Originally Posted by
grandpadude
First time post; not sure if this is the right forum, but here goes. My wife and I are planning Rome/Sicily travel later this year. Likely UA award travel from SFO to FCO and Alitalia to/from Sicily on two separate tickets. We will spend 7-8 days in Sicily and 3-4 days in Rome - either on the front side or back side (probably using points to stay at the Roma Cavalieri). Any advice whether it would be any better to transit FCO with checked baggage coming from the US then on to CTA/PMO or coming from CTA/PMO and then on to the US? How much time is needed? How reliable are Alitalia schedules? Does it matter whether you fly into PMO first and then out of CTA or vice versa? Any and all logistical advice sincerely appreciated.
Well, Lufthansa flies to CTA, so I would look at that as an option - you might be able to get all the way to Sicily on one award ticket, which would definitely make things easier for you.
I have never flown through PMO, only CTA, but I think that CTA might be a better option, just because Palermo in general can be really difficult. If you're renting a car, I think it's probably easier to pick it up in CTA as well based on the location of the airport. However, it really depends on what you want to do in Sicily. Seeing both sides of the island in a week would mean a pretty hectic schedule, and Sicily is a challenging place for tourists. It's definitely possible (I've been known to go to Palermo for the day from Siracusa), but it depends on what you like your travel pace to be.
In terms of baggage, it doesn't really matter, as your airline *should* be able to interline your bags to Alitalia, even if it's on a separate itinerary. Give yourself a couple of hours for the connection either way - it's a LONG walk from the international gates to the domestic Alitalia gates!
Ultimately, I would look at what your options are in terms of award tickets to help you decide whether it makes the most sense to Rome or Sicily first.
In terms of Alitalia's reliability, I've flown 10 segments with them this year, and all but one flight was on time. We've also had family out to visit us in Sicily and they haven't had any problems either. I think that, as with any airline, it just comes down to luck of the draw!