Transfer at FCO

[Seabee]

I fly into FCO on USAir, have one hour then fly out on Alitalia to Venice. Booked through Orbitz but apparently have to book seats directly with the 2 airlines.

 

1. Do I clear customs in Rome or Venice?

2. If in Rome, is it easy to recheck baggage after customs?

3. Is this adequate time to make the transfer...how far apart are the 2 gate areas?

[FlyerTalker]

1. Do I clear customs in Rome or Venice?

Immigration at FCO, customs at VCE. Two different things, often confused by USA citizens (as they are immediately sequential at USA ports of entry)

2. If in Rome, is it easy to recheck baggage after customs?

Not applicable. Your bags will be checked through to VCE.

3. Is this adequate time to make the transfer...how far apart are the 2 gate areas?

Pushing it. 60 minutes is the listed minimum connecting time for international to domestic. You have to go from the international side to the Schengen side. Check out the airport maps for more info.

[bcnvcanada]

We did this last year, but had more time between 90 minutes. We run thru the international t-5 area, and walked as fast as we could. It is at least 1 k from the u.s.( termial 5) to the domestic to Venice. I know that some airlines provide a shuttle van to the other side. I would check with your airlines. Also the airport is very crowded early in the morning and depending on the day this adds to getting to the other side. If you can change you flight to Venice. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[Seabee]

Thanks....do you have to go outside the secure area and then re-clear security at the domestic terminal?

[bcnvcanada]

Transfer is not outside of secure area so not re check of carry ons. You will have a brief stop at immigration though. Not really a long time.

[sabel7]

Hello,

We will be flying into Rome FCO this november on Air Canada, and flying back on British Airways. We will be doing a cruise with Princess and have taken Princess transfers to the port.

Does anyone have any advice for us? Like where to meet the Cruise staff?, what gate the aircraft arrives at? how long are the waits for baggage? how long for check in after the cruise?

Thank you very much.

[6rugrats]

Hello,

We will be flying into Rome FCO this november on Air Canada, and flying back on British Airways. We will be doing a cruise with Princess and have taken Princess transfers to the port.

Does anyone have any advice for us? Like where to meet the Cruise staff?, what gate the aircraft arrives at? how long are the waits for baggage? how long for check in after the cruise?

Thank you very much.

 

Where to meet the cruise staff: Usually they are standing by the appropriate baggage claim carousel.

 

What gate the aircraft arrives at: You can check this closer to your flight time, but why would this be important to you if you don't have a connection? Just walk from your gate down to baggage claim. Most airports have signs that will direct you there.

 

How long are the waits for baggage: Who knows? They start unloading when the plane gets to the gate. Can take 15 minutes, an hour or you can wait forever if your bag went to another airport without you.

 

How long for check in after the cruise: Sorry, check in for what??

[Toto2Kansas]

Hello,

We will be flying into Rome FCO this november on Air Canada, and flying back on British Airways. We will be doing a cruise with Princess and have taken Princess transfers to the port.

Does anyone have any advice for us? Like where to meet the Cruise staff?, what gate the aircraft arrives at? how long are the waits for baggage? how long for check in after the cruise?

Thank you very much.

 

About a year ago we did just this, but with different airlines. Princess staff was by the luggage claim (you can't miss them), and luggage took quite some time to come out, close to an hour for us.

Depending on what time your flight arrives will depend on your transfer. We were taken about half way to the port to a hotel where they had a continental breakfast set up and restrooms were available to freshen up after the long flight. We were there for about two hours before reboarding the buses and being transfered to the cruise port. They don't take you to the port until the ship is ready to board, so if you have an early arriving flight, you won't necessairly be taken directly to the pier. ;)

[sabel7]

Hello everyone,

Flying in T5 on British Airways

Flying out of T3 on Air Canada

I would like to know if anyone has any advice for us concerning our flights.

We will be arriving in T5 from Rome at 4:45pm on a monday and will be flying out of T3 at 7:00pm. I am told our baggage will be checked through to our destination...Toronto.

Will appreciate any advice on transfer times, rush hours, etc..

Thank you very much.

[6rugrats]

Hello everyone,

Flying in T5 on British Airways

Flying out of T3 on Air Canada

I would like to know if anyone has any advice for us concerning our flights.

We will be arriving in T5 from Rome at 4:45pm on a monday and will be flying out of T3 at 7:00pm. I am told our baggage will be checked through to our destination...Toronto.

Will appreciate any advice on transfer times, rush hours, etc..

Thank you very much.

 

Not sure what type of advice you are looking for. When you arrive at T-5, you will have to transfer to T-3. There are very good signs that will show you which way to go to board the transportation to the other terminal.

 

What do you mean by rush hours?

[Globaliser]

Flying in T5 on British Airways

Flying out of T3 on Air Canada

As I see you've imported a smiley from FlyerTalk, have you asked there as well?

 

First question: Are you flying on one ticket or two?

 

If you are flying on two separate tickets, then BA's policy is that the bag will not be checked through to Toronto. In that case, your bag will only be tagged to Heathrow (LHR). When you get to T5 you will have to clear immigration, collect your bag, and clear Customs. Then follow the signs for the Heathrow Express. This will take you to the platform for the train which transfers you to the Central Terminal Area for T3. The transfer is free in Express Class (standard class). When you reach the next station, follow the signs for T3 Departures, which will lead you to the check-in area where you will check-in as normal.

 

If you are flying on one ticket covering both flights, then BA will through-check your bag. In that case, when you arrive at T5, just follow the purple signs for Flight Connections Terminal 3. Initially, they may generically say "Flight Connections", but make sure that when there are terminal numbers you are going towards T3. You will be taken to a bus stop, where a bus will take you across the airfield to T3. There you will clear security. Then you can go to the Air Canada transfer desk to pick up your boarding pass for your London-Toronto flight; it is unlikely that BA will be able to issue that at Rome.

[sabel7]

It looks like we are on one e-ticket. We are hoping to be able to check our baggage all the way to Toronto from Rome.

 

Flight Information 17 Nov 2009 Air Canada (AC) 890Economy (K) Air Canada Confirmation Numbers: Depart:Lester B Pearson Intl (YYZ) , Terminal 1

Toronto8:30 PMBaggage:2 PiecesFare Basis:K0MSLXBTNot Valid Before:17 NovNot Valid After:17 NovArrive:Fiumicino Arpt (FCO), Terminal C

Rome11:05 AM

18 Nov 2009 Status:Confirmed30 Nov 2009 British Airways (BA) 555World Traveller (M) British Airways Confirmation Number: Depart:Fiumicino Arpt (FCO) , Terminal C

Rome2:55 PMBaggage:2 PiecesFare Basis:K0MSLXBTNot Valid Before:30 NovNot Valid After:30 NovArrive:Heathrow (LHR), Terminal 5

London4:40 PM

Status:Confirmed30 Nov 2009 Air Canada (AC) 859Economy (K) Air Canada Confirmation Numbers: Depart:Heathrow (LHR) , Terminal 3

London7:05 PMBaggage:2 PiecesFare Basis:K0MSLXBTNot Valid Before:30 NovNot Valid After:30 NovArrive:Lester B Pearson Intl (YYZ), Terminal 1

Toronto10:25 PM

Status:Confirmed

I did e-mail British Airways and it looks like they will check in all the way and give me boarding passes.

 

Thank you for your email.

 

If you have a same day connection you will be 'through-checked' to your final destination, regardless of separate tickets. This means that your baggage will be labelled through to your onward destination, and you will have your boarding card for your next flight. In this case, you do not have to check-in again or collect your baggage, just follow the Flight Connections signs and make your way to your departure terminal.

 

The above is valid provided you are able to produce proof or documentation of onward travel and that the connection is within airport minimum connect times, is within the same day and meets local country restrictions.

 

This policy covers British Airways flights and oneworld flights only.

 

For all Domestic and all European flights, check-in is one hour before departure.

 

For International flights customers travelling in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus are requested to check in two hours prior to the scheduled departure time of their BA flight. Club World travellers may check in up to ninety minutes before flight. First travellers are asked to check in at least one hour prior to their scheduled departure time.

 

You can find the check in times that apply to your booking in the ‘At the airport’ section of 'Manage My Booking' at:

 

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/managebooking/public/en_

 

I hope you find this information useful and once again thank you for contacting us.

 

Regards

Sameer

British Airways

[Globaliser]

It looks like we are on one e-ticket. We are hoping to be able to check our baggage all the way to Toronto from Rome.

Good news, bad news, uncertain news.

 

Good news: I think that you will be able to through-check your bags all the way from Rome to Toronto, because it does look like you are flying on one ticket. I infer that from the fact that you have got the same fare basis for both sectors of the Rome to Toronto journey, and it doesn't look like a BA fare basis but it does seem similar to current AC fare bases.

 

A single AC fare basis for Rome to Toronto strongly suggests a through-ticket for that journey. Because it's one ticket, BA will through-check your bags.

 

Bad news: The information from BA by email falls into the "technically correct but totally useless to you" category. It says:-

If you have a same day connection you will be 'through-checked' to your final destination, regardless of separate tickets. This means that your baggage will be labelled through to your onward destination, and you will have your boarding card for your next flight. In this case, you do not have to check-in again or collect your baggage, just follow the Flight Connections signs and make your way to your departure terminal.

 

The above is valid provided you are able to produce proof or documentation of onward travel and that the connection is within airport minimum connect times, is within the same day and meets local country restrictions.

 

This policy covers British Airways flights and oneworld flights only.

The key is the last sentence - Air Canada is not in oneworld, so this policy does not apply to the connection that you are making. The agent just picked the likeliest looking answer off the website (it's word-for-word what is on the BA website) and fed it to you without knowing whether it applies to you. Indeed, the type of person dealing with emails like this really won't be trained in the detail that you'd need to understand to work out the position.

 

However, you are covered by the fact that you're on one ticket, so you'll be fine.

 

The uncertain news is that I cannot see your non-stop Toronto-Rome flight on 17 November. The Air Canada site crashes my browser, but I can't locate this flight using any of my other tools. You might want to check if it still exists.

[sabel7]

Thank You Globaliser,

Air Canada did send us a notice that our flight number has been changed to AC892 and it leaves Toronto at 6.00pm now instead of 830pm. They still call it a direct flight but it stops in Montreal for 90 minutes to pick up more passengers. Seems odd to call it a direct flight!!

Thank You

[YXU AC*SE]

Air Canada has been cutting back on their schedule. I believe they are parking 8 763s with the latest softening of demand.

 

Direct is A to B with no change of flight number through intermediate point C (and D ...). Non-stop is precisely that; A to B without stops. Usage of the term direct is a bit of airline "marketing-ese" that allows airlines the claim to serve various markets with the appearance of more frequency than what may be apparent to the naked eye.

 

For Montréal, you will come into one of the international swing gates, around gate 50, deplane at the same time with the Toronto-Montréal Rapidair® passengers and get marshalled into the international section of the airport w/o having to re-clear security.

 

Earlier this summer AC830 to Geneva was doing the same run - originating in YYZ, running Rapidair to YUL, and continuing on to GVA. Who knows, you might see me onboard sitting in J. I commute that route a lot as I like the 18h00 flight because it has been a 763, with the executive pod seating, :-) which for me beats an Embraer hands down!

 

Scott.

[Globaliser]

Direct is A to B with no change of flight number through intermediate point C (and D ...). Non-stop is precisely that; A to B without stops. Usage of the term direct is a bit of airline "marketing-ese" that allows airlines the claim to serve various markets with the appearance of more frequency than what may be apparent to the naked eye.

But at least a proper direct flight uses the same aircraft.

 

What is really deceptive is when a "direct" flight is marketed, but there is a "change of gauge" along the way - ie, you get off one aircraft at the stop and get onto a completely different aircraft for the next sector - sometimes even from a different terminal. That's a connection in everything but name, and it always baffles me why the regulators allow such flights to be sold as "direct". That's fraud, pure and simple.

[sabel7]

Yes I agree with you. Its not fair to people who think they are getting a direct flight.

I do know this for my flight is that its the same aircraft. Same flight number from Toronto to Rome AC692. I also have my seats booked. I was told by my travel agent that we will not have to get off the airplane but will have to wait about 90 minutes till they get other passengers on in Montreal.

