.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

The system works the same way you'd buy tickets in the US.

If you just care about getting a seat but don't aren't concerned about price then there is no need to book ahead, as bc says.

If you care about price, then it behooves you to book ahead of time and not count on cheap tickets being available at the last minute.

You book over the internet, and the website doesn't care if you're in the US, Italy, or anywhere else.

Same as you'd do at home.

Also, make sure you familiarize yourself with any checked baggage fees. Many low cost European airlines have perfected (for their own revenue) the system of collecting payment for checked bags - it's only in the last 1-2 years that US airlines have followed this model.

Another way of going from Rome to Palermo is by ferry. You leave in the evening, have a wonderful evening at sea and arrive in the morning. SNAV and Grand Navi Veloci (M, W and F. Others leave from Naples. You just need to have the hotel have a taxi meet your ferry. We love to go that way.

thanks for the help with the plane to Palermo...

We flew from Rome (FCO) to Catania R/T with Wind Jet.
Low cost airline, but comfortable enough and on time.
We checked prices on the internet and they were the cheapest
at that time.Booking made on line and e-ticketed
They also fly Rome to Palermo

The one problem I had with Wind Jet this past April is that it does accept American credit cards on line. This is not a question of a glitch; the web site specifically states at one point that credit cards from the U.S. are not accepted.

Correction: "it does <b>not</b> accept American credit cards ...