dravi

Anyone with any info/experience on the above airlines regarding there specific operations within Italy ie...Venice-Rome-Venice....
trying to take a quick get-away from venice to rome...plan on flying back early sunday morning from rome with cruise ship leaving venice later that evening at 6.....is there truly any risk of cancellation or strike...have these airlines been reliable in that market.....or is this just great a chance....I have heard nightmare stories with alitalia strikes....

Lonely Flyer

Alitalia's problems are airline specific because they are broke. We flew into Rome with Easy in September but not internally. They were on time and unlike the TV show airline we had no problems.

JSlo

Quick related question: I am traveling from Rome to Venice. I guess I just assumed I would take ES train, and it is roughly 100USD per person for 2nd class.

Then a thought occurred to me: Why not fly there? I have found bith RyanAir and EasyJet fares for less than 200USD total for 2 people roundtrip. Am I missing something? Perhaps the 4.5 hr train ride is scenic or compelling in some way? Why not take the 1 hour flight for about the same cost-

Any help is appreciated. The quick flight leaves more time for visiting the city instead of sitting on a train?

Thanks!

Alice11

Hello Jslo,
Generally speaking:

First of all, Ryair operates CIA-TSF (Treviso), while the Easyjet route is FCO-VCE.
If you're travelling city center to city center, perhaps the latter could be better.

Ryanair has fares starting from 1 euro. Easyjet has anyway low fare. But fares can soare up.
On the other hand, Trenitalia doesn't have such low fares, but it offers a smaller number of fares, with max fares which are lower than the max airline fares.
Furthermore, several Trenitalia fares give you some level of flexibility which you can't enjoy with ryanair, easyjet or the lower fares of AZ (the only other competitor on this route).

Anothe issues is the timing.
Usually you don't fly FCO-VCE, but from somewhere in/near Rome to somewhere in/near Venice. Depending on where you are and where you have to go, the time-to-destination could be shorter by train, bearing in mind the time to airport, check in, security, boarding, etc then again same stuff at destination.

Again, a different issue is the schedule. If you want to reach destination early in the morning, airline is the only option.

Another point is the travel experience. If you travel by train, you get the station, hop on the train, sit down, then relax, work or whatever till destination. The whole time of a trip by plane (origin to destination, not only apt to apt) is splitted into several activities where you can't, say, work, study or simply fall asleep.

Furthermore, the quality of service is better by train, even in second class, if compared to that service provided by Ryanair or Easyjet.

So, flying or travelling by plane is just a case by case decision.

catchatiger

Alice11 gave some important information on flying vs. train. I would take the train. Once you factor in the time spent getting to/from each airport and the cost, the train is the better option because you arrive/depart from the center of each city.

JSlo

It does sound that way! One question, I was factoring in the same "security" measures whether by air or rail. (ie, I'd have to travel to the airport or train station and go through security either way...)

Both properties I am staying at are city center Rome and Venice.

I really appreciate the info and help!

catchatiger

There is no security check at the train stations. You show up, find your platform & jump on the train. Taking a 5 minute taxi ride to a train station is a lot quicker than traveling 30 minutes+ to reach an airport.

cbastian

Don't forget to add to your costs getting to and from the airport. Assuming you're in town, access to the train station is possible by either walking or public transport. Access to the airport (particularly FCO) could end up being more expensive than the plane ticket.

Alice11

Absolutely right.
Min cost town to:
FCO, € 5,50 - fare includes Trenitalia FM1 service to FCO and local public transport in Rome;
CIA, € 2.00 - fare includes BIT, the local public transport ticket in Rome (1 euro), plus shuttle service between Anagnina and the apt (1 euro)
Termini or Tiburtina*, € 1,00 - fares includes BIT, the local public transport ticket in Rome (1 euro).

By taxi, a journey from city center to FCO it's € 40, flat fare