I still think it is not fair as I had booked on AC890 which was a non stop flight, and Air Canada changed it to AC892 since they dont have AC890 operating anymore from Toronto.

[Globaliser]

I still think it is not fair as I had booked on AC890 which was a non stop flight, and Air Canada changed it to AC892 since they dont have AC890 operating anymore from Toronto.

I agree. But as they simply don't do non-stops from Toronto to Rome any more, you've really got no alternatives other than to accept the change or get a refund and book a different connecting itinerary elsewhere.

 

If you collect AC miles, it might be worth a complaint to see if they will send some miles your way. Or, if you had some idea of whether there was a difference in price between the non-stops and the direct flight that you're now on, asking for some cash compensation. But I wouldn't personally be expecting to get anything more than a few miles for this - and then, probably only AC miles.

[dmk]

I was booked on the same Air Canada flight to Rome. Now, I see that it doesn't exist. Only flights through Franfurt.

Has anyone else noticed this. What should a person do about the change? I received no notification!:(

[scottbee]

Yes I agree with you. Its not fair to people who think they are getting a direct flight.

I do know this for my flight is that its the same aircraft. Same flight number from Toronto to Rome AC692. I also have my seats booked. I was told by my travel agent that we will not have to get off the airplane but will have to wait about 90 minutes till they get other passengers on in Montreal.

I still think it is not fair as I had booked on AC890 which was a non stop flight, and Air Canada changed it to AC892 since they dont have AC890 operating anymore from Toronto.

 

airline wording (actually trains are the same)

YYZ-YUL-FCO on the same plane is a DIRECT flight

YYZ-FCO is a NON-STOP flight

YYZ-YUL/YUL-FCO on two different planes (and flight numbers) is a CONNECTING flight.

 

Important wording, and the same as trains.

[FLACRUISER99]

airline wording (actually trains are the same)

YYZ-YUL-FCO on the same plane is a DIRECT flight

YYZ-FCO is a NON-STOP flight

YYZ-YUL/YUL-FCO on two different planes (and flight numbers) is a CONNECTING flight.

 

Important wording, and the same as trains.

Maybe one of the experts can comment on this because this is earthier no longer true or different airlines have different policy's. I am booked on a flight that is listed as MIA -CPH with a single flight # however it not only stops in DUS we have to change planes. I did know this when I booked because seat selection was on different aircraft.

[FlyerTalker]

Non-stop = no flight number change, aircraft change or stops between ABC and XYZ

 

Direct flight = no flight number change between ABC and XYZ -- may have stops and aircraft change along the way

 

Connection = flight number change at connection point between ABC and XYZ. Likely (almost 100%) aircraft change (It's minutely possible you connect to the same aircraft you came in on). At least one stop (connection point) and possibly others between ABC and XYZ.

 

 

Put another way....all non-stops are direct, but not all direct are non-stop. Connections are neither direct or non-stop. (Back to Set Theory Logic 101 :) )

[Seabee]

Set logic 101 my rear end! What does any of this have to do with me getting through the Rome airport in time to catch my conncection to Venice??:rolleyes:

[FlyerTalker]

Set logic 101 my rear end! What does any of this have to do with me getting through the Rome airport in time to catch my conncection to Venice??:rolleyes:

The "Set Logic" was in reference to posts 20 and 21 in the thread.

 

Most of your concerns were answered long ago....and the conclusion is that you had best be ready to hurry through the airport, as you are at the short end of the connection window. Read post 1-5 for your answers.

[Globaliser]

I am booked on a flight that is listed as MIA -CPH with a single flight # however it not only stops in DUS we have to change planes.

Air Berlin? If so, I'd be interested to know what the single flight number is.

 

Dummy booking on AB's website gives different flight numbers for the flights operating the MIA-DUS sector and the DUS-CPH sector.

 

And so does the timetable, which offers the following:-

MIA-DUS: AB1901, AB7001 (depending on season)

DUS-CPH: AB8216, AB8218, AB8230

CPH-DUS: AB9217, AB8219, AB8231

DUS-MIA: AB1900, AB7000