Alitalia MilleMiglia - JFK to GOA

My wife and I will be flying to Genoa in December to spend Christmas with my cousins and after the sage advice and guidance on the Italy Forum of FT I gave up on my initial plan of flying into Nice or Milan and then driving to Genoa.
So tentative Plan B has us flying Alitalia from JFK on 12/22 on Flt 609 which arrives in FCO at 8:10 a.m. connecting to GOA on Flt 1383 which departs at 9:30 a.m. with a return on 12/26 on Flt 1382 from GOA arriving into FCO at 9:05 a.m. connecting to Flt 608 departing FCO at 10:25 a.m.
Per Alitalia's website these are valid connections however I am somewhat dubious given the short connecting times.
Never having flown on Alitalia nor having connected to another flight at FCO I am not sure what to expect connecting at FCO from a international to a domestic flight and vice versa on the return. If it matters at all we are flying J Class. Therefore any advice and guidance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

recent reports & info:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alitalia-millemiglia/1273509-time-needed-fco-connection.html

[QUOTE=Alice11;17891581]recent reports & info:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alitalia-millemiglia/1273509-time-needed-fco-connection.html[/QUO

I read the thread so I am now more dubious than before. Thanks or should I say Grazie:) for your input

Ok.
The FCO terminals are connected airside, so when you move from a Terminal to another, you don't have to exit the transit area.
T3-T1 it's barely a 15' walk, including the journey on the automated shuttle linking the gate area 'G' to the main building. The shuttle takes about 30' and it goes back and forth, no-stop.
Since you're moving from a Schengen area to an extra-Schengen area and the other way round, you have to clear immigration (Schengen > Extra-Schengen) and immigration & security (Extra-Schengen > Schengen).
Timing: you have 1h20'. It's enough, you can make it. Obviously you can't rely on a long spare time in case of a major delay of your first flight, but 1h20' is enough to make the connection.
If you miss the connection, in both cases you'd be rerouted on the next available flight. We can argue that it's Christmas time, so flights are usually quite full and the next available flight may be not the next flight, but I believe the rerouting should not involve any hassle.

I would usually suggest 2 hours for intercontinental, but that's really if you want to walk around the terminal a couple of times and considering maximum queuing. Basically you should be okay as all areas at FCO are connected with a relatively short walk, and if there is a delay you may well find an AZ personnel to guide the connecting passengers through the crowd at high speed.

My wife and I will be flying to Genoa in December to spend Christmas with my cousins and after the sage advice and guidance on the Italy Forum of FT I gave up on my initial plan of flying into Nice or Milan and then driving to Genoa.
So tentative Plan B has us flying Alitalia from JFK on 12/22 on Flt 609 which arrives in FCO at 8:10 a.m. connecting to GOA on Flt 1383 which departs at 9:30 a.m. with a return on 12/26 on Flt 1382 from GOA arriving into FCO at 9:05 a.m. connecting to Flt 608 departing FCO at 10:25 a.m.
Per Alitalia's website these are valid connections however I am somewhat dubious given the short connecting times.
Never having flown on Alitalia nor having connected to another flight at FCO I am not sure what to expect connecting at FCO from a international to a domestic flight and vice versa on the return. If it matters at all we are flying J Class. Therefore any advice and guidance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Personally I'd fly to Nice - great airport to fly into because in the winter it is very rare that you will get weather problems (more likely fog / cold weather in MXP)

NCE - GENOA = less than 2 hours by car

If you fly to FCO your flight is an hour longer then you change and have to "back track" back to GOA (no "domestic" J so normal Y seating even though it is a quick 50 minute hop)

GOA is my local airport but normally I fly from LIN / MXP or NCE

PSA is also alternative as they have direct flights to NYC with DL but L'm not sure during the winter...

Personally I'd fly to Nice - great airport to fly into because in the winter it is very rare that you will get weather problems (more likely fog / cold weather in MXP)

NCE - GENOA = less than 2 hours by car

If you fly to FCO your flight is an hour longer then you change and have to "back track" back to GOA (no "domestic" J so normal Y seating even though it is a quick 50 minute hop)

GOA is my local airport but normally I fly from LIN / MXP or NCE

PSA is also alternative as they have direct flights to NYC with DL but L'm not sure during the winter...

PSA is seasonal but I will reconsider NCE. Thanks

PSA is seasonal but I will reconsider NCE. Thanks

Bad bad weather in Genoa are today - have my mum over to stay for a few days and she arrived today in Nice

No problems there^

And what about flying AF via Paris ? You have pretty good connections at similar times (don't know about fares however) and also gain MM miles as both are Skyteam carriers.

N.

Personally I'd fly to Nice - great airport to fly into because in the winter it is very rare that you will get weather problems (more likely fog / cold weather in MXP)

NCE - GENOA = less than 2 hours by car

If you fly to FCO your flight is an hour longer then you change and have to "back track" back to GOA (no "domestic" J so normal Y seating even though it is a quick 50 minute hop)

GOA is my local airport but normally I fly from LIN / MXP or NCE

PSA is also alternative as they have direct flights to NYC with DL but L'm not sure during the winter...

Normally I often agree with terminalfive, but in this case: fly to Genova through Rome or Paris and save yourself the hassle to get into a rental car in Winter after an intercontinental flight...

Edited to add: your connection in FCO should be fine. Worst that can happen is you miss your national flight after immigration. They'll just put you on the next one to GOA, there are plenty.

Normally I often agree with terminalfive, but in this case: fly to Genova through Rome or Paris and save yourself the hassle to get into a rental car in Winter after an intercontinental flight...

Edited to add: your connection in FCO should be fine. Worst that can happen is you miss your national flight after immigration. They'll just put you on the next one to GOA, there are plenty.

I take the point of pieterde -> I'm more for direct flights from NYC but no doubt renting a car from Nice would be hassle and Nice - Genova isn't the best motorway in the road afer getting off an eight hour flight

Weather here in Genova is unusually cold at the moment - could even snow tomorrow:mad